Wanna see a $3500 bed upgrade?
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 2,582
Likes: 1
From: Fort Worth, Texas
Thank you everyone for your comments. I did forget one more mod I plan to do, a power tailgate lock.
Anyway, south_ms_sprcru, the boxes are a little pricey, they were about $250 each, but for me, it's what I needed, something that would fit under the cover, be out of the way of the king pin, and be accessible.
JackandJanet, I believe you lose 8 x 8 for the canister at the front and an additional 4" - 5" when the cover is opened, in other words, the cover does not completely go back into the canopy, the key lock section will stay out. So, I would say about a foot, it would work for a 6 1/2 foot bed and a fifth wheel.
rednoved, yes, they are undercover boxes, you will love them. I did all of the installs myself except the Rhino Lining. For your undercover boxes, mount the column first, then put the box on and swing it almost closed, line up the latch, hold it, swing the box back and drill it. I replace the supplied self tapping bolts with all stainless steel hardware and tapped the holes. I think I may add LED surface mount lights and mount them on the roll cover canister for addition lighting. The Recon lighting looks very good, and provides very good lighting, but I want more on my hitch when needed, maybe a switched setup for the additional lights. As far as how I like everything so far, I love every choice I made, like I said, the cover, I don't think they make a better one, I may be wrong, but this thing will probably out live the truck. The swing cases are perfect for me. If you need more room though, they may lack in that area, but for me, they hold the tools I need with plenty of room to spare.
Hopefully I answered all of your questions, if I missed one, let me know.
Anyway, south_ms_sprcru, the boxes are a little pricey, they were about $250 each, but for me, it's what I needed, something that would fit under the cover, be out of the way of the king pin, and be accessible.
JackandJanet, I believe you lose 8 x 8 for the canister at the front and an additional 4" - 5" when the cover is opened, in other words, the cover does not completely go back into the canopy, the key lock section will stay out. So, I would say about a foot, it would work for a 6 1/2 foot bed and a fifth wheel.
rednoved, yes, they are undercover boxes, you will love them. I did all of the installs myself except the Rhino Lining. For your undercover boxes, mount the column first, then put the box on and swing it almost closed, line up the latch, hold it, swing the box back and drill it. I replace the supplied self tapping bolts with all stainless steel hardware and tapped the holes. I think I may add LED surface mount lights and mount them on the roll cover canister for addition lighting. The Recon lighting looks very good, and provides very good lighting, but I want more on my hitch when needed, maybe a switched setup for the additional lights. As far as how I like everything so far, I love every choice I made, like I said, the cover, I don't think they make a better one, I may be wrong, but this thing will probably out live the truck. The swing cases are perfect for me. If you need more room though, they may lack in that area, but for me, they hold the tools I need with plenty of room to spare.
Hopefully I answered all of your questions, if I missed one, let me know.
Thread Starter
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Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 181
Likes: 0
From: Lehigh Valley, PA
rednoved, I was debating between several of the high end covers and I am very happy with my choice. Not saying the others are not any good, I am just happy with what I got for what I spent (hope that makes sense). Wanted to let you know their is one issue you may run into if you are getting the same boxes and cover. I mounted my hinges to my boxes about 1/2" higher then intended so that I could keep the factory tie downs (still had to flip the tie downs though). Anyway, the problem I ran into is that I could not mount the back rail mounts so I will have to come up with another method of clamping the back to mounts. You could actually get away with not clamping the back, but I am going to find a solution (small C clamp or something). Even if I would have mounted the boxes at the intended level, I believe the back mounts still would hit the top of the boxes. I was actually debating between the bed rug and Rhino myself, I ended up with the Rhino, but not for any particular reason. The bed rugs look very nice too. The boxes will hold what your looking for, because that's about what I have loaded, and I have the 20' 4 Gauge jumper cables from Sears (Big set). Also the boxes have a couple neat features that are not really mentioned in their ads. They have a release mechanism that ejects the box from the side toward the back. When closed, the boxes cannot be removed, so if the tailgate is locked, they are not coming out and walking away. If the tailgate is off or down, they can be pad locked to prevent theft.
Everyone else, thanks again for all of your positive comments.
Everyone else, thanks again for all of your positive comments.
Thread Starter
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Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 181
Likes: 0
From: Lehigh Valley, PA
Despite the poor reviews from Truckadons, I purchased the cover from them because the price was the best I could find. They were running a cover sale (10% off). I am pleased to say I had no problems, in fact, a very good experience with them. They contacted me to find out if I had the tailgate step and provided me with detailed tracking from the manufacturer to my terminal. The swingcases, I purchased from 4wheelonline because they had the best price I could find if you purchased the set.
Thread Starter
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Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 181
Likes: 0
From: Lehigh Valley, PA
rednoved, forgot to say that the switch for the bed lights is one of my Aux switches in the dash. I wanted the ability to turn the lights on while driving. I may install a 2nd relayed circuit and switch that would allow a switch in the back.
