I am looking for a better way to mount my truck bed tool box. Its one of those that runs from side rail to side rail along the back of the bed up by the cab.
I had used some of those clamps you can buy designed for this purpose. They clamp to the bed sides and then you bolt the box to the clamp.
The problem is
A) the box I have is quite large
B) I fill it with lots of heavy tools
C) the roads are rough.
The clamps lasted 6 months and then split physically in two.
They are made of plastic which is a dumb idea in my opnion.
A set made of metal would be ideal, but I do not think they make them.
Yes, it sits on top of the side rails. So I can drill and bolt it, but
1) I think the metal is pretty thin on most trucks and it will eventually tare out the whole.
2) Man I hate to go drilling in the rails of a nice truck. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]
I may have no choice but to do drill it and use some metal plates on top of the box side and under the truck bed rail. This plus a set of bolts would clamp the two togheter and give some extra support.
IF you drill the bed rail, get some of the larger body washers to go on the bolt. The larger washer is designed for that, and spreads the "holding pressure" of the bolt over a larger surface area. Run the larger body washer, then a standard flat washer.
My box came with J-bolts. They just hook under the bed rail. It has held it secure for over a year now.
In the event you decide not to run the box, you could add bed rail/caps, or just get a nice stainless or chrome round head bolt to put in the hole.
What I did is take some 2x4 PT wood and cut it to fit the pockets
in the bed liner. I had to put in extra 2x material to get the 2x4
to firmly hold the box in place. I also had to gang up some
material to keep the box from moving left and right.
Its simple, cheap and keeps the box in place. I can take the
box out of the truck if I need to as well. My box is LOADED
with stuff. It don't bounce when I go over bumps. If it was
lightly loaded this might be a problem.....
Once we build our house, I pretty sure the tool box is going to
be take out of the truck and a bed cap added to the truck so I
don't want the box screwed into the truck.
What if you put the 2x4's in to the front stake pocket. Then, set bolts or screws through the bottom of side of the stake pocket, in to the 2x4. Lots of trucks have some holes in thier stake pockets.
Now, lag bolt through the toolbox, and in to the wood in the stake pocket.
Or, even better, get some of those tie hook/loops that are on the rubber blocks that you can put in the stake pockets. The top of the loop part is threaded like a nut, if you take it off, the through bolt in the rubber block is exposed. Use that as your bolt, through the toolbox. As you tighten the bolt, it will hold down the toolbox as it expands the rubber bolt, holding everything tight. Might need to put a longer bolt through the rubber block though...
I am leaning toward just getting a job box and setting it in the back of the bed, not bolted down. This truck does not sit out in any areas where people would be temped to steal the box and besides it will weigh a lot.
That plus a fuel tank sitting in front of it full of off road diesel should slow them down.
This way when I need the full bed I can pull the job box and the tank out, using the forks for my tractor.
I guess I will need to anchor them in some way just for safety in the off chance of an accident. A flying 300 lb job box or fuel tank would do a lot of damage.
If it's a tool box that rides on the bed rails, a good way is to use hood pins bolted on the rails and large washers (with the pin inside the box) worked well on my last truck.
Reply With Quote
