Thinking about makeing a bed cover for my c10, thinking about taking some wood and covering it in vinyl and putting legs on it, pretty much making a table that would fit flush with the bed rails, seems like it would be pretty easy to make, easy to take out, any one ever done anything like this? if so i would love to see some pictures. or some input, just spent alot of time removeing and welding like 20 holes where someone had installed the snaps on the bed rails to use one of those covers, think if done right it would look pretty clean.
Never cared for those 1-piece lids. What happens when you're out on the road and want to use your truck to, you know, haul some big stuff? On my O/T truck, I have a 30way folding canvas lid. This way, I can haul big stuff just by folding it up and locking it in position.
The issue with wood is no matter how well you seal it,it will warp . It would have to thick (3/4) or more. Metal can be made light and rigid . What finish are you going to put on it? You might get some ideas from wooden campers or boat construction if you go that route. Think what is called torsion box construction. Hope this helps.
You should look into Bac Flip tonneau covers. I'm sure they ave something that will fit your truck. I have on my OT DD and it's awesome. It fits flush to the bed rails and it's a trifold so you can haul bigger things like mentioned earlier by just folding back as many sections as you need to.
They have snap style on an aluminum frame. You could cut one of those down to fit inside the bed on a piece of angle.
Of course one advantage of making it "table like", you would always have a table for car shows, cookouts, picnics, cause your lady doesnt like sand everywhere on midnight drives, ect.
I have built a bed cover similar to what you thinking. Worked alright,had 1/2" angle inside the bed rails that it set on to be flush with the top rails. It was not completely water tight,but not bad. Was pretty heavy, did not take it out unless it was absolutely nessescary. Just raised the rear of it for access to the bed. Did not have any warping issue,but it was 3/4" thick board and well braced. Painted the wood before having it wrapped with vinyl. Sorry,the truck is O/T,but you get the idea of what it looked like. I built that cover in '95, did not have alot of options then. There are alot of good options now, just have to look around a little.
Whatever you decide make sure you figure a way to secure it , ****s to have it get ****ed out of the bed at speed , ((don't ask me how I know)(wasn't mine) you'd think down force would hold it in... NOT ! )
I don't know how much you intend to use your truck for hauling, but if you're like me, you may find that taking the "table" in and out will quickly become a bother. Especially if you are out somewhere and don't have any place to leave it. I made something similar to what you're talking about for my truck. It was a little more complicated but not much. Like you, I started out with one large cover. Mine was hinged at the front. I soon found it impractical because of the weight. With the tail gate open, I had to bend forward to lift it (back-strain!). I decided to cut it up into three smaller doors. One large door covered the back half of the truck bed. It could fold forward and lay flat on the front if needed. That way I could haul tall things in the back half (refrigerator, lawn mower, etc.). The two smaller front doors opened towards the middle, one on each side. I could get to everything within an arm's reach in the front - just like a store-bought truck tool box. The doors hinged on two boards that formed a "T" in the bed. One board spanned the bed side-to-side at the wheel wells. The other split the front in half and attached at the middle of the first board. They were held in place with metal brackets and C-clamps so I didn't have to drill into the truck. Like you, I also ran some boards down to the floor for extra support. The doors were reinforced underneath with a grid of 1X2's. I coated it all with Thompson's water seal (could've probably used used motor oil) to preserve it. It lasted about 6 or 7 years. I put black in-door-out-door carpet on it. I thought it looked pretty good against my silver truck. Not everyone agreed, but then they rarely do. It became a nice place to sit at tailgate parties or lie while talking or watching jets take off and land at the airport. I even fished from it once. I also tried to pitch a pup-tent on it, but ended up putting it on the ground so I could stake it down. I put some tie-downs on it so I could haul some light things without having to clean out all the unseen junk that tended to ac***ulate underneath. It was real handy to lift the small front doors to put groceries in - especially for my wife. Sorry I don't have any pictures. That would have made things clearer but maybe it'll give you an idea or two. One thing I would have done differently is to leave more room for expansion. I left only about 1/4 inch on each side. Wood expands more than metal. It tended to stick and jam. Candle wax helped. I should have probably left 1/2 or at least 3/8 inches. Good luck. Hope you enjoy yours as much as I did mine.
See my thread which may provide another view for a pickup box cover. See my threads; http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...d.php?t=663175 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=366906 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=481492 <!-- / message --><!-- sig --><!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
You could make it like a ping pong table and leave the net on it. Would be fun to play whenever you want.
After a toneau for a late model was cut and stapled to the under side. It is not waterproof but it keeps stuff out of sight of the opportunist thieves. It's made of 1X3 furring strips glued and screwed to 1/4" plywood. Resting on a lift out frame. No holes in the bed and it can be instantly lifted off when and if the need arises. I have less than a hundred bucks in it buying the new vinyl off Ebay from a co. reducing left over stock
Look up penetrating epoxy sealants. Brace it properly you could use 1/4 ply. Like someone above suggested, check out boat construction. Light, wood, water resistant. Thousands of years of research and experimentaion there.
I have something that's perfect for covering up my precious cargo, it's called a van. I use it in place of my pick up which is used for carrying refrigerators or usually nothing at all. While we are on the subject of pick ups, bed liners are not for putting into brand new trucks to promote rust, but are used for covering up holes and dents in an old pick up so your tools don't fall out.
as stated, most bed covers are not water or dust tight. at some point going to get stuck in some rain and contents in bed and bed flooring wood will suffer. keep this in mind when doing any cover, except one from Gaylord, etc.
The Jalopy Journal
