Decked vs Diamondback for camping and ski trips?

[Trucks2019]

Trying to decide what’s best for my situation. I have a short bed tacoma and want something that is good for storing gear for climbing/camping trips and mounting snowboards and bikes to the bed. The diamondback HD is more expensive than the decked here in Canada. The decked is more weight though and not sure if that would require me to upgrade the stock suspension...

thanks for any opinions on this.

 

[drrobinson]

I've got a Decked system in my Frontier long bed and my advice is that the two systems are very different animals. The Decked system is drawers, that can be subdivided for organization. It also has a lot of wasted space for the drawer mechanism. On a postive note, everything can be easily accessed and organized. Shifting loads is not a problem. Getting at stuff in the middle/front of the bed is easy because when the drawers are open you can be standing at the tailgate on the ground and reach anything along the whole length of the drawer.
I don't have a Diamondback, but from what I can tell from the website you likely have more usable space, because the entire bed is available for cargo. However, I would imagine load shifting would be a nightmare, and would require some form of secondary organization i.e., bins, bags, etc. under the cover. Looks like you have lots of hatches to get at stuff, but you are reaching over the bed rail into a compartment. Getting at stuff in the center of the bed would be a difficult reach from the ground with a lifted truck, in my opinion.
So bottom line, I think it depends upon your cargo and intended use of the vehicle. For me the drawers give me secure, weather resistant, highly organized storage at the cost of some storage space, and extra weight. YMMV

 

[Trucks2019]

I've got a Decked system in my Frontier long bed and my advice is that the two systems are very different animals. The Decked system is drawers, that can be subdivided for organization. It also has a lot of wasted space for the drawer mechanism. On a postive note, everything can be easily accessed and organized. Shifting loads is not a problem. Getting at stuff in the middle/front of the bed is easy because when the drawers are open you can be standing at the tailgate on the ground and reach anything along the whole length of the drawer.
I don't have a Diamondback, but from what I can tell from the website you likely have more usable space, because the entire bed is available for cargo. However, I would imagine load shifting would be a nightmare, and would require some form of secondary organization i.e., bins, bags, etc. under the cover. Looks like you have lots of hatches to get at stuff, but you are reaching over the bed rail into a compartment. Getting at stuff in the center of the bed would be a difficult reach from the ground with a lifted truck, in my opinion.
So bottom line, I think it depends upon your cargo and intended use of the vehicle. For me the drawers give me secure, weather resistant, highly organized storage at the cost of some storage space, and extra weight. YMMV

Thanks, it’s really for camping and hauling other adventure gear. I’d be mounting bikes, snowboards and surfboards on a bed rack of sorts so the drawers do probably make better sense.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

A Diamond back with a bed slide under it would be my choice. You can mount a Front Runner rack on top if the Diamond back to hold your bikes.

 

[Trucks2019]

A Diamond back with a bed slide under it would be my choice. You can mount a Front Runner rack on top if the Diamond back to hold your bikes.

I like the idea but quite pricey when the costs add up.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

I like the idea but quite pricey when the costs add up.

That is definitely true...lol.

 

[m-l_johnny]

Unless you're planning on loading atv's on the Diamondback, why would you need the hd?
I have the standard Diamondback on a Tacoma 6' bed and love it. I feel that when locked, items are more secure in the bed than they would be in the cab.

 

[kwill]

Unless you're planning on loading atv's on the Diamondback, why would you need the hd?
I have the standard Diamondback on a Tacoma 6' bed and love it. I feel that when locked, items are more secure in the bed than they would be in the cab.

I have a DB on a 5' bed with their 13" tool tray. It swallows up tools, jackets, a bottle jack, snatch straps, etc. leaving the bed clear for water jugs and other gear. I've had a drawer system in the past and didn't like the limitations it introduced. But, the problem with these forums, as helpful as they can be, is that for every opinion there is an equal and opposite opinion. (That a law of physics, I think.)

 

[Trucks2019]

I have a DB on a 5' bed with their 13" tool tray. It swallows up tools, jackets, a bottle jack, snatch straps, etc. leaving the bed clear for water jugs and other gear. I've had a drawer system in the past and didn't like the limitations it introduced. But, the problem with these forums, as helpful as they can be, is that for every opinion there is an equal and opposite opinion. (That a law of physics, I think.)

I’ve ordered the SE and an 8” crossbin. You have me considering the 13 and whether I should change my order. With the 13 do you think you could slide a couple of sets of skis and snowboards underneath?

 

[m-l_johnny]

I’ve ordered the SE and an 8” crossbin. You have me considering the 13 and whether I should change my order. With the 13 do you think you could slide a couple of sets of skis and snowboards underneath?

I had to look on Diamondback's website to see what the 13 is. I've had mine for 4 years and I don't remember if they had that then.
I don't know the answer to your question. I would think the snowboards would fit without any issue with the cross box in place. I don't know if it goes low enough to prevent the ski's from fitting diagonal if they needed to with the 5' bed.
It's worth a call to Diamondback to ask! I've had good experiences with their customer service.

 

[kwill]

Yes, I think skis and snowboards would fit but I'd second the motion to get the specs from DB to be sure.

 

[gmtech]

topper..

 

[m-l_johnny]

As a side note for anyone with a DB, I have my rear section latches adjusted so that at full closure, they engage on the bottom of the cargo rail. This allows me to engage the latch bars IN the rail if desired. In this configuration there is a gap between the cover and bed rail so it doesn’t become an absolute unvented oven in the summer sun. And it’s still lockable....