dps
Full Member
Seeing some recent posts under the EZ SLIDER topic about using tracks prompted me to include a recent change to my bedslide. This post is partially a repost from TOS (sorry!):
A little over a year ago I made a bedslide pretty much along the same lines as others have posted. The details of that installation, along with making some upholstered panels for the bed can be seen elsewhere.
Although it worked better than nothing, I wasn?t that enamored of it. Briefly, the trouble is the lifting effort of getting the slide up and over the bed/tailgate gap and then pulling it uphill across the upward slant of the tailgate. I didn?t like it, and forget about Wifey doing it?
The obvious solution (besides spending $1500 on a pro model) was to do something more along the idea of gadget?s post elsewhere wherein you use a track or rail mounted to the tie-downs with bearings instead of casters on the bottom of the slide. Basically it?s imitating the way a drawer glides instead of using the furniture dolly method of casters.
The disadvantage of using tracks mounted is the above-the-bedslide clearance that you lose; mine is now 16.5 inches. And the tracks are an obstacle if you want to remove the slide and stack large quantities of 48? wide sheet goods. The edge-to-edge distance of my rails is 47.25?. The problem would be easily overcome by stacking goods until they approached the height of the rails above the deck, and to then lay a couple of 2x4?s or similar on top of the stack to create a gap so that the next sheet would rest on the 2x4?s at a level that is now above the track. For fewer sheets, I?ll just leave the slide in and load them directly on the slide since it is above the tracks and the full width is available.
The advantage of using tracks is the WAY easier and smoother sliding of the bed. Also, using the lower tie-down points of the bed just happens to be the right height for the bedslide to clear the rear edge of the tailgate; the front edge of the slide won?t bump into the tail or have to be lifted over it.
To make mine, I started with garage door track cut to length ($14 for the pair). The great advantage to this besides being cheap and easy to get (same way I got Wifey) is that its shape both guides the wheels and prevents the slide from being able to ?tip? out if it?s heavily loaded. For wheels, naturally enough I used nylon garage door rollers. These are a little more expensive than the all steel rollers, but they?re quieter, smoother, and seem to have better bearings. I used eight of them for a total of $40.
To mount the track to the bed, I substituted the bolts through the tie-downs with what is called M10X60 SKT FLAT SST which means they are M(metric) 10 millimeter diameter by 60 mm long with a socket (uses an Allen wrench) flathead profile in stainless steel. I wouldn?t necessarily of chosen stainless, but I think the foot of the bolts can be exposed to water, so the fact that the ss was all that the dealer had that matched the more important head-of-the-bolt criteria was fine. The price for four of those plus eight ss nuts was $11.80. A regular hex head bolt won?t work because it protrudes too far into the channel and won?t allow the rollers to pass by.
I started by drilling 15/32 holes into the track. This just happened to be a bit size I have, but seemed about right for allowing the bolt head to recess far enough to avoid the rollers, but small enough for the head to have plenty of contact (support) with the track. If you drill a hole that?s just the diameter of the bolt, the head will protrude too much.
Two nuts are used on each bolt. One of them tightens the track to the bolt. This connection needs a thick washer to compensate for the portion of the bolt head that slopes through the hole. You can see in the picture how ineffective the connection is without the washer on the right side of the pic. I made my washers by slicing some ?? copper pipe into 3/16? slices. These fit perfectly, mashing a little upon tightening to conform.
A little over a year ago I made a bedslide pretty much along the same lines as others have posted. The details of that installation, along with making some upholstered panels for the bed can be seen elsewhere.
Although it worked better than nothing, I wasn?t that enamored of it. Briefly, the trouble is the lifting effort of getting the slide up and over the bed/tailgate gap and then pulling it uphill across the upward slant of the tailgate. I didn?t like it, and forget about Wifey doing it?
The obvious solution (besides spending $1500 on a pro model) was to do something more along the idea of gadget?s post elsewhere wherein you use a track or rail mounted to the tie-downs with bearings instead of casters on the bottom of the slide. Basically it?s imitating the way a drawer glides instead of using the furniture dolly method of casters.
The disadvantage of using tracks mounted is the above-the-bedslide clearance that you lose; mine is now 16.5 inches. And the tracks are an obstacle if you want to remove the slide and stack large quantities of 48? wide sheet goods. The edge-to-edge distance of my rails is 47.25?. The problem would be easily overcome by stacking goods until they approached the height of the rails above the deck, and to then lay a couple of 2x4?s or similar on top of the stack to create a gap so that the next sheet would rest on the 2x4?s at a level that is now above the track. For fewer sheets, I?ll just leave the slide in and load them directly on the slide since it is above the tracks and the full width is available.
The advantage of using tracks is the WAY easier and smoother sliding of the bed. Also, using the lower tie-down points of the bed just happens to be the right height for the bedslide to clear the rear edge of the tailgate; the front edge of the slide won?t bump into the tail or have to be lifted over it.
To make mine, I started with garage door track cut to length ($14 for the pair). The great advantage to this besides being cheap and easy to get (same way I got Wifey) is that its shape both guides the wheels and prevents the slide from being able to ?tip? out if it?s heavily loaded. For wheels, naturally enough I used nylon garage door rollers. These are a little more expensive than the all steel rollers, but they?re quieter, smoother, and seem to have better bearings. I used eight of them for a total of $40.
To mount the track to the bed, I substituted the bolts through the tie-downs with what is called M10X60 SKT FLAT SST which means they are M(metric) 10 millimeter diameter by 60 mm long with a socket (uses an Allen wrench) flathead profile in stainless steel. I wouldn?t necessarily of chosen stainless, but I think the foot of the bolts can be exposed to water, so the fact that the ss was all that the dealer had that matched the more important head-of-the-bolt criteria was fine. The price for four of those plus eight ss nuts was $11.80. A regular hex head bolt won?t work because it protrudes too far into the channel and won?t allow the rollers to pass by.
I started by drilling 15/32 holes into the track. This just happened to be a bit size I have, but seemed about right for allowing the bolt head to recess far enough to avoid the rollers, but small enough for the head to have plenty of contact (support) with the track. If you drill a hole that?s just the diameter of the bolt, the head will protrude too much.
Two nuts are used on each bolt. One of them tightens the track to the bolt. This connection needs a thick washer to compensate for the portion of the bolt head that slopes through the hole. You can see in the picture how ineffective the connection is without the washer on the right side of the pic. I made my washers by slicing some ?? copper pipe into 3/16? slices. These fit perfectly, mashing a little upon tightening to conform.
