DECKED Truck Bed Storage System Test and Review
- Thread starter patoz
- Start date
patoz
Expedition Leader
Just a quick update because there's not much going on right now, except for the rain!
Yep, it's still raining about 6 - 8 hours every day, and clears up at night. Welcome to Florida! When it's not raining, the temperatures and humidity both shoot up to the 90s, which means I'm not getting any work done outside. So, I'm trying to catch up on some inside stuff like upgrading my computers, which I'm doing right now.
However, if anyone has any questions about the system please feel free to ask, and I'll try to answer based on what I know so far. Any suggestions are welcome also.
Thanks...
Yep, it's still raining about 6 - 8 hours every day, and clears up at night. Welcome to Florida! When it's not raining, the temperatures and humidity both shoot up to the 90s, which means I'm not getting any work done outside. So, I'm trying to catch up on some inside stuff like upgrading my computers, which I'm doing right now.
However, if anyone has any questions about the system please feel free to ask, and I'll try to answer based on what I know so far. Any suggestions are welcome also.
Thanks...
patoz
Expedition Leader
Well, we finally had a fairly cool (78°) clear morning, so I went out to make a very important addition to my truck, and maybe work with the DECKED System some more. I removed the dealer's logo and replaced it with a very high quality 3"x 5" American Flag decal/sticker. The black thing under it is the F250 badge, but all of the chrome is worn off of it.
I finished the job and went inside to put away my tools and get something to drink. I noticed it was getting dark very suddenly and within a couple on minutes, the bottom fell out and it rained hard for about 20 minutes. Now, I'm sitting here looking at steam rising off of everything and watching more rain moving in on the radar. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted!
I finished the job and went inside to put away my tools and get something to drink. I noticed it was getting dark very suddenly and within a couple on minutes, the bottom fell out and it rained hard for about 20 minutes. Now, I'm sitting here looking at steam rising off of everything and watching more rain moving in on the radar. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted!
patoz
Expedition Leader
Another quick update...
I'm still here, but now growing feathers and have webbed feet because it just will not stop raining! We have been getting about 8 to 10 hours a day of rain, and when it finally quits for a while, the standing water turns into steam with the 95° to 100° temps.
Now, we are looking at this in Pensacola for this all week...
I did however, make an observation yesterday about the DECKED system...
Since this truck is now my only vehicle, it gets used for everything including grocery shopping.
I learned pretty quickly, those plastic checkout bags will slide all over the Deck if you have to hit the brakes fairly hard, so I'm going to need to come up with some way of creating an easily removable fence or divider to keep them in place while driving. I don't have a set of the Core Trax 1000 tie-down tracks yet, but I may be able to design something that will attach to them and be easy to remove.
On a good note, there is about 12" of space between the rear of the DECKED unit and my tailgate, which is just right to place gallon jugs of milk, 2 ltr. bottles of soda, frozen foods, and other large heavy items. You just have to be careful when you open the tailgate so everything doesn't fall out.
If anybody needs some rain, come and get all you want, we have plenty!! Actually, I wish we could send some of it out west where they need it to fight the Forrest Fires!
I'm still here, but now growing feathers and have webbed feet because it just will not stop raining! We have been getting about 8 to 10 hours a day of rain, and when it finally quits for a while, the standing water turns into steam with the 95° to 100° temps.
Now, we are looking at this in Pensacola for this all week...
I did however, make an observation yesterday about the DECKED system...
Since this truck is now my only vehicle, it gets used for everything including grocery shopping.
I learned pretty quickly, those plastic checkout bags will slide all over the Deck if you have to hit the brakes fairly hard, so I'm going to need to come up with some way of creating an easily removable fence or divider to keep them in place while driving. I don't have a set of the Core Trax 1000 tie-down tracks yet, but I may be able to design something that will attach to them and be easy to remove.
On a good note, there is about 12" of space between the rear of the DECKED unit and my tailgate, which is just right to place gallon jugs of milk, 2 ltr. bottles of soda, frozen foods, and other large heavy items. You just have to be careful when you open the tailgate so everything doesn't fall out.
If anybody needs some rain, come and get all you want, we have plenty!! Actually, I wish we could send some of it out west where they need it to fight the Forrest Fires!
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patoz
Expedition Leader
Well, Fall is finally here, the rain has slowed way down, and it's starting to get a little cooler. Now instead of temps in the upper 90's we have temps in the lower 90's.
Anyway, this past weekend I attended a 3 day event (Fri - Sun) of camping and cookouts hosted by the Fire Department I used to work for. It was held at a place called 'Blue Angel Recreation Area', which is owned by the Navy and is located on the West end of the Florida Panhandle on Perdido Bay, which separates Florida and Alabama in that area. I'm guessing we probably had 150 people attend over the three day event.
Even though the temperatures and humidity were sky high, I was looking forward to it because it would give me a chance to use the DECKED System in a camping and semi-outdoor adventure environment.
Since the drawers were already full of tools, and recovery gear, none of that changed. What experience I gained this weekend was by unitizing the rest of the bed space with the system installed. Normally when I would go camping, I pretty much loaded the truck the same way each time. But, now with the DECKED System in place, I had to rethink that process and overcome any little obstacles it posed.
Normally, wheel wells get in the way, but at the same time they help keep things from sliding around. With the DECKED System in place, you have one big open area, with nothing to keep things from moving around unless you tie them down. Also, keep in mind everything is sitting 12" higher in the bed which puts things more in line with the rear window. That means blocked rear vision, and a better likelihood that something unrestrained may come flying through the back window in the case of a front end collision.
Remember, my F250 truck has an A.R.E. Camper shell on it, so simple task of loading heavy items like a fully loaded Igloo 48 qt. ice chest, and my two 24 Gallon Rubbermaid Action Packer camp boxes, became a real chore. Getting them to the tailgate was the same as always, but then I had to lean across the tailgate and 12” of bed to get them up the additional 12” and onto the drawer deck. Since I have Progressive Degenerative Lower Back Disease, this was no fun at all and caused me some concern. I will be looking for a safer way to accomplish this task in the future.
Also, having a camper shell on the truck reviled another problem, and that is gaining access in order to tie down items loaded onto the deck. There is a tie-down point located in each corner in the 'ammo can' storage pods, and you can purchase Core Trax 1000 tie down Strips for each side to secure items in place, but unless you tie the items down as you load them, you won't be able to reach the ones in the front once the items in the rear have been loaded.
The deck is fairly slick and things slide easily. Anything you sit on it near the rear will be up against the front of the bed the first time you hit the brakes a little hard. This is good and bad at the same time. It's good because it protects the deck from serious abrasions, but bad because it requires you to crawl into the bed area on top of the deck to retrieve everything that slid forward. I have a retractable boat hook that I use for this purpose, but it can still be a pain.
Having experienced all of this, I believe my best bet is going to be to install the lowest profile slide-out I can find on top of the DECKED System, with its own set of tie-down points or tracks. I think this will give me the best of both worlds and allow me to have pretty much full use of the front half of the bed for carrying items with easy access. However, at the same time I may lose the ability to carry things like 4'x 8' sheets of plywood or Sheetrock, etc. and have it lay flat. For people with no camper shell, this is not necessary because they can gain access over the side rails of the bed.
Anyway, just some things to think about and file in the back of your mind for future reference.
Here are a few pictures of the campsite and my truck at the cookout location. And for all the professional photographers on here, please excuse the quality of some of the pictures. I finally purchased a new camera to replace my old HP Digital one, and this is only my second time using it. It is the newest Canon T6s Rebel EOS, and all pictures were shot in the Automatic mode. I haven't learned enough about it to start using the manual modes yet.
These pics are from Friday night at the campsite. (click on the pictures to enlarge them)
Porky in the smoker...
Just some friends who were doing the cooking at night.
These were Saturday and Sunday at the pavilion where we had the actual get together.
Here you can see the space available above the deck and the difference in height to load heavy items. I had already unloaded most of the gear before I thought to take any pictures.
Looking west toward Alabama across Perdido Bay.
Good food with good friends.
Game time...
A shower popped up later that afternoon.
And finally, a beautiful way to bring closure to a fantastic weekend.
Anyway, this past weekend I attended a 3 day event (Fri - Sun) of camping and cookouts hosted by the Fire Department I used to work for. It was held at a place called 'Blue Angel Recreation Area', which is owned by the Navy and is located on the West end of the Florida Panhandle on Perdido Bay, which separates Florida and Alabama in that area. I'm guessing we probably had 150 people attend over the three day event.
Even though the temperatures and humidity were sky high, I was looking forward to it because it would give me a chance to use the DECKED System in a camping and semi-outdoor adventure environment.
Since the drawers were already full of tools, and recovery gear, none of that changed. What experience I gained this weekend was by unitizing the rest of the bed space with the system installed. Normally when I would go camping, I pretty much loaded the truck the same way each time. But, now with the DECKED System in place, I had to rethink that process and overcome any little obstacles it posed.
Normally, wheel wells get in the way, but at the same time they help keep things from sliding around. With the DECKED System in place, you have one big open area, with nothing to keep things from moving around unless you tie them down. Also, keep in mind everything is sitting 12" higher in the bed which puts things more in line with the rear window. That means blocked rear vision, and a better likelihood that something unrestrained may come flying through the back window in the case of a front end collision.
Remember, my F250 truck has an A.R.E. Camper shell on it, so simple task of loading heavy items like a fully loaded Igloo 48 qt. ice chest, and my two 24 Gallon Rubbermaid Action Packer camp boxes, became a real chore. Getting them to the tailgate was the same as always, but then I had to lean across the tailgate and 12” of bed to get them up the additional 12” and onto the drawer deck. Since I have Progressive Degenerative Lower Back Disease, this was no fun at all and caused me some concern. I will be looking for a safer way to accomplish this task in the future.
Also, having a camper shell on the truck reviled another problem, and that is gaining access in order to tie down items loaded onto the deck. There is a tie-down point located in each corner in the 'ammo can' storage pods, and you can purchase Core Trax 1000 tie down Strips for each side to secure items in place, but unless you tie the items down as you load them, you won't be able to reach the ones in the front once the items in the rear have been loaded.
The deck is fairly slick and things slide easily. Anything you sit on it near the rear will be up against the front of the bed the first time you hit the brakes a little hard. This is good and bad at the same time. It's good because it protects the deck from serious abrasions, but bad because it requires you to crawl into the bed area on top of the deck to retrieve everything that slid forward. I have a retractable boat hook that I use for this purpose, but it can still be a pain.
Having experienced all of this, I believe my best bet is going to be to install the lowest profile slide-out I can find on top of the DECKED System, with its own set of tie-down points or tracks. I think this will give me the best of both worlds and allow me to have pretty much full use of the front half of the bed for carrying items with easy access. However, at the same time I may lose the ability to carry things like 4'x 8' sheets of plywood or Sheetrock, etc. and have it lay flat. For people with no camper shell, this is not necessary because they can gain access over the side rails of the bed.
Anyway, just some things to think about and file in the back of your mind for future reference.
Here are a few pictures of the campsite and my truck at the cookout location. And for all the professional photographers on here, please excuse the quality of some of the pictures. I finally purchased a new camera to replace my old HP Digital one, and this is only my second time using it. It is the newest Canon T6s Rebel EOS, and all pictures were shot in the Automatic mode. I haven't learned enough about it to start using the manual modes yet.
These pics are from Friday night at the campsite. (click on the pictures to enlarge them)
Porky in the smoker...
Just some friends who were doing the cooking at night.
These were Saturday and Sunday at the pavilion where we had the actual get together.
Here you can see the space available above the deck and the difference in height to load heavy items. I had already unloaded most of the gear before I thought to take any pictures.
Looking west toward Alabama across Perdido Bay.
Good food with good friends.
Game time...
A shower popped up later that afternoon.
And finally, a beautiful way to bring closure to a fantastic weekend.
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patoz
Expedition Leader
DeltaNu1142,
I'm glad my review helped you in some way, and I'm sure the guys at DECKED are happy you chose their product also.
I wanted to wait about six months before I wrote a summary, and I'm way past that now. It's about half done, but somehow things just keep getting in the way. I had no idea I would have so much to do after I retired from the Fire Service, or is it maybe I'm just getting much slower?
Anyway, I'm glad you're enjoying the DECKED system and yes, the A.R.E. shells are extremely nice. Mine was already on the truck when I bought it, so I lucked out there!
I'm glad my review helped you in some way, and I'm sure the guys at DECKED are happy you chose their product also.
I wanted to wait about six months before I wrote a summary, and I'm way past that now. It's about half done, but somehow things just keep getting in the way. I had no idea I would have so much to do after I retired from the Fire Service, or is it maybe I'm just getting much slower?
Anyway, I'm glad you're enjoying the DECKED system and yes, the A.R.E. shells are extremely nice. Mine was already on the truck when I bought it, so I lucked out there!
Ford F 250
Hello Pat, thanks for doing such an awesome review. I was wondering if you noticed the gap between the end of the Decked and the tailgate. I have a Ford F 250 with the 6.9 bed and there is a large gap. I am a Firefighter/Paramedic and will be getting paired with a USAR search dog shortly. I am looking for a system that can hold all of my equipment and the dogs gear. I am concerned with the dogs legs getting caught in that gap.
I also do fishing tournaments so being able to easily swap out gear is a must.
Thanks,
Therin
Hello Pat, thanks for doing such an awesome review. I was wondering if you noticed the gap between the end of the Decked and the tailgate. I have a Ford F 250 with the 6.9 bed and there is a large gap. I am a Firefighter/Paramedic and will be getting paired with a USAR search dog shortly. I am looking for a system that can hold all of my equipment and the dogs gear. I am concerned with the dogs legs getting caught in that gap.
I also do fishing tournaments so being able to easily swap out gear is a must.
Thanks,
Therin
malibubts
Adventurer
The short bed and standard bed systems are each the same length between the different truck models, this helps them keep cost down.
75.25" length overall. So on the Ford you'll have a 5-6'" gap between the end of the system and the tailgate.
https://shop.decked.com/pages/technical-specs
patoz
Expedition Leader
Thanks Therin, for the kind words!
I still need to post the final summary for this review, which is about half complete at his time, and I have addressed your issue in it.
Malibubts is correct in his statement about the space between the end of the DECKED system, and the tailgate on a short-bed Ford F-250. I have exactly 7" of space on mine, which is just enough to sit a gallon of milk when grocery shopping.
I don't think there would be any problem with a dog getting stuck in that space at all, however he/she could slip and somewhat fall into it depending on their size. If that is a problem, it wouldn't be too difficult to add swing up deck section(s) similar to a leaf on the side of an end table, to fill that gap. Or, depending on how often you would need it, you could just build a wooden filler piece(s) with legs that just sat there and bridged the gap. If you placed the legs in the right place, the drawers would still open under it too.
BTW, it's always great to meet another Firefighter/EMT/Paramedic on here.
I hope this helps and good luck with with your new four legged friend!
I still need to post the final summary for this review, which is about half complete at his time, and I have addressed your issue in it.
Malibubts is correct in his statement about the space between the end of the DECKED system, and the tailgate on a short-bed Ford F-250. I have exactly 7" of space on mine, which is just enough to sit a gallon of milk when grocery shopping.
I don't think there would be any problem with a dog getting stuck in that space at all, however he/she could slip and somewhat fall into it depending on their size. If that is a problem, it wouldn't be too difficult to add swing up deck section(s) similar to a leaf on the side of an end table, to fill that gap. Or, depending on how often you would need it, you could just build a wooden filler piece(s) with legs that just sat there and bridged the gap. If you placed the legs in the right place, the drawers would still open under it too.
BTW, it's always great to meet another Firefighter/EMT/Paramedic on here.
I hope this helps and good luck with with your new four legged friend!
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Hello
Have you seen or read about a "Decked" single drawer ( web site for decked did not have one that "I" could find ), application is for the back seat area of a crew cab ( seats removed for storage ), so a short bed version ( 5.5', maybe ) unless a custom length could be "acquired".
Terence
Have you seen or read about a "Decked" single drawer ( web site for decked did not have one that "I" could find ), application is for the back seat area of a crew cab ( seats removed for storage ), so a short bed version ( 5.5', maybe ) unless a custom length could be "acquired".
Terence
patoz
Expedition Leader
OK guys, here is what a lot of you with mid sized trucks have been waiting for...
https://decked.com/pages/midsize
Ovrlnd Rd
Adventurer
That's an interesting configuration with one wide box and one narrow box.
I installed my unit in my 2015 Nissan Titan and LOVE it. Heading to Big Bend at the end of the month for it's first overlanding test.
Hey Patoz,
It's been a while since we checked in here and I wanted to first thank you for your time and engagement in the review and handling so many questions for us! We have been incredibly busy getting the midsize system created and launched so it's great to see you have already posted on here the availability of the product for the Tacoma-Colorado-Canyon-Frontier communities.
It was a big day yesterday (fortunately the internets didn't break!) and while we are nearly sold out of our first batch there still is some availability!