Easy Truck Bed Storage

I was looking for something to keep things secured in my 2003 Dakota, and of course from sliding around. I thought it was very important to be collapsible for when I need full user if the bed. I made this in just a few hours with scraps from the tonneau cover I made, and it folds up very small !!!

A heavy duty sewing machine works best with vinyl. I picked up this White Jeans Machine on Craig's for $25. Using a denim needle I can get through 8 layers of denim. The only problem with vinyl is that it's sticky. I used a walking foot.

Coats & Clark Extra Strong & Upholstery Thread $3.00

1 Yard - 18oz vinyl coated polyester (I had leftovers from the tonneau cover I made, some black and some white). I purchased it from ChicagoCanvas.com. Great people there.... very helpful. $7.50

54" 1/2 aluminium electrical pipe $3.00

HH66 glue (also from ChicagoCanvas.com) $11.00

I measured across the width inside the bed, 53". I then added 5/8" on both sides for standard seam allowance makes it 54.25" Wide.

Bottom Piece - Black
The wheel well starts 16" from the edge of the bed. I added two 5/8" seams plus 2" so it would rest in the door jam (pictures later). So the bottom piece was cut 19.25" x 54.25".

Top Piece - White
I measured the height from the bottom of the bed to the tonneau cover rail, 18". I added 5/8" seam allowance plus roughly 6" to make a pocket for the tube to go through. So I cut the top piece 25" x 54.25.

This could easily be made with one piece of material. I didn't have any scraps big enough. You could get away with any seam, but I wanted to try a French seam.

Sailrite has an awesome video if you're interested. https://youtu.be/uFSn-EIgQoc

I just used scrap vinyl for the backing binding strip.

4" from the rear of the truck are tie down points. Make two of these tabs to attach to the tie downs.

Cut a 6" x 16" vinyl strip
Coat one side with HH66 cement
Wait for it to dry
Fold in half longways to make a 6" x 8" piece
Zig zag stitch starting 1" down from the folded edge, making a 1/2 wide, 3" long opening
Cut out the opening
Zig zag the edges
Sew fuzzy side of 2" Velcro to both sides of the openings

Cut two 4" long pieces of the scratchy Velcro to use for the installation.

Sew a 5/8" seam around both sides and bottom.

Add the tie down tabs on each side, up 4" from the tailgate edge. The bottom of the notch should be 1" from the side.

No sewing was done to finish the top edge.

On the back side of the top...
Refer to my crappy drawing.
Brush a 2" line of HH66 along the edge of the top.
Leave 4 " clearance, then brush a 2" line of HH66.
Once it's dry, fold the end over and match up the glue to make the tunnel for the pipe.

Cut the 1/2 aluminum pipe 54".
Wrap both ends with the fuzzy side of 2" Velcro.
Slide the pipe through the tunnel you just made on the top of the white section.

Start with putting the pipe across the tonneau cover bracket.
Next, put the bottom edge in the tailgate jam.
Slip the tabs over the tie downs and insert the Velcro locks on both sides.

Done

I ended up really liking the white and black. The white adds a lot of light and makes seeing my junk easier. The black worked out great because it catches all the dirt and mess.

The French seam was fun to try, and crazy strong.

HH66 is AMAZING. It's easy to use and stronger than the material.

When I don't need it, I can fold it up and stick under a seat. I can also roll it up with the tonneau cover!