DIY Truck Bed Platform and Storage

If you're a bit too much into gear, like me, let me show you a relatively cheap and easy way to organize and store all your stuff.  And maybe it'll even allow you a nice platform to sleep on during your outdoor pursuits, when even the dirtiest "roach motel" with a haze of perpetual cigarette smoke is miles away, or if the Holiday Inn isn't in your budget at the moment.  

There are companies that make these type of truck bed storage systems, such as Decked, etc.  However, this is a cheaper, and simpler alternative, though maybe not perfectly waterproof or perfectly thief proof.  Still though, it's better than an open truck bed, with gear and tools and spent shotgun shells and Hardee's biscuit wax paper from an early morning wood duck hunt and who-knows-what-else strewn about in a homogenous mix and you can't find whatever it is you need that's somewhere in there.  

If you're into gear, there's also a further chance, like me, you enjoy testing your "do it yourself" skills.  Most trucks have notches over the wheel wells on either side the truck bed.  Perfect for 2x4s.  Simply measure, cut the 2x4s to length, and then get a sheet of plywood to go across.  Notch the 2x4s if you want to take the time to make it flush.  You can even put in a center support, as I did at first, but I found I didn't need it.  If you don't use a camper shell or topper, you can buy exterior grade lumber and further weatherproof the wood by slapping some polyurethane or something similar on there.  You can zap it all together with some screws and attach the whole thing to the truck bed's attachments with a turnbuckle, or leave it loose for ease of removal, as I have now done.  If you do "tie" it down with screws and turnbuckle attachments to the truck bed's D-rings, and if you have a locking tailgate, you've now got some more lockable storage.  

You can then get plastic bins, like these on Amazon, or something else similar, depending on the length of your truck bed.  Or build some boxes out of wood.  Some folks build "legit" drawers on tracks.  That's the beauty of a system like this, it can be as simple and rough or as refined and finished as you want.  

And if you're camping out of your rig, grab a 2 or 3 inch memory foam mattress topper to go on top of the platform.  You may need to build an extension for the platform if you've got a short bed, like my Tacoma.  I swear I've slept better on that thing than I do in my own bed at home.  Go a step further and buy an awning that you can mount on your roof rack, like this one that came with my Facebook Marketplace camper shell.  

Top it off with an adjustable shower curtain rod to attach things to, like line or rope, along with a "truck stick," a wooden dowel rod with a hook screwed into the end (idea curtesy of Eddie Nickens), to help grab things beyond arms reach and to keep you from scrambling around and banging up your knees in the truck bed.  

So if you're getting antsy, and you're looking for a project, consider a little more organization in your life, for your truck bed at least.