Thinking of changing from an open shortbed with a tool box to carry my day-to-day stuff to a hard bed cover and a sliding bed tray.

I intentionally installed a low tool box that sits below the rails so the topper can be mounted for road trips.

My thinking is that the hard cover can provided the same weather protection as the topper (albeit with less room) and the can slider can make all of the stuff rather easy to reach.

The bed slider is 8" shorter than the length of the bed.

What could I put up front that only used 8" of bed length? Fuel tank?

Or should I mount the slider all the way forward and have the 8" at the tail gate for the occasional grocery bag, vacuum pump or case of brake cleaner?

 

Ahh. Thats what you meant.

The ford beds are a tad bit longer than other companies. =)

 

I vote fuel tank w/x-fer pump and toolbox... I ran a tank on my old OBS and loved it... I was able to save money by buying only cheap fuel vs having to stop and refuel at whatever place I was near. It also made it easy to treat my fuel (diesel clean and/or 2-stroke oil).

 

x2 on that! I put my vote on the extra fuel tank, might have to be custom made though.

 

Not sure what cover your getting but this is what I'm gettin for my RAM
Retrax My Truck | Retrax

A lift up cover my be a PITA to get to your tool box

 

+1, My first impression of the thread title was that the OP was telling us about his dimensions or something.

 

Ah, ok. Well title was slightly misleading, and provocative.. An Air compressor might fit sideways there.. Or a water/meth injection system..

 

Yes, the topic title is a bit juvenile….

After the D60 swap the truck sits higher so I'm getting closer to installing the slider and resurrecting this thread.

The tool box will come out. I can find/fab some boxes that set on either side of the slider in front and behind the fender wells for the the "always on the truck" stuff, hitches, straps etc.

Standard fuel tanks are expensive, a custom tank is likely not in my future. The bronco rear tank mod is closer to my budget.

So, it's mount it tight to the front of the bed or leave it tight to the tail gate. If it is to the front I'll always have misc stuff floating around in front of the slider. If to the rear then stuff could spill forward. some nice rails that go on the sides and the front did come with it. Wonder if I can drill another set of slider lock holes, mount it to the front but have another set of lock holes so I could lock it to the rear….hmmm, best of both? I'll go look after work.