DIY Truck Bed Rod Vault

Everyone has seen the Rod Vaults for the last few years on top of vehicles near the rivers. I wanted a way to store my fly rods in the bed of my truck rigged and ready for any spur of the moment fishing adventure. I saw the idea of the River Quiver mounted in the bed of a truck. Problem is I didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars and then have to cut it down to size for my 5'5" truck bed. So I started looking into other methods. I have seen ideas online but I didn't really care for them. So I finally came to a solution that I think works for me.

My truck is a 2016 F-150 with the 5'5" bed. It has a tri-fold cover on the bed to protect it from prying eyes. I have also mounted it so it is as close to the side as I could and still use most of my bed.

Below is a breakdown of the items I used.

20' 2" SCH 40 PVC

(3) 2" PVC Caps

(6) 2" PVC Brackets

(3) PVC Female Adapter Fittings

(3) PVC Male Adapter Fittings

Ammo Box: This is the one I chose since I put 3 tubes on it.

6' Pipe Insulation for inside of PVC tube

PVC Glue

Misc. Wood: This consisted of plywood, 1x2, and 2x4 for the brackets inside the ammo can and also the brackets for the truck.

Black Paint: I used an old basic black paint for all of the brackets parts and the rod vault

This step will be different depending on multiple factors. These include: type of vehicle, number of rods for vault, vertical or horizontal mounting for the tubs on the vault, location of mount, etc.

My setup needed to be out of the way as much as possible and with 3 rods. Ford has mounting brackets in the front and rear with 2 holes. This was the foundation of how I built my brackets to hold the rod vault. I mounted it vertical so the reel would sit on plywood with foam to protect the reel.

This step will determine the length of the PVC pipes with brackets and ammo can. My truck bed is 66" long. I wanted to make sure the ammo can could not be opened with the tailgate shut if the bed cover was open. So I made the length of the rod vault 65 3/4 inches long.

The brackets that bolt to the Ford factory side brackets needed to stick out 6 3/4" so I could have the ammo can as close to the sideway of the bed as possible.

The next measurements were for the wood brackets that the rod vault would be mounted on. I used some scrape wood pieces and cardboard to mock up the brackets to make sure they would fit.

I also used cardboard to mock up the wood for the reels to sit on inside the ammo box.

This is the final look of all the wood that was used and cut for the brackets and the reels inside the ammo box.

The 2x4 and the 2x6 were the brackets that attached to the mounting point in the truck.

The plywood and the 1x4 were used in the ammo box for the reel to sit on with foam padding glued to it.

I mocked up the inside of the ammo box with cardboard to be able to mark where the plywood would need to go for the reels to sit on. Once I had the locations marked, I measured the bottom of the ammo box to spread the reels evenly. Once I had the locations set, I drilled 2 pilot holes and then used a jigsaw to cut for the male connector ends.

Then I cut the wood pieces, painted them, and them screwed them to the ammo box.

Being that I have a trifold bedcover, I just wanted to paint the rod vault to blend in the bed. I had an all-purpose flat black paint. I brushed on 2 coats to cover everything.

If I had it to do over, I would have used spray paint. This way the brush lines wouldn't have been so obvious.

Once I had the wood brackets mounted to the factory ford mounting points, I was ready to mount the rod vault. I used scrap wood to hold up the PVC pipes to see how high I needed to mount the rod vault to the wood brackets. I also needed to make sure that I didn't block latch for the trifold cover. Once I had the location, I screwed the top PVC strap on both ends of the PVC tube to hold it in place. I didn't screw it tight and made sure to keep checking to make sure it didn't move. Once all PVC straps were installed, made one last check to make sure the rod vault didn't shift. Then I tightened everything down.

Now I have an easy way to have a ready to go fly rod in my truck at all times!