Yea, have seen several vids of a couple different styles, they are cool but pricey. By the time I get the trailer and they do the mods I want and finish everything up I will have around $3800 in this one but it should last me a long time. My original Gravely is on its third owner and has been an offroad vehicle transport all it life, now living in Georgia (a friend owns it) and it is still a great trailer.

 

20 grand for an open trailer that only has a 4400 lb. load capacity, no thanks. The cool factor is there but wow.

 

Your totally right, rich mans toy. I didn't look into the cost because it's not practical for me. Just thought it was cool, I'm sure cost will come down in the future as others start engineering similar designs.

 

OP, great thread and great work! Getting some good ideas for mine from you.

Curious what your thought process was for going with the two 36W front LED lights vice going with the one 120w bar. Admittedly I'm writing this from my recliner at night without looking at how well a 22" light bar would fit.

 

Nice work on your truck man! I love seeing people taking the time to do installs cleanly & sharing their pics along the way.

Your front hitch, did you have the option of going between the lights higher up? Vs under the bumper like you've done? Was their any strength difference if you had a choice?

Ive got an 03 f-250 & have been looking into a front hitch to easily slide in & out a front winch with a hitch receiver cradle.

 

have you looked at www.decked.com
i just got this set up in my truck and love it! It is wall to wall with no black holes that seem to swallow up your goodies. Price is right too.

 

Not sure on a 22" but I know the 20" would fit. My plan is for a front camera and it will be mounted to the same bracket as these lights in between the two. I have bought a camera and mounted it, but it was a cheap one and had too many issue so I sent it back and am still looking for a good one.

 

I did not find a hitch that would come out in that area but will admit I did not look hard. I had this same model hitch on my last truck and broke a 30K strap with it trying to pull a tree stump and no problem with the hitch. I used it with my front mount winch also to recover off road vehicles so I knew it would serve my purpose. I believe it is rated for 9K lbs. Since the cancer, I do not off road much any more so I do not have to worry about clearance issues and the height of this works great with my tri-ball.
As to whether you could mount one higher....it would be close as the bottom of the intercooler is right there and there is framing to deal with. You can see some of it in the 2 pics below. Might squeeze in tho!

 

I have looked at many systems, the metal ones were really nice but close to $4k, the Decked system was one I seriously considered but was concerned with a few things on it for my application. The curved bottom drawers were a big issue for me and the length of the drawers. Being as I have worked wood for 40+ years and have a lot of tools for that purpose, I just decided to make my own and set out to plan. I am finishing a couple other projects currently and will probably start the drawers in the next couple weeks. I have 100 skateboard bearings, several hundred bolts, nuts and washers in a couple sizes, 1000 Kregg screws and aluminum angle ready to start the job. Should be a fun build.

 

Some nice stuff you do. All subtle changes built around functionality.

 

New trailer is about half done. Lot of rain here so there is rust on the steel but it gets wired down pre-paint. This place is awesome at custom builds. Welding still needed is stake pockets on front rail, plate to move jack back so tailgate can open, wire chain basket, spare tire mount with live hub for to use as emergency spare and then the winch mount. Trailer flat deck is roughly 16' and the dove is about 4' for 20' overall.





Cross members are welded all the way around. Stake pockets, rub rails and chain ties all solid welded.




Rims and tires are just movers, don't fret and I only get two of the ramps!! Round stubbs on the side are for rotating rear stands. Ramps lock in one each side and mount on the rear on either side but also can mount center to load quads.



Deck will be wood and frame will be all black with black rims. Prolly missed stuff but thats the main info.

 

Nice Work.

I like my Horns. They are mounted behind the Bumper. People have a issue about cutting me off when I pull my Boat. Electric Boat Horns will let them know that is not right. Audi's and BMW's along with Prius are the worst offenders. The Horn makes them Jump. Granted I'm close to 70' But!!!!

 

Thanks for the reply, and yup, you said that more than once. I need to pay attention!

 

Cool upgrades brother. I'm going to be doing a bunch of LED stuff coming soon.

 

So, the trailer build is still ongoing but I started on the next part of the truck project, the bed drawers.

Spent some time out sick but getting back on my feet and then momma wanted a coat rack built a special way with a western look, distressed / knotted wood, a warm glow and a little flare. So a week and a half more away from the truck and I got her rack built (yea, that don't sound right!!)....





So, that done and back to the truck. With the topper I can't have a cross bed box but need to store all my normal junk so I decided on drawers. The price of the metal ones knocked the air out at $3500 plus and so I found the Decked system but $1500 was still rather painful and I really do not like the curve bottom drawers or that they are short so we decided to build. The base design is easy but the drawer slides quickly became an issue. Pre-made slides with bearings are really expensive in those lengths and I did not want just slider style slides, I wanted bearings. So, I came up with a plan to build my own and got started.
I started with a base plate of 1/2" plywood and 3/4" plywood sides and back. Because of the old man step and handle on the tailgate the drawer has to be about 3" off the bed in order to clear the tailgate bumps. I want to keep the box low so we can pop a mattress on top when we top the bikes out of town so I needed to keep it down to the top of the wheel wells. That puts the box total about 10" high and it will be decked in 3/4" ply from side wall to side wall with outdoor carpet matched to the inside of the topper. Total cost based on my spreadsheet estimate is about $550.

We started on the base build.







The stringer across the front will be the height of the bottom of the drawer so it doesn't hit the tailgate when rolling out. The drawers are 75"l x 19-9/16"w x 6-1/2"d inside dimensions. Drawer is all made out of 1/2" ply and is screwed together using a Kreg jig. There will also be heavy sheet metal 4" x 4" x 7" angle plates down both sides and the back to make sure it holds the weight without punching out the bottom. since I have not done one of these, we went with making one drawer at time to get the layout correct. So, one drawer box assembled and then set in place with it narrow enough for the 1" square tube on each side..... more on those later in the build. Next is to make a jig for the 60 holes for the slide parts, but more on that later too.