FISH BOY
Well-Known Member
Became sick and tired of climbing in the back of the truck to get stuff, I needed a solution.
Looked at making draw unit, but thought they come up too high, take up too much space and to be honest didn’t really know what I would actually want to leave in it. Then started looking at custom made commercial roller slides which looked ace, but required drilling of the tub and winced at the cost of them.
So I set about making my own basic slide. Its turned out quite practical for £100 worth of bits and as there are no doubt a number of fellow members with pick up style trucks facing the same dilemma, I thought a how to guide might be of interest.
Went a bit OTT in some areas, but wanted it to stand a bit of abuse and last.
Comes out about a foot, no idea of a weight rating, but great for easy access and using to zero.
Looked at making draw unit, but thought they come up too high, take up too much space and to be honest didn’t really know what I would actually want to leave in it. Then started looking at custom made commercial roller slides which looked ace, but required drilling of the tub and winced at the cost of them.
So I set about making my own basic slide. Its turned out quite practical for £100 worth of bits and as there are no doubt a number of fellow members with pick up style trucks facing the same dilemma, I thought a how to guide might be of interest.
Went a bit OTT in some areas, but wanted it to stand a bit of abuse and last.
- Measure width between wheel arches at the base level and length of tub bed
- Cut 18mm marine ply slide board, side and back braces to size (I went 1cm short for both width and length on the slide board)
- Braces are 22mm wide, so measured, drilled pilot holes and then countersunk at 11mm in every 10cm on the underside of the slide board for decent strength
- Cut handles using four 30mm drilled holes joined up by a jigsaw
- Sand handles, braces and underside outer slide edges
- Wipe down with a damp cloth to remove dust and allow to dry
- Paint with two coats of Ronseal waterproof wood paint. (try not to paint your fence)
- Cut rubber floor matting length 5cm over size
- Pinch and clamp back brace with 1cm rubber overlap (using the factory straight line cut) for back bumper and using one straight long edge length of slide board
- Screw back brace in place
- Clamp and screw straight edge brace in place (RHS in my case)
- Clamp and screw opposite side brace in place, then cutting rubber overlap
- Clamp and screw front lip/bumper cutting rubber overlap from underneath
- Staple rear 1cm rubber overlap to act as rear bumper
- Fit tie downs as required along side braces
- Place complete slide in truck tub to see length of pull and where you want it to stop. Mark at rear of tub line to make a stop line.
- Using paracord and carabiners, cut and make quick release stop tension ropes
- Using mark of rear tub line (16) and giving a couple of inches extra spare– cut and stick hook and loop tape (only loop used) on underside edges to give extra slip
- Stick loop tape along back edge underside to also aid frictionless movement.
Comes out about a foot, no idea of a weight rating, but great for easy access and using to zero.
