Your truck can be much more than simply a tool to haul and carry stuff. If you transform your truck bed into a mobile workshop, you’ll have something special.
Trucks are some of the most versatile and transformative vehicles on the road. They are used for just about every task and come in several shapes and sizes. If you want to create a mobile workshop in your truck bed, you can do so. Here are a few tips to help you create the space you desire in the bed where you’ll keep all your tools and equipment.
What size bed do you need?
Some trucks have long beds, and others have short beds. Midsize trucks have more narrow beds than full-size trucks and heavy-duty trucks have the largest beds. If you want to create a space where you can work and keep all your equipment, you’ll need to make sure you have the right bed size to get the job done. If you want to use some prefabricated conversion materials, you’ll need to check the bed specifications for the setup.
How should the bed be configured?
Larger, commercial-sized trucks can come with various bed configurations, including flatbeds, utility beds, and even box-truck setups. This is another part of assessing your needs and choosing the truck and bed configuration that helps you set up your mobile workshop to enjoy the functionality desired. If you won’t actually stand inside the bed to do the work, you might want a regular half-ton or three-quarter-ton truck instead of a gas guzzling commercial-sized pickup truck to haul your gear.
Add the storage solutions
What do you need to take with you on the job? Every trade has its own set of tools and equipment that are required to get things done. It’s important that you choose the storage solutions that make sense for your job. Some people like to add a slide-out shelf organizer to their truck bed to pull a system forward with the drawers and tools they need. This shelf becomes the space used to hold the materials for the job. This slide-out system allows them to pull the materials forward and avoid jumping in and out of the truck bed.
How will your tools be secured?
Your mobile workshop is only as good as the organization it provides. If you drive around and everything in the back of your truck is shifting around and sliding from one side to the other constantly, you’ll spend precious time reorganizing your equipment at the job site. Instead, make sure your tools, gear, and materials are secure. Drawer systems are great for this, and you can use straps and shelving systems in trucks with covers to secure your stuff.
Light it up
You’ll need some lighting in the truck bed and some mobile lighting to set up behind your truck when you set up the workshop. You won’t always work in the daylight and in sunny weather, which means it’s a good idea to have lighting solutions and a canopy that can be set up near your truck to protect your tools and materials while working on projects. The lighting and canopy can mean the difference between a full day of work or putting projects off for another day.
Will you need mobile power?
Something to consider when picking your truck is whether or not you’ll need mobile power. Some trucks have power outlets in the bed, which can be extremely helpful. You won’t have much of a mobile workshop if you can’t plug in your tools and get to work without power. Some jobs may require that you work in a space where power isn’t available, which means you need to use your truck to provide the desired power for the job.
Is your truck bed weatherproof?
If you’ve created work benches, a slide-out system, and storage solutions in your truck bed, you need to keep the weather out of the area. Some tools and materials are resilient to weather, but most are not. How will you keep the weather out of your truck bed? This is a key difference between having a setup that can work in all types of weather and a bed full of ruined tools because they got wet. Installing covers and seals to keep things secure from foul weather is a good investment in your bed conversion.
What will your mobile workshop look like? Will you work from inside your truck bed, or will you have a conversion kit that allows you to use the bed as your workbench?
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