Slideout Beds (DIY vs BUY)
 

Hey Gang,
Anyone built their own low profile slideout beds?

I'm wanting to save some cash [for now] and build my own to see how I'm going to get along with one. With a hard tonneau cover, I'm concerned with maximizing height clearance.

Ideally, I'd like to construct a shallow drawer using up no more than 2 vertical inches of height from the deck of the bed. I'm wondering about a 1x2 wrapped 5/8" sheet of plywood sided by heavy duty telescoping drawer slides.

I don't need serious load capacity, maybe a few-hundred pounds for tools.

Thoughts?!?

Cheers.

(Merry Christmas!)

I don't think 1x2s are going to hold much weight extended out like that. You may have to get something welded up out of tube steel.

1 x 2 wrapped 5/8 plywood will actually be quite strong (and heavy). It's the slides I'd be concerned about.

Had a friend who made one, not sure what he used
But it was the width of the bed, I think he used some sort of heavy duty drawer slides
It would slide all the way in against the back of the cab
That way heavy stuff could be loaded at the rear
Had a small stick w/hook to pull it to the tailgate, worked great

Seems like garage door rails and wheels would work also. Just thinkin out loud.

Maybe, but it wouldn't be able to be pulled out all the way and the extended portion would have no support.

Did a little searching on the ole interwebz. Here's a few links.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/s...d.php?t=210300

Look down the page a little on this one. Seems like it might be what you could use, and it's cheap.

http://chevyavalanchefanclub.com/caf...topic=135151.0