I'm sure most of the people on this thread have seen the old school dentside trucks with the toolbox/access door on the bedside. Has anyone ever attempted to do something similar on an OBS and if so I'd love to hear about the project and see some images. I Like the idea of a tool box there for my tire chains rather than just throwing them in the bed when not in use. Thanks in advance for the responses!

 

I thought about this as well, I havent seen any solutions. I might just get a versa stack toolbox modular system at lowes and secure it with a bungie cord.

 

A Versa what? I haven't seen those...

 

I was just looking into this a couple of weeks ago. Not sure if it’s been done or not, but this is what I was thinking. Definitely doable. I think the general dimensions were 11” height, 22 length, 16” deep. Not real big, but enough for a few things. I used a small tackle box to model it around. I figured it would be big enough for a small tool box/bag, coveralls, spare boots and gloves etc. Passenger side. Drivers would be nicer, but parking brake cables, fuel filler, etc etc. passenger side there was nothing there on mine. ‘96 F250 RCLB.

I have a Hartwell latch I was thinking of using, two would be better. Use part of the skin you remove for the door. But the cut out section would be smaller, and the bend the outisde left in 90*, and just extend the piece you cut out to fit. 90* flanges around door opening. Make doubler for the back side of the door for strength. Piano hinge for hinge. Cut out part of the second cross member to fit box flush to bed floor. Trim spot welded flange where the sections of box floor meet, weld. Door would open downward. 1/8” HD foam tape for seal.

Bit more to the structure, I made a quick sketch of it, and laid it out and took a couple pics, but this should give you a couple of ideas.










Let’s us know if you do it. I haven’t yet, but still thinking about it. I’m interested to see if anyone else has done it and how they did it.

 

My only concern is I have a short bed. I'll have to crawl under there and lay it all out much like you did. I would very much like to do a box on both sides of the truck even if the driver's side ends up being smaller. I really want to maximize the storage capacity of the truck without losing the bed to never ending tool boxes. I'll keep the thread updated as I progress and make my final decisions.

 

Any body know when the factory stopped doing these?

 

I don't think I've ever seen an OBS with them. The latest I can remember seeing them would be in the Dentsides. (Doesn't mean it wasn't done, just that it wasn't very common if it was)

 

1979 was the last year I found for them. This thread had some good info on them. Post #15 (77&79F250) posted a couple pics of different ones.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-tool-box.html

 

Looks like a good guide on how they did it.

Looking forward to see your progress. Good luck.