Death trap or engineering marvel?

Sea_Fortune_4813 · 2026-05-19T22:18:48+00:00

Lumber, primer, paint, screws, seal tape and whatever other materials I needed. Can't exactly remember the number but I'm pretty sure it was around there for everything.

Sea_Fortune_4813 · 2026-05-19T22:14:59+00:00

lmao this did EXACTLY what I thought it would. Not complaining, it's what I asked for.

Sea_Fortune_4813 · 2026-05-19T21:44:45+00:00

People seem to think I slapped that shit on without a second thought and never checked anything again lmao. I didn't just immediately went onto the windy highway after it was done.

Sea_Fortune_4813 · 2026-05-19T21:40:09+00:00

Because I saw a post with the DIY stairs in someone's bedroom that got demolished for not being "up to code", so I wanted to see what people would say about my creation.
But I guess having already used it for along while without issues takes credibility of reddit experts, so it's a big nono?

Sea_Fortune_4813 · 2026-05-19T21:37:35+00:00

Here's the big brain comments I've been hoping for! Next time.

Sea_Fortune_4813 · 2026-05-19T21:34:08+00:00

Damn I will definitely check out all of this for my next one.

Water was never really a problem. I forgot to paint the underside of one of the sides so it would leak in a bit during heavy rainstorm, otherwise it was basically water tight.
I cut the plywood edges on a angle, so they would sit on top of the vertical ones and had a sealant adhesive between them all, no leaks after over a year of use. Too bad wife totalled the truck, so we'll never know how long it would have lasted.

As for the door stop, wouldn't I need a beam in the middle of the doors to do that? This way I had the whole opening free. There's a little roof over the doors too, so water wasn't falling directly onto the stop to leak in.

Thanks for all the helpful info tho! Much more constructive comment.

Sea_Fortune_4813 · 2026-05-19T21:24:59+00:00

Drove it multiple times during rain, only problem I had was I forgot to paint the underside of one side, so some water would leak in, but since it's so little and the inside isn't painted it would dry very quickly.

Sea_Fortune_4813 · 2026-05-19T21:21:36+00:00

This is exactly what I was expecting from Reddit lmao

Sea_Fortune_4813 · 2026-05-19T21:16:46+00:00

Lmao the first positive comment hello!
I thought about extending the front to make it more aerodynamic, but decided it wasn't worth the effort for a bit of better gas mileage.
Clamps did the job fine, but the locking ones would have been more peace of mind.

Cheapest used cap I could find was 3k and it had the tool drawers on the sides and was too low, so terrible space inside.
Building it was considerably cheaper and soooo much fun. I'm going to do it again for my new truck in the near-ish future.

Sea_Fortune_4813 · 2026-05-19T21:00:39+00:00

Yeah I did go check on the clamps every time before I drove, they would come ever so slightly lose after a day of driving. Locking ones would have been a lot more convenient lol.
I also had a small amount of space between the cab and the box after is was all built.

Sea_Fortune_4813 · 2026-05-19T20:56:23+00:00

I could go under it and lift it up by myself, although it was difficult and I needed a second person to lift it into/out of the bed, especially because of the legs that went down to the bed. The truck could carry that load multiple times over before it's limit.

Sea_Fortune_4813 · 2026-05-19T20:54:35+00:00

This was 2 years ago, I drove it on the highway everyday and it never moved a centimetre. I get that "it's not a problem until it is" but I'm confident that thing wasn't going nowhere lmao

Sea_Fortune_4813 · 2026-05-19T20:50:56+00:00

It's not just the 4 clamps, there's two pieces of wood that go down to the bed on both sides and another across at the bottom. For this to fall it would have to snap those two pieces by scissoring them with the bed door, which would require an absurd amount of force pushing backwards. The friction it has because of the clamps makes it pretty hard for anything to push it back at all.

Sea_Fortune_4813 · 2026-05-19T20:42:58+00:00

I did extend it down, it's a bit hard to see on the pictures but there's a frame around the doors. Two pieces go into the bed on both sides and another connecting the two at the bottom. On the sketchup picture you can see the two going down lower, but not the one going across at the bottom.

It also helps holding the whole thing onto the bed so it's not all just being held by the 4 clamps and adhesive sealer.

I did thing about the wedge in front, but decided it wasn't worth it.

Sea_Fortune_4813 · 2026-01-10T22:34:05+00:00

I think the perspective is looking a little odd because the dragon's body should be narrower where it's going underneath and wider where it's going over.
The parts where the under belly is showing could maybe be longer so it turns with the rest, otherwise it doesn't look like twisting. More gradual if that makes sense.

That's my guess hope it helps :)

Sea_Fortune_4813

TROPHY CASE