Decked truck bed drawer system

[Steve Vaughn]

Looking at these as an option for my 2011 Silverado 1500. My priorities are water protection and security while fishing and camping. Doesn't seem reasonable to spend $3K on a cap for a 13-year-old truck, but I might be able to justify half that since I only have 100K miles on it. The loss of bed depth has been a concern in the past as I use the truck to haul dirt or mulch once or twice a year. However, as I get older, I'm starting to pay people to do that work for me or even having it dropped at the house.

I'd be interested in hearing if anyone here has experience with the Decked system and what they like or don't like about it. The upgrades they have made recently seem to improve things like tie down options and dust and water in-flow. Thanks for any input you can provide.

Steve

 

[_WW_]

No experience. But used canopies are readily available.

 

[M_D]

I know nothing about the Deck system so what I'm about to share might be meaningless....that said, we used the TruckVault system in a number of our patrol vehicles and had the Extendobed system in our two F250 CSI Trucks.

Probably got the Extendobeds in 2015 or 2017 when we were running those trucks. Pretty nice system. It was awesome to have all our tools readily available and yet have some storage/hauling space above. We had cab high aluminum caps over the truck bed which further limited storage space.

The down side for the Extendobed were:
-if something fell off the top and got under the pull out, it could be a PIA to get it out.
-one's IQ determined how quickly they learned to not use the bed when parked on a hill
-the rack system was heavy...especially when loaded with gear...which changed how the truck handled at speed.
-the biggest surprise was when one of the guys got T-boned one night, the truck spun around and the bed got launched out the back of the truck....went about 70 feet and luckily didn't kill anybody. That said, I'm assuming the faulty drawer locks were re-engineered.

TruckVault was also a decent system. I only mention it because again, it was nice having drawers and some storage space in the back of our CSI rigs....which were Tahoes at the time. You wouldn't want it cuz ours were mostly constructed of particle board so storing wet stuff was not a good idea.

Although this could very well be Apples to Oranges...maybe there's some information above that might help.

Other than that, I have to share is a funny story...I have a 250 with canopy for my personal vehicle. I haul stuff occassionally and usually get bagged bark from Freddy's each spring that my wife and I load and unload ourselves. This year our backs were not wanting to play so my wife had the 20 bags delivered.

They showed up in something like a VW sedan. The delivery guy had his trunk loaded and more bags in the back seat....and he had to park right next to my truck while unloading....a wee bit embarassing. That said, we quickly got over it and will likely never load the stuff on our own ever again.

 

[Fourbtgait]

A plumber on job had one of the Deck systems. Granted it was older, but was warped some, leaked.
not sure how they are now.

 

[Divad]

I got my used canopy for $400 plus my old soft tonneau cover traded in the deal. The windows are tinted 15 or 20% so seeing in is quite difficult. I also modified a BakFlip hard tonneau to fit my truck and swap between those two setups.

It’s not exactly the system you mention but it provides a lot of security, storage and I can take off both by myself.

My buddy built one of those decked systems out of wood and he likes it, he uses it with a canopy. I’d find the year beds that your truck line up with and search for a canopy, then build a system afterwards if needed.

 

[Scottybs]

Steve,

Below is a lockable retractable tonneau I run on one of my trucks and I LOVE the setup. I also have a Bakflip MX4 on my other truck and I am hesitant to recommend that one. Take a look at the website, they should have a 5.5’ and a 6.5’ model.

[SyneTrac-Pro] - Short Bed: Aluminum Off-Road-Ready Manual Retractable Tonneau Cover

SyneTrac-PRO {{widget type="Magento\Cms\Block\Widget\Block" template="widget/static_block/default.phtml" block_id="21"}}

www.syneticusa.com

 

[Draketake]

Morning,

Steve I was able to DIY, a raised bed system for my daughters Ford Ranger. I was able to make it to where she could set up and take down, without tools. Think carriage bolts and wingnuts.

For under the raised bed storage you can find the appropriate sized plastic containers. They come in any number of sizes and lengths. You can rig up a rope and toggle pull system, to slide the containers in and out of the bed, when its raised/being used.

If your interested, there were lots of You Tube videos available for reference. If you need more info from me DM me. I can try and find the videos I went with.

Best part of the system was when my daughter wasnt camping in it and/or storing stuff under the raised bed for fish trips, she could remove the whole system, ( again no tools) in about 10 minutes. The truck bed became a truck bed again.

Not only was it a great sleep system for them, the under the bed storage kept valuables out of sight for road trips, fish trips etc.

Have fun configuring your truck to your needs.

Also keep in mind if I can do it....anyone can.

Bob

 

[_WW_]

If you can get a used canopy, and you have a locking tailgate...

 

[RCF]

If you can get a used canopy, and you have a locking tailgate...
View attachment 104302

How many flyrod tubes can you fit in there?

 

[_WW_]

How many flyrod tubes can you fit in there?

I leave the tubes at home. Rods go in lined and broke down with with reel covers on them. When it gets full I still have room in the trailer.
Solar panels and such in the other side.

 

[Steve Vaughn]

Steve,

Below is a lockable retractable tonneau I run on one of my trucks and I LOVE the setup. I also have a Bakflip MX4 on my other truck and I am hesitant to recommend that one. Take a look at the website, they should have a 5.5’ and a 6.5’ model.

[SyneTrac-Pro] - Short Bed: Aluminum Off-Road-Ready Manual Retractable Tonneau Cover

SyneTrac-PRO {{widget type="Magento\Cms\Block\Widget\Block" template="widget/static_block/default.phtml" block_id="21"}}

www.syneticusa.com

View attachment 104204View attachment 104202

Couple of question and comment:
1. What is the hesitation on recommending the Bakflip?
2. Sinetic looks great, but not sure retractability is worth the $$ for me. I am, however, intrigued by the rail system for adding accessories (racks).

 

[Jeff Sturm]

I have a Decked System for my 2015 GMC Sierra 2500HD. We used it while we were full time traveling in our RV (2016-18). I also had (and still have) a cap on the truck. After we settled down I kept the drawer system installed for a few months, but eventually pulled it out because the loss of the bed depth (with the cap installed) became too much of an issue with day-to-day usage as a homeowner vice a full-time RVer (tough to put tall things in the bed). And, I was driving around with it mostly empty most of the time. With the exception of a three week trip to SoCal in winter 2019/2020, it's been stacked in my barn getting dusty. I've considered putting it up on the Marketplace, but I recently acquired a JDM van and thought about using pieces/parts of it to build out the van interior for camping and sleeping. However, I haven't gotten around to measure anything as I'm still recovering from achilles surgery and I'm a bit lazy...plus I'm not sure it would be the most elegant solution to that problem.

My thoughts on the system:

While traveling, it was great. Made organization simple and efficient. One drawer was devoted to fishing stuff and the other to camping stuff. I never had any water issues but again, it was covered by the canopy the whole time. I have the cargo tracks (I forget what they're called) installed and that made secure stowage of bigger stuff really simple. The loss of bed depth wasn't an issue because of how we were using the truck at the time. System is well made and drawers have convenient dividers that make things easy.

Day-to-day usage around the home, it was less useful because I had the canopy. With a canopy, for me it's less useful. If I didn't have the canopy, I think I would still be using it, but not 100% sure. I've had it in the back of my mind to pull off the canopy and just use the drawer system, but can't get myself to commit. What's stopping me is one of the regular things we do is take the recycling to the dump in town and hauling cardboard and the tall trash cans I use for aluminum, plastic, glass, etc. without the canopy and with the limited bed depth with drawers installed seems a bigger pain than I'm willing to put up with right now. Losing a good 12-16 inches of bed depth doesn't sound like a lot until you see it in action (photo attached to give some scale).

If I was a contractor or something like that and used my truck for work, then I think it would be great. However, there are some limitations to the size of tools/gear you can stow in the drawers. I think newer systems have the option one big drawer which would be better for bigger stuff.

Sorry for the long answer, but I hope this helps...at least somewhat.

 

[Steve Vaughn]

I have a Decked System for my 2015 GMC Sierra 2500HD. We used it while we were full time traveling in our RV (2016-18). I also had (and still have) a cap on the truck. After we settled down I kept the drawer system installed for a few months, but eventually pulled it out because the loss of the bed depth (with the cap installed) became too much of an issue with day-to-day usage as a homeowner vice a full-time RVer (tough to put tall things in the bed). And, I was driving around with it mostly empty most of the time. With the exception of a three week trip to SoCal in winter 2019/2020, it's been stacked in my barn getting dusty. I've considered putting it up on the Marketplace, but I recently acquired a JDM van and thought about using pieces/parts of it to build out the van interior for camping and sleeping. However, I haven't gotten around to measure anything as I'm still recovering from achilles surgery and I'm a bit lazy...plus I'm not sure it would be the most elegant solution to that problem.

My thoughts on the system:

While traveling, it was great. Made organization simple and efficient. One drawer was devoted to fishing stuff and the other to camping stuff. I never had any water issues but again, it was covered by the canopy the whole time. I have the cargo tracks (I forget what they're called) installed and that made secure stowage of bigger stuff really simple. The loss of bed depth wasn't an issue because of how we were using the truck at the time. System is well made and drawers have convenient dividers that make things easy.

Day-to-day usage around the home, it was less useful because I had the canopy. With a canopy, for me it's less useful. If I didn't have the canopy, I think I would still be using it, but not 100% sure. I've had it in the back of my mind to pull off the canopy and just use the drawer system, but can't get myself to commit. What's stopping me is one of the regular things we do is take the recycling to the dump in town and hauling cardboard and the tall trash cans I use for aluminum, plastic, glass, etc. without the canopy and with the limited bed depth with drawers installed seems a bigger pain than I'm willing to put up with right now. Losing a good 12-16 inches of bed depth doesn't sound like a lot until you see it in action (photo attached to give some scale).

If I was a contractor or something like that and used my truck for work, then I think it would be great. However, there are some limitations to the size of tools/gear you can stow in the drawers. I think newer systems have the option one big drawer which would be better for bigger stuff.

Sorry for the long answer, but I hope this helps...at least somewhat.

View attachment 104472View attachment 104474View attachment 104475

Thanks, that discussion was helpful. Today I've been researching folding and retractable tonneau covers, but so far even the good ones seem to have water leaking problems even those with incorporated drains. So, with a canopy likely out of consideration I'm still leaning toward the Decked system.