1 of 2
Alain Gagnon
2 of 2
Alain Gagnon
Words by Alain Gagnon
One thing is for sure; Overlanders like to be well equipped. To attest to this statement just attend an Overland Expo, (West or East), where you can find a plethora of professional overland outfitters offering all sorts of equipment, gear and services that you might need to get you going on your overland journey.
But where do you put all of this gear?
My Tacoma’s 6’2” bed was full of all sorts of camping gear, recovery gear, spare parts, and tools, all stacked up in 3 large military grade barrack boxes. When my small axe for example was urgently needed, that tool always seems to be stashed in the bottom box so everything needed to be pulled out from the back of the truck. Needless to say, I needed help to organize my “go to” equipment in an efficient manner thus making the best use of the trucks bed for the rest of the gear.
The solution was to find a system that would allow me to store and access some key and regularly needed gear and/or tools, quickly and efficiently.
That’s when I decided to go with the Decked truck bed organizer. The company has been fabricating Decked drawer since 2013 but only started to manufacture midsize truck bed storage drawer systems in 2017. Overall, the Decked system is made of a rugged High Density Polyethylene with a galvanized steel sub frame. The system including the drawers is fully waterproof and offers, for the midsize trucks, a wide drawer and a narrow drawer both 8.5” deep, with a payload of 200 lbs per drawer, while the platform is rated for an evenly distributed load of 2000 lbs. The whole drawer system actually raises the bottom of my truck bed by 12 inches, so it lays right on top of the wheel wells giving me an open flat surface all around the truck bed. There are two ammo can storage bins incorporated in the platform on each side of the drawers at the extremity of the bed for easy access to both bins.
The two, lockable full bed-length drawers are each opened using a large cast aluminum handle that is easy to operate and the drawers basically roll open or close effortlessly on these heavy-duty “roller skate” like wheels. There’s optional equipment available to further equip your drawer system including water-proof storage tool boxes made for the wide and narrow drawers, dividers, and Core Trax adjustable rails providing extra sturdy anchor points when fully secured on the top of the platform. I personally purchased their waterproof D-Box that fits snuggly into the wide drawer where I keep my recovery gear and various tire maintenance items.
The Decked truck bed storage was shipped to my home in a very large box that weighs 250 lbs. The instructions are very clear and easy to follow, and even comes complete with a bit of humour.
I installed the system myself in my daughters double garage in the middle of winter 2018 and it took me approximately 2.5 hours from opening up each and every little bags of nuts and bolts (Ikea like), laying out all the parts as instructed and setting it all up. When I was all done I used the integrated bottle opener located between the two drawers, to open a cold one and celebrate. Decked systems come with a three-year warranty offered directly by the manufacturer.
In my case the “pros” far outweighs the “cons”. The overall robust design, smooth operation, and storage capacity, all provide me with easy access to my most frequently needed gear and tools, without having to unload a fully packed truck bed - this is an absolute plus.
The “cons” are that I lost access to the two storage areas on each side of my Tacoma’s bed and lost 12 inches from floor of truck bed, making it tricky, because of my low cab, to store larger, boxier items.
You can get more info on Decked, Truck bed storage drawer system by visiting their website: www.decked.com