DIY Load Bearing Bed Cover

Hey all, I figured I would start a thread to keep track of my bed cover progress. I’m taking on this endeavor because I am unable to find a bed cover on the market that is exactly what I want. And I don’t want to pay +/-$1000 for something that just sorta fits what I’m looking for.

The goal: make it one piece, very secure, lower profile, load bearing, and hinged at the front of the bed. Also have it easily removable with two people (or possibly a cheap hoist) and be 99% waterproof.

I am starting with a 0.125” x 59.750” x 61.938” sheet of aluminum. The framing below will be 0.188” thick angle and rectangular tubing. Once the fabrication is done, I plan on bed lining the top surface.

 

Just playing around with my simple hinge design. Determining how far I would like it to open, thickness of edge seals, etc. I got some of the frame cut up yesterday and might start welding on it next week. As of now, it should come in at 90 pounds.

 

I have all the angles and rectangular tubing cut up. Just waiting for the chance to weld it up.

 

Are you going to put a shelf inside that the beams lay on? Otherwise all the load is being held up by the lip along the top of the bed rails.

 

@Juisebocks

 

My plan is to have the lip (0.188” angle + 0.125” welded skin) support the weight. I did a few calculations using just the 0.188” thick frame and it was evident that it would be able to support anything I was ever going to lift on top of it. I hope I didn’t punch in a number wrong!

 

I wish I had an stress analysis package here at work to get a more accurate estimate.

 

I haven't had any luck with getting a good seal without taking off the bed rail caps. I always seem to develop a leak that comes in from one or both of the front corners closest to the cab.

Structurally, I'd say that so long as you don't do any single point heavy loads on the sheet, you'll be fine. If it's something like a box, cool. But anything with feet, like a chair with small feet is going to dimple the sheet between the cross bars.

Are you going to keep the smooth top, or add tiedowns on the edges? Maybe a bed mat secured with D rings?

 

Thank you for the input! What type of cover do you have? Is the leak that you get in the front corners enough to get your cargo wet? Or does it just trickle down the bed sides?

I think after I get the top surface bed lined I will probably mount 4-5 feet of L-track down each side. That way I have an “infinite” amount of tie down points going up both sides. I haven’t completely made up my mind though.

 

I have used a number of covers. I have used a tri-fold tonneau cover, an aluminum camper shell, and a custom 2x4 and tarp abomination.

The water was never more than a strong trickle, but it was an issue for me because I was regularly using the bed for sleeping and if the truck was at an incline in the wrong way, the trickle was a problem. An elevated platform solved my issue, but I never really stopped the leaks in any setup.

It would also leak/trickle/flow at highway speeds in the rain. Again, not a huge deal, but definitely not "waterproof"

I imagine it's possible to seal those corners if you pulled the bedside tops and did some sealing underneath. It was always more work than I cared to do because I had a platform to keep me dry.

 

Also, L track is a good idea. I was going to suggest it.

 

That’s good to know! I think my issues in those corners may be compounded because I plan on hinging the cover up there.

I plan on putting a bulb seal or maybe 0.5” foam tape around the outside of the cover. I hope I can get away with keeping all the sealing components on the cover. That way when I remove it, I’ll have nothing extra secured to the bed.

 

You have the right idea. It should just be a matter of finding where/if it leaks and sealing appropriately.

Another thing to consider is water loads on the sheet. It might not be an issue, but my tonneau had an arch to it so that water didn't pool.

I think you're on the right track though. Are you adding lift assist shocks? It might be cool to be able to lift the cover with a significant load on top.

 

Wow nice design!

 

I absolutely want to add shocks to assist with opening. I haven’t considered opening it with stuff on top, but that would be cool if I had shocks that assisted with that also.

 

Thank you! I hope it works out like I plan!

 

Have you considered making or buying the bedside caps that replace the plastic pieces with flat top steel?

 

Yeah. And then the whole building a custom shell thing would be no brainer, which was my goal until recently.

In the interest of not starting another project and saving a bit of cash, I opted to use the platform as my solution because it was going in anyway.

 

It’s been a while, but I finally got this thing welded up. Now I have to clean up all the welds / slag, and add some mounting holes.

 

Did you take on an aluminum stick welding project?

I can't imagine how much time you spent getting the slag off. I have a box of Al welding rods that I'll never use because the slag is freaking impossible to get off.