jackalanche said:
with all due respect, and I have had a stack of drywall and then a stack of ply in the bed - you would not have the covers off - and if drywall, you would want them on.
in fact, this idea invloves the #1 panel staying on. ?
I guess if you had a stack of ply AS WELL AS some other taller items, you would be faced with the need for this idea, but in such case I would still simply put the panels in the bag and put the bag in the bed. no muss, no fuss, no scratches on my veddy veddy expensive panels.
I am willing to concede all of your points, I was just trying to respond to the fact that there are times where the standard bag does not fit nicely strapped there to the side of the bed. And if you look back on the first page of this thread, you will see that I was the first one to question the potential scratching of panels.
I used to keep the panel bag strapped to the side of the bed, ready for use on a moment's notice. Now, with the BedSlide, it raises up the floor too much and the bag can't stay there. I have simply folded the bag, and keep it under the larger back seat. When I need to take off the panels, they go in the bag, and the bag goes either in the bed or the back seat. If I'm really full of bulky stuff, I have tie-downs so the bag and panels can go on the roof rack.
as for the bedslide, you ain't much of a plywood or drywall hauler (or big item hauler) if you went and bought that thing. My load this past weekend would have crushed it like a bug anyway (16 12' 6"x 6" PT landscape timbers), among other issues.
Actually, I have to disagree with you here. The BedSlide is rated for 1,000 pounds, which is essentially the same as the 1500's rating. If you are loading something that will crush the BedSlide, then you are overloading your truck -- more weight than that should be in a trailer, not the bed. Now, if you have a CargoPro, that is only rated at 750 pounds, you may have an issue. And if you have a 2500 you can indeed carry more than the BedSlide can handle.
In fact, I have found through personal experience that the BedSlide is an ideal way to carry stacks of plywood. You can extend the drawer out of the bed, and not have to slide the sheets in over the tailgate and over that sticky bed mat. The BedSlide has flanges on the side of the drawer that are just a hair over 4 feet apart, so that the plywood nestles right down and sits squarely on the steel frame of the drawer. Once the stack of plywood is loaded, just push the drawer in place and close the tailgate. Piece of pie, easy as cake.
Now, for the types of things I carry (groceries, boxes, lumber, plywood) I find that the BedSlide is ideal. If you carry a lot bulky items (refrigerators, furniture, large machine parts) it may or may not be ideal. If you carry a lot of bulk items (gravel, mulch, sand) it would be more of a hindrance than a help.
The plus side is that it is easy to remove if needed, but after almost a year of ownership I have not needed to do that, yet.
I agree, they are not for everybody, and they do have some drawbacks, but I still love mine and if I had it to do over again, I would not hesitate to get it, in fact, I probably would have gotten it sooner.
But all of this is getting off topic. This storage idea is obviously not for everybody. However, I can see the benefit if you need to carry something bulky for a short distance. It would be a lot simpler to just stack and strap the panels, as opposed to getting out the bag, filling it, and securing the bag somewhere. I have found that the bag takes some practive to load properly, and there are many who have given up on it and never use it. This may be a viable solution for them.
-- SS
It was my fault though.
