Upper cladding disassembly question...

I am in the process of painting all of the cladding including the top plate that goes under the saddle bag door, the vent cover and the pull handles.

I am curious if anyone has tried removing the vent panels without removing the sail panels and if anyone has tried to remove the top panel without removing them.

I am considering doing some major customization to the backside of the vertical panel that makes the sides of the bed but I am wondering if they can be pulled out without disassembling everything. I would rather leave the sail panels in place if I can. I can pull the whole side out with the removal of 5 bolts but not sure how much interference the sail panels give. The wiring to the bed lights goes through the sail panels but I am modifying those anyhow so I will likely just install a new disconnect if it will make a difference.

Rodney

The little flat triangle up near front bed corners? Has mesh like bottom to let water pass.

That part is designed to pop out so you can clean drain area underneath.

I usually grab the edge facing inward toward the bed and pull up, they will kinda twist out from under the sail panels.

Ok thanks guys. Now I just have to figure out if I can pull the top panel off while the sail panels are in place. I THINK I can but I am unsure.. Otherwise I need to make the amplifiers accessible from the bed without removing anything other than the plastic and that complicates things way more.

Thinking I would have to chop up the metal sides.... Would be cool to build drawers into it that would pop out but thinking that is way more than I want to do at this time. Don't know that I want the bed down that long and I only have a month before school starts back up...

Rodney

top panel with brake light has to come off first before sie panels as it overlaps it.

redheadedrod said:

Ok thanks guys. Now I just have to figure out if I can pull the top panel off while the sail panels are in place. I THINK I can but I am unsure.. Otherwise I need to make the amplifiers accessible from the bed without removing anything other than the plastic and that complicates things way more.

Thinking I would have to chop up the metal sides.... Would be cool to build drawers into it that would pop out but thinking that is way more than I want to do at this time. Don't know that I want the bed down that long and I only have a month before school starts back up...

Rodney

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have you seen the boat hatch mod? It's not as inconspicuous as I think you're going for but maybe you could put a locking one in. http://chevyavalancheclub.com/index.php?topic=13389.0

ygmn said:

top panel with brake light has to come off first before sie panels as it overlaps it.

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Currently my claddding is all off.. I started with the top panel first but now that it is off I see you really only need to remove the bolts on the edges unless I am missing something. I will look at it closer when I put it back together. The clips that hold the sail panels down don't seem to be in any specific order so looks like I have to break them all out to reinstall the sail panels. At least the top panel should slide back down over the ones it uses.

And thanks for the boat hatch thread.

Currently I am thinking I might cut out a section and put a hinge on the bottom of it. Attach at the top and basically have a fold down door and mount the amplifiers on that so they flip into the bed. I would use the factory plastic cover and have to remove that to gain access. Although that is about 20 different plastic pieces plus the 4 cable pulls to pull it off. Might end up cutting off a section of the plastic  "smartly" and using the factory clips to hold it in place. I will loose the factory bed lights but thats ok. I have an LED strip stuck to the bottom of the drip rails now.

Rodney

Sounds like a big project 

Hunter01 said:

Sounds like a big project 

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Somewhat.. Trying to think of a way to do it where I can change it in the future and make it look better. I just want it to be usable for now but not be noticeable.

I don't see it as that big a project at this point but I will probably start this out with just simply cutting out the saddle bags and bolting the amps to the wall... They are riveted in so I can remove them and build whatever I want and keep the saddle bags intact by simply removing them. I am unsure yet how I will do it because I have to make sure they can't get wet either. I can't imagine rain can get into the saddle bag area if everything is installed but these amplifiers were expensive new and not made any more so I have to insure they are protected.

Rodney

The edges of the saddlebag inside are not water tight, I turned my passenger side into a cooler using a boat drain plug. I sealed the 2 drain holes first and put the boat plug towards the back, I then filled the compartment with the garden hose and looked where I was losing water. the seam between the wall and the bottom on the side closest to the bed and where the cargo light is are the 2 places that water was still able to escape. I used black silicone and sealed everything up. I now also notice that the passenger side gets far less dust in it than the driver side.

Thanks for the heads up.. Doesn't need to be water tight but definetly set up to not let the amps get wet..

redheadedrod said:

Thanks for the heads up.. Doesn't need to be water tight but definetly set up to not let the amps get wet..

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I would be a little concerned with the dust too. Idk if its just because we have a lot of dirt roads here but my saddlebags do get pretty dusty.