Pickup Bed Box Ideas Needed

How about a nice cypress or comparable water “proof” wood with a lid that has a lip around it, so water can’t just leak in? I’ve never seen one made from wood, so I haven’t any other ideas, than that one.

-- Respect your shop tools and they will respect you - Ric

I made a truck box and lid five years ago. I just installed a rubber foam seal around all of the edges of the box lid, and also stuck some to the bottom of the lid that sets on the truck box. I think the main thing is to coat everything well with a varnish that has UV blockers in it. Many coats, and each year sand it down a little and put on a new coat to seal up small cracks where water could seep in.

All in all, it has lasted longer than I thought it would. This winter will be it’s 5th winter.

Ric’s idea would work great if I would have been able to figure out how to do it on all four sides with a hinge. I’m just not very experienced at “square” woodworking. I mostly make stuff from logs and branches.

I designed this whole project myself on the drafting board first, and built it in my basement. I have had to update it through the years due to rotting. There is just no way to seal the wood well enough to prevent water from being absorbed. With the truck movement, sun, rain, heat, snow, expansion, etc., there seems to always be a spot or two where the water finds a way into the wood. After three years I had to make a new lid for the box. I liked the first lid better because it had two lids, and I didn’t have to walk around both sides of the truck to get into the box. But, because of all the screws and hinges on the two-lid box, it only held up for three years. Now I have a single lid on the same box, and that one has warped a little.

Instead of posting all of the pictures here, please feel free to go to my website where I have photos posted of both the old and new versions of my project. If you have any questions about what I have had to do to maintain this box over the years, just send me an email. Here’s a direct link to the truck topper page:
http://www.rusticwoodworking.com/trucktopper.htm Thanks.

-- Sandy, Minnesota, www.rusticwoodworking.com

Thanks for the feed back. The box I actually want for my truck cost $750. I want to build something that will last a couple of years while I save up. You’ve given me some good ideas.

-- DaveH - Boise, Idaho - “How hard can it be? It's only wood!”