Opinions on Decked system.

So when we go camping, I usually put most of my stuff in rubbermaid type containers. Bedding stuff goes in one, dry food in another, one for recovery gear, one for "household" goods, (cooking/eating utensils, citronella candles, flashlights, batteries, etc) and my 5' bed usually ends up pretty well stuffed to the gills. I have a family of 3, and we are usually with my brother who has a family of 4. We normally camp at a spot for 1-2 nights and move on in the morning after breakfast.

My biggest complaint is having to move too many things around to access what I need, so 9 times out of 10 my entire truck ends up unpacked at every campsite in order to access stuff at the front of the bed, because it never fails that no matter how I arrange it, whatever is at the front, is always what I need.

I was looking into the decked system, as it looks pretty nice, however it looks like you also lose quite a bit of space, in order to gain that accessibilty. For those of you who have one, how do you like it? Do you feel like you actually have less space due to the actual structure of the system?

 

@ilubtimmyhos @ovrlndkull share some input

 

The decked system absolutely changed my situation for the better. I keep all of my cooking and kitchen stuff in the drawers. SUPER easy to take out and pack back up. I used to have to do the whole "move everything to get one thing" and those times are gone. i keep a 2 burner stove, 4-1lb propane bottles, a griddle pan, 2 skillets, a pot, a full cookware set, and enough plates/bowls/utensils for 7 people in it. As well as a bunch of other random things like bug spray, sun screen, toilette paper, etc. The bins that you can buy for the system work excellent for organization. My cap that i built still leaves me plenty of vertical room and the decked system actually gives me more tie downs with the added channels i have on top. I would never go back. Its heavy but i have better leaf's and it handles fine. If you want any more info or have questions let me know.

 

I checked them out at an expo a few years ago. They were super slick, very well made and seemed super durable. Way better than my garage built drawers. But they do lose a lot of space in between, on the sides and at the back. Also I could make 4 of my cheap drawer systems for the price of them.

 

I have the Dobinsons 111-R Leafs, rated for 660lbs constant load. Do you think they'd be sufficient?

 

Yea the system weighs just over 200lbs.

 

My thoughts exactly. For the price, I would have believed that they would have used more efficiency on the space provided and the drawer system that you can build at home can do this for cheaper. Ok, yes, a drawer system we build at home may not be able to hold 2000 lbs, but I have a cap and really don't need that. For the price you pay for one of these things, you can build a kickass one that is custom to your needs, modular, and built from "space age" lightweight and strong materials.

 

I def agree on the price. I got mine for $600 including the boxes and tie downs. I wouldnt have bought it full price. BUT I still love it.

 

Believe me, I am surely not knocking anyone that has one and I know that a lot of people do not have the capacity or know-how to make one for themselves. $600 is a great price for one of these. Nice buy sir.

 

Was just talking about this on another forum, so I'll copy-paste what I put:

As someone who has the decked system installed, it's pretty...meh. You're not missing much. Overpriced, and doesn't give you nearly as much storage space as they make you think. If you can pick one up for a decent price used it then it would be worth it. It is waterproof which is nice, but the drawers are pretty narrow and you basically lose all the storage space past the wheel wells. I went with it because I have a bed rack that wouldn't allow me to install a tonneau under it. I think if I had planned this out better, I would have gone that route and shopped for a bedrack that can fit a hard cover under it. Then maybe some rollers for storage bins. Would have been nearly the same effect and probably cheaper.

 

Maybe building one is a better option for me. I tend to buy things already made, because my projects always seem to get too involved and out of hand, lol

 

I think it depends too on how proficient you are at working with wood. I only know the basics and have built one in the past and it was pretty eh. With how expensive materials are right now, you'd still have a lot of money into a DIY one and wouldn't really be saving much weight. Just my opinion on it.

 

As a machinist, my first thought would be to use some thin square tubing. Which would probably make it even less worth it. Wasn't there a .sldprt file of the bed interior floating around somewhere?

 

I used sketchup to mock up my drawer system. Some kind soul made the tacoma bed and shared the file for it.
https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/mo...af039cf068/2011-Toyota-Tacoma-Truck-Bed?hl=en

 

If you buy one used as I did as well better worth the money full price meh not really. I like mine a lot but the weight well I'm going back to what I did before. I'm not overlandy enough for them. 200lbs on top of all the stuff you'll store in them is a lot. The weight and poor use of space are my only downsides. They are tough as hell and can take a beating.

 

Before going to the decked system, i would suggest rethinking your camp organization.

I would offer two things:

One, try to arrange from most to least used, followed by which gear gets used first/last at camp. Least used gear goes at the bottom of the box, least used box is closest to the cab. Same with first used/last used. Tent and kitchen go out first. Bedding usually second. Therefore your tent should be packed on top.

Two, consider switching your containers to something stout. I like the contico hard plastics myself. Lockable, durable, weatherproof, and they double as camp tables/benches. Very handy compared to a Rubbermaid tote.

 

The containers I use are pretty stout. I used rubbermaid as a broad term, but they're pretty rugged. Everytime I repack the truck, I usually try to re-organzie in a more efficient way, and it always seems that the first thing I need is buried, lol. I'll keep trying though.

Nice, thanks. I'm fortunate enough to have a copy of Solidworks that I use for work. I was able to find the stp file for a DCLB. I may have to modify it to DCSB.

 

Howdy! There's a lot of good information in this thread, and the negatives are outlined pretty well: It's expensive, heavy, and you lose space vs a custom built drawer system.
You gain organization, modularity, and durability. Their system is very well built, including the D-Boxes (at $50 each, they damn better be!).
I carry all of my recovery & air compressor stuffs in the left side. Right has tools, spare parts, and camping gear. The spaces and camping stuff comes out when I'm at home, and it's super quick to load/unload. It's nice.

I picked mine up used and saved a substantial amount. IMO, that's the best way to go about it, especially if you have the time to wait for one. $600 is a much better value, imo.

OP, have you looked into bedslides? I had one for a while, and if your stuff is already in boxes, it might help you out. IMO the best combination would be a Decked system with a bedslide on top. I tried it, but with a camper shell couldn't fit much on top. Had to lose the slide, but oh well. It was worth keeping the drawers.

 

Its a never-ending game, haha. I know that pain, believe me. Its the exact reason why I gave up the ground tent and bought a trailer.

Way back in the day, one of my senior college courses was a 6 week road trip across the southwestern US. (like camping, hiking, and drinking? Declare a geology major. ) We happened to be the last class that they allowed us to bring our personal vehicles along if we chose. That was a trial by fire, learning to pitch camp and have the grill lit in 30 minutes. Then everything packed back up in the mornings in 20, including homework turned in and notebooks ready for the next assignment. My camp boxes fell into a natural arrangement from that trip and I havent deviated from them since.

 

I have not looked into bedslides. However, after reading this thread and researching more I'm, leaning towards making my own, since I could customize it to my use. Decked would probably put my fridge too high up, and If I made my own, I could make some nice little rifle cubbies in it as well.