From Fine Homebuilding Magazine
You may have to endure a 10 second ad before the fun starts..
Mark,
That's a cool site, thanks for the post. I use ford rangers for work trucks so the box would be too heavy. But the site is great!
Have a great week!
Jules,
If you don't mind telling..
How much did they hit you for?
Jim in NH
I got mine at Line-X of South Memphis, with the black Line-X coating, installed for about 1,350. Pricey, but it has a low profile, water proof, lockable, and my total station backpack fits standing up on my 2007 Tacoma. The best money I've ever spent on an equipment box.
> I got The DiamondBack SE Truck Bed Cover. I love it!
Pretty cool, but it wouldn't work for the Pacific NW. We work in the rain a lot.
Well what do you do?
I can work out the back of my truck with the lid down and the tail gate open.
> Well what do you do?
Every time you open the lid to get stuff out, when it's raining, it will be rained on. If you work in the rain every day all winter pretty soon it will all be soggy. Here in the NW we work in the rain. A truck canopy that keeps the gear sheltered even when open is a necessity.
Yeah. This is why I laughed so hard when some of the field guys in Arizona told me about their "10 drop rain policy" (ten drops on the windshield, pack it up!). If we did that here, we'd never get any work done.
Side note: Sorry I missed you at the conference, Mark!
> Yeah. This is why I laughed so hard when some of the field guys in Arizona told me about their "10 drop rain policy" (ten drops on the windshield, pack it up!).
at the road commission I used to work for, the policy was: first drop of rain to hit you is God's fault. second drop of rain to hit you is your fault. :rain:
> Yeah. This is why I laughed so hard when some of the field guys in Arizona told me about their "10 drop rain policy" (ten drops on the windshield, pack it up!). If we did that here, we'd never get any work done.
I laughed when I heard that the first time, too. Then I saw it rain in Arizona and I stopped laughing. We don't work in the snow and people from back east laugh about that. But it just isn't worth putting the gear at risk rather than waiting a few hours for winter to be over.
> Side note: Sorry I missed you at the conference, Mark!
We were about 10 feet apart at one point but you were engaged with a couple of other people. I figured to catch you later, but I didn't see you again.
> Yeah. This is why I laughed so hard when some of the field guys in Arizona told me about their "10 drop rain policy" (ten drops on the windshield, pack it up!). If we did that here, we'd never get any work done.
I started my career in Nebraska, we headed to the barn if you got 12 drops on a street brick.LOL:-D Then I moved the the Northwest and they worked in the rain!:-(
It took a while to get used to it. Eventually, I learned how to keep things as dry as you could and that you took everything in at night and cleaned it all up. And of course, learning how to dress for the day, sure glad they invented gortex;-)
Dugger
Because I have both a fishing boat and a 5'x10' trailer to haul golf carts, my mower, and a 4x4 side by side. I have always hated putting a topper over the bed of my truck. Too hard to see to back up trailers, plus you loose the use of the bed! If I wanted the bed permanently covered, I would have bought an SUV!
I have a standard truck tool box with a custom made aluminum box inside the bed, and a "Roll-N-Lock" bed cover. Very nice! The cover is made out of aluminum and covered by heavy vinyl. It pulls out in increments, or all the way. The back of my truck is water tight, thanks to the custom installation. This setup works great for me. I can empty the back of my truck in 10 minutes and still use my truck as a pickup for hauling.
I also made a removable cone rack by welding a receiver to the front of my truck:
Just thought I would share my survey rig with you guys for some ideas!
🙂
Steve
I LIKE the idea of the receiver on the front. I've had a grill on the receiver on the rear of my truck for the last 7 months. But when pulling my camper I can't use the receiver for the grill. How did you install the reciver? Was it custom or "store bought"?
Andy
Most trucks are set-up
for as simple of an install for the front as for the back. Look online and you will find many front receiver hitch options.
Usually just a bolt in application. If you have tow hooks, remove them and install hitch with supplied hardware (longer bolts in order to keep tow hooks.
Most trucks are set-up
Andy, mine is totally custom. Had to build some braces and a cross beam. It is all welded to the frame. I couldn't find anything in a store to put a receiver on the front of my 2006 F-150 Lariat. The front receiver is not attached to my front bumper, nor does the front bumper bear any of the weight of the receiver.
I've worked in the rain a few times but for the most part it isn't necessary in California. We have enough good days that working in the rain is more trouble than it is worth.
We did wake up to a rainy day in June (Fort Bragg) but we went to work anyway. By 2pm I looked like I had jumped into a swimming pool. The morning was OK because the rain hadn't made it down through the trees yet.
Now we are over there this week and next and it feels like summer; warm and somewhat humid.
Here is a site with some options -
The install instructions for my truck indicate bolting to the frame. Other applications and trucks may require different mounting methods.
The fire fighters put our home made plywood boxes to shame.
Their brush engines have high quality steel doors that work well (no cheap cr*p) and specialized machined tool hangers on the inside. They even have a refrigerator for cold water and gatorade as one of the boxes. We were admiring the Engine parked in the seasonally closed Fire Station we were using for lodging this week.
Dave
Somebody's got to say it: Must be nice to have the taxpayers pay for my gatorade cooler. The public services like fire protection don't ever seem to be lacking for good equipment; not that they should, but I don't see a lot of duct tape on fire hoses or bondo on the fire trucks like they would if they were privately run.
