Yep! I removed that and the floor mounted D-rings to make the plywood sit more flush with the rear trim.
This is Grade AAA. Could you give a little more detail on the vertical supports and assembly. Definitely doing this as a project before winter (I hope).The rear bench seat of my Jeep spent most of it's life in a Christmas tree storage bag in my basement... and I had a similar plan once I traded the Jeep in for the Bronco. But I was pretty bummed to learn that it was a lot more work to add/remove the rear Bronco seats (bolts, sensors, and tools? wtf!)... so, I just went scorched earth and ripped everything out, along with the seatbelts.
With the rear seats out of the bronco, the floor is pretty ugly, with random bolts, holes, and cuts in the floor liner. It was gonna be pretty annoying to use as a "truck bed" this way, so I did what many others have done, and started researching/designing a flat "bed."
Goose Gear's system looks nice but is frankly overpriced. I didn't need the modularity that they offered, and didn't really like that the tool storage bin required more tools to open. I do like their fit and finish though, so I decided to build something similar, that fit my needs.
Materials:
And with that, I scribed everything out, made a cardboard template, and got to work. Here are the photos of my build...
- Cabinet grade plywood (given to me by a trim carpenter buddy
)
- double offset piano hinges
- 2 - M12-1.75 allen bolts
- 8 - M8-1.25 allen bolts
- 4 - M8-1.25 threaded inserts
- black primer
- raptor bed liner kit
I'm super happy with how it turned out, but like any project, I learned a couple things that I might do differently if I tackled again.
That said, I've got a couple small modifications planned already. I'll post updates here once I tackle em.
- I wish I would've waited to drill the finger hole in the hatch. I'm thinking about putting a keyed latch on the door so that the storage is actually secured while the top's off. I won't need the finger hole once I do that.
- I wish I would've masked the interior plastic with blue tape. Lightly dragging a piece of wood along the side to scribe my template was enough to scratch the plastic. I also got a few scuffs from taking the platform in/out during the build process. Cheap-ass Ford plastic...
Ah well, it's a truck and a toy. These won't be the last blemishes. But uh, anyone have tips on how to make these scratches a bit less noticeable?- I wish I had a bit more practice with spraying bedliner. This was my first time and I got a bit of tiger striping on the big piece. It's barely noticeable once installed, and I think it'll soften even more in time... but it still bugs me.
The Allen M12s (and M8s) are very low profile. I did counter bore every hole with a forstner bit before drilling all the way through. All hardware is flush, or lower than the top of the plywood.
I'm sure you could get away with 48" and be fine. You might also find that the 4x8 sheet at the hardware store is slightly larger than 48" wide as well.
Yep. There's not much to them really... I just ripped a couple 1.5" strips of plywood, drilled 3 pocket holes into each and then glued + screwed them to the back of the vertical pieces. After that, I drilled 2 holes into each of those strips so that I could add the M8 threaded inserts, and secure the top platform to the supports. Doing it this way makes it so that everything is easy to assemble/disassemble (i.e. easier to get the panel in and out of the truck).
Once moisture hits OSB it starts to swell and crumble. Put in the extra $ for better quality. "You get what you paid for."
haha, i like to build and tinker as a hobby and for a personal challenge. i'm happy to provide tips and help, but i'm definitely not looking for a side gig at this point of my life. maybe when i hit retirement.
