I'm getting ready to build a tonneau cover for my flat bed out of 3/4" Plywood. Before anyone says anything I know this is not going to be 100% water proof because of my side racks and I know that plywood is not the best material to use for this but. It's nothing fancy and I don't excpect it to last forever. Here's my dalima my tool box sticks up about 3/4" above my racks so obviously I can't put it over it. I'm contemplating either taking the box out for now or just making the cover go around the box. Or just running the cover to the edge of the box. My to box is only a few inches on each end short up the width of my bed so there would be a small gap.
What do you all think.

 

to me, the easiest and most minimally invasive to the current structure would be to just build a plywood box that fits between the stake sides and the tool box. this would help reduce the issue of the contents getting wet, and you can make it whatever height you want. probably doesn't need a bottom since you already have a nice flat wood bed - just screw or bolt it down so you can take it out when you don't want it. if you're gonna use plywood i'd suggest beefing the rigidity with either a wood or angle iron frame behind it because it will eventually warp with moisture and UV rays. with a frame you can possibly get away with thinner ply to save some $ and weight. then take everything and seal it up with several coats of polyurethane and it should last you a while as long as you take care of it. i dunno, it's your truck.

 

Yeah I though about making some inner side racks but I like the look so far. I'm trying to upload some pics but photo bucket is being stubborn. I decided to just cut around the tool box. So the tool box is flush with he cover. And I'm going to have it hinge a few I inches I. Front of the box to reduce stress on the thin pieces of ply wood around the box.
Here's another problem the sheets only come in 4'x8' and my bed is like 6'x5 of something can't remember the measurements. So I haveto make. It out of two pieces. Should I just have it hinge in two spots. This would be nice if I wanted to haul something large I would not have to take the cover off, just fold ip one section. And I think if I doo it right I should be able to fold the entire cover up behind the cab taking up about 3'

Yeah in going to add some kind of stiffeners under the cover. I think I'm going to try to shape the stiffeners just slightly so that the cover has a "CROWN" so it dosnt pool water. I would like to make this sting enough I could stand on it and carry stuff on top of it. Should not be to hard.
I'm going to make my own hinges from aluminum pipe.
A d I might add a few pieces of plate on top in the corners for looks and keep them from chipping.
Should I stain he wood or just paint it black??
-thanks

 

Hers a few pics photo bucket would only let me upload them in the smallest size.

 

i would use a polyurethane or similar product rated for sealing outdoor wood. you may be able to stain it black prior to the urethane. i suppose paint could work but most paints are not waterproof (or able to hold water), just water resistant - so the water will eventually seep past the barrier. with either product, you'd probably have to re-coat them every 1-2 years to make it last.

 

I thought about using bed linner. Its spendy unless you get it when it's on sale. I dint know how water proof it is. I have some left from when I did my bed. I thought about after I painted it with what ever I'm going to use. Doing the outer edge all the way around with the bed liner maybe 2" wide.
I'm working on the aluminum mounting points and hinges right now.

I think that if I can get the sheet to bend even a little by adding stiffiners the water should run off easy and won't have a HUGE problem win water seeping through. Not sure how I'm going to seal around the tool box. (or if I even am) maybe some kind of weather striping or foam pipe insulation

 

I got the end piece of ply wood cut it all looks pretty good. Cut out a few aluminum corner pics. I'm thinking of making some kind of rubber seal (maybe a intertube) to seal the seems. So that when it's laying down flat the rubber will be pulled tight. But when it hinges it will have slack.
I might not build the hinges because I need some low profile hinges so that all three pieces will fold up nicely. Maybe I should have some this out of aluminum but it would be silly to have a wood deck and amalluminum cover. I would have just made the bed
Out Of aluminum.

 

Well I had a brain fart for a bit. The middle piece is going to be smaller so it will interfear with it folding up properly. Then I realized I can just switch the middle and end piece once I cut it crises averted.
If I would have planed things better all the pieces would be the same size. But this will work.

 

Well picked up some hinges and some deft and polyurethane it says its used on space ships so if it's good enough for Mr aldrin then it's good enough for me. it says it can be put over stained wood or bare wood. So I think I'm going to use some sikens or something under it.


I'm not crazy about the hinges. It was either that or so
E smaller square black hinges. I can always change or make some later.

 

I'm trying to figure out how to stiffen this thing up and give it a crown so that the water will not pool. I was going to just shape some boards or Angle aluminum but I quickly realized that it would not fold up once I did that. I'm sure I could bend it before I put it together but I don't think it will last long. It would just bend back over time.
Any ideas.

 

Have you looked at some heavy duty piano type hinges?? if your looking to seal up the wood, why not try fiber glass and do a little build up in the center. Don't over do it, as it will get heavier as you put more on it..... just a thought...

 

Yeah I could do that. I've already invested more time then anticipated though. The hardware store here dosnt really a good selection of anything really all of the lOng piano hinges they had looked to wimpy.

 

Well it's done sort of. Everything worked fine untell I pit the aluminum corner pieces in now it kinda binds when I fold it up it won't be hard to fix. But I still need to give it a little bit of a dome shape. I think I might make a set of hinges that are taller that way when everything is folded up there will be more space in between the sections which might give me enough room to add some supports. I don't know if I put some 1"x2" wood strips but shaved off maybe 1/2 inch on each end. But o don't know if that would bend it at all. I doubt it. But I also want to cut some long strips of rubber to seal up the gaps in-between the sections. I think if I just had some ling aluminum strips I could just put the rubber under them and screw the aluminum down. It should seal up pretty nice and still hinge.
And I might not do anything and just see how long it last.
I'll add some pics when I get off work if I get a chance.

 

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