The Big Reach

  Project ideas come and go. As I stumble through life I manage to dream up a lot of projects that are just fun or maybe a learning experience or an exploration. The best projects are the ones that fulfill a need and lately I've been struggling with "the big reach". The big reach may also involve crawling on my knees or jumping to the ground. What am I talking about? 

 If the picture doesn't explain it then I will. Reaching from the liftgate toward the front of the truck for an object just out of reach can be difficult. With my last truck I used a broom to drag things to the rear. My 50+ pound toolbox won't drag on carpet and anyway I should be smart enough to come up with a better way. 

 Bed slides are the answer. In fact bedslide may be a brand name of a truck bed insert that is on rails and just pulls out allowing access to the entire load. I need one of these in my life to save my aching knees. Because I'm a gearhead on a budget I can avoid the $1500+ investment of a store bought unit and just build exactly what I want. 

 The absolute cheapest way to build one is to just let it slide on the carpet. The problem with that is you can only pull it halfway out before it will want to tip forward. Thats a fail when I consider some goals I've set which include:

-Full extension slides so the furthest back pieces on the deck slide out to the tail gate.

-Low deck height. I don't want to build a slide system that ends up raising the deck height more than 4" off the existing carpet.

-Use of available material. I'm struggling with this one.

-Low cost, after all I'm a gearhead on a budget.

-The possibility of a stow away ramp

-Easy removal. I don't want this to be so permanent that replacing the third row seating isn't an option. 

 Ideas come and go and often get revisited. I'm not sure what the trigger is but sometimes a rerun idea just gets stuck in my head and the only way out is to build it. A bed slide is stuck in my head so stay tuned for updates on this project.

Later.