i've been getting crazy ideas lately, and usually at night here ill post a thread to get input on it from you guys, since i'm so bored at night and i sit here browsing the interwebz at night and get these crazy ideas. last night it was a thread for the possibility of modding the hinges on the rear doors of a crew cab SD so the rear doors open wider, more like a 90 degree angle, so you can get large items in easier. that idea came about after seeing my buddies 2015 f150, while his is an extended cab, the rear half door opens all the way 180 degrees, so it's out of the way when loading gear in.out of the truck.

this thread i think is for an idea that actually could work, the hinge thing i think would require way too much modification/welding new hinges etc.

2 words. Honda Ridgeline.

I never knew until yesterday that they had a "secret" lifting door at the rear of the bed, opening up to a rather large storage area, and from some pics on google, looks to be able to be used as a cooler as well, which is cool. the spare is also in there.

im wondering, can this be done on a SD? if the spare is moved/relocated, is the space available to do so? i could cut the floor of the bed and use the cutout as the hinged lift gate to access the storage area, and then weld up a box and weld it underneath the bed, reinforcing the thin sheet metal of the bed as well of course. mine is a dually if that makes a difference, but i looked under just real quick and it looks like the space is there as long as the spare gets relocated. if this can be done i think im going to tackle this.

for some reason, since i got my 04 f350 dually 3 months ago, i've been constantly reading up on different mods/ideas to make the truck more practical in every way possible. for example, getting the most storage out of the truck, inside and out, without stuff being in the way (like a bed toolbox, which essentially would make my long bed a short bed) which i don't want. this under bed storage would not take up any valuable space what-so-ever. i also have a du-ha under seat bin coming in tomorrow to replace the OEM metal flip out tray, so i can utilize the space under the seat to store my more commonly used tools that i find myself taking with me more frequently, drills, screwdrivers, hammers etc.

i guess im doing all this because its my first real pickup (had a crappy old dodge dakota years ago, etc) but this is my first real, heavy duty truck. i've had my excursion, but i use that more for pleasure driving so i don't haul tools or wood/drywall/anything else inside it. i don't mind hauling dirty stuff with it, but only on a trailer. but now that i have my dually, i bought it specifically to use as a truck, not a fun driver and worry about every little scratch, so i want most of the mods i do to it to be practical. and the main thing is storage, and being a crew cab, we don't have much space/options.

i also made a thread about little storage bins under the cab floor in the rear seat area, like the newer RAM trucks have. again, added, hidden, storage, and not taking up any valuable interior or bed space.

sorry for the long post, i tend to ramble on, especially late at night when im just sitting here browsing the forum, so again, sorry lol.

here's the pics for those that may have not seen or heard of the honda bed storage:

 

The SD's have tons of wasted space under the beds in front of the rear tires. Side doors from outside the bed or bed floor doors could certainly be made to access it. The place the ridgeline opens would lead you to the spare tire storage on an SD.

 

it would be most convenient to have the "hidden access door" at the end of the bed, so you can drop the tailgate and get stuff from the hidden storage area the easiest, but having it at the front of the bed would be better than no extra storage at all.

i wouldn't want any access doors on the exterior of the body, i want it to appear factory and stealthy.

any pics with the bed removed so we can see what space there is to work with on a crew cab? assuming a dually would have the same amount of space?

it's a shame i cant do this on my excursion in the cargo area, my gas tank is in the rear, where our spare tire is on the SD's.

 

My uncle has a ridge line and that under the bed storage is great for storing stuff. Just remember to pull whatever you need before you load the bed. There has been a couple times where we having camping gear loaded in there and need to get something out of the bottom. One other thing is the tailgate on the sd only drops down so you have to reach over it or climb on it. The ridge line has a dual door that is like a regular tailgate and also swings open like a barn door. If I didn't need capacity of the sd, I would probably get a ridge line, my uncles 1st one had over 350k on the clock and still ran get till it was totaled. Honda still wanted to give him 6,000 on trade in for it before he sold it private, when he bought his new one. Which has 150k in 2.5 years, these aren't all easy highway miles either. A lot of it is off road, bushwacking.

 

Got a better idea for ya, a drawer. Replace the bumper brackets with a couple very sturdy drawer slides, hide a latch under the bumper, and build a box (or 3) on the back of the bumper. Now you have a hidden storage drawer where your bumper is the face.

 

That would be cool until someone hits the bumper.

 

Everything is cool till someone damages it.


I didn't think I'd have to spell it all out. You plan for that of course, not that the stock bumper and brackets are that tough anyway. Install a couple bump stops between the rear of the frame and the bumper so any impacts are taken by the bump stops and frame not the drawer slides.

 

I think it would be cool to do, but you'd have to cut out the spare tire cross brace that's under the bed. I'm not sure if that adds any integrity/rigidity to the frame or not, but it would hinder adding any storage area the way it sits now. Like you I want as much storage space as I can get and hate tool boxes in the bed. I've got a short bed with a Leer cap on it, and I opted for the leer locker (overhead pull out storage box) which has just as much storage space as a bed tool box, and it don't hinder floor space.

I would love to fab up some fold down doors in the bed walls to make better use of the wheel well space, but I can't see it being an economical fabrication. Post up a new thread if you venture into cutting things up because I'd love to see it.

As for the doors opening a full 110* I think that would be possible without much work at all.

 

my SD has a gas tank and two ends of the chasis as well as part of the hitch in the space indicated in the ridgeline photo.

I would like to see some boxes that could go either behind the steps or act as steps .