Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Truck Modification

Wondering if there's value in this type of thread.

We all know what we like to keep in the truck - flashlight, cables, rope etc. What have you done to modify the truck tho for hunting? Maybe list type of truck, hunting and then the modification? Much like Wheel of Fortune, let's get R,S,T,L,N,E out of the way and say yes - lift, locker, winch and tires are to be understood.

Deer/Bear/general shooting - works across all trucks.

* Truck with a cap on where the side windows swing up, usually vertically
* cut a piece of plywood to fit from rail to rail - maybe 3 feet wide. Then put a small edge round the outside so nothing can roll off
* lay down either rubber or carpet on it if you want
* install up front towards the cab
* store guns/clothes bags/light gear on it


It's not super secure obviously but it is handy. Going to sporting clay shoots - lay the guns and ammo there. It's out of the cab, up front of the bed and easy access once at the grounds. Same for running up to the cabin - duffle bags of clothes etc. It's better than crawling up in the bed all the time and usually I have oil/dirt/crud on the floor of the bed - so keeps things nice.


(transparency - I'm starting to truck shop again and my hunting is also evolving towards more birds and the like. I'm looking for ideas to steal in that regard but will take all into consideration of "great mods with a hunting purpose")

I had a Dodge Dakota set up like that....

Most truck boxes are set up for the option to build a deck into the box, They have slots for 2X4 to run east/west in the with of the box.

I ran mine with a topper with flip open doors on the side... The deck that I built was just 3 feet or so with a 2X2 on the edge to keep stuff from falling off of it into the floor of the truck box... I had one of those plastic dog kennels on the deck set in a east/west position so I could just reach in and open and let the dog loose out the back of the truck... He loved riding in there... my shell vest and dead birds would lay just inside the door and the cased shotgun would ride along the side of the dog kennel... Tire chains and tow straps and all the truck stuff was stuffed under the deck...

It was a cool set up and kept the truck can clean and free of dog hair and snotty windows...

Now that I am older, I could care less about dog hair and snotty windows... So, now, I have an old Toyota Tundra the dog rides shotgun in and hair all over his side of the truck.... don't matter... nobody else is gonna ride over there...

I've not had a dog in a decade (work meant 10-14 hour days and I'll not do that to a dog) but now I work from home and a dog may be in the future. Someday. I like the sound of your set up.

I have a winch with a mile of cable on the drum in the back of my avalanche for bear retrieval…

I’m going to scrap the toolbox on my next truck and try a Decked system

Those look cool and I see a lot of upland hunters with them.

Just got back from a month in BC, Yukon and Alaska with the camper in the bed of the truck. In prep I took out the back seat and made a plywood platform where the seat was. 2x6 on edge for legs. Tool kit, battery jump charger, small shovel and other items stored under it. Cooler and other items rode great on top and much easier getting stuff in and out. Use back seat rarely for people so it is staying that way.

You win sir!

i did this in the back of my truck.



Also, have my old Con-Fer rack on top.

That rack mounted to the cap? Hold decent weight?

I'm thinking I'd like an air compressor mounted someplace - QD on it just to use for tires and the like. No clue how to do that cleanly just yet.

It will hold 500 lbs, but I use it for light stuff, that I don't worry about getting wet.

There are some nice set ups for jeeps. I will see if I can find the sites when I'm on my computer.

I just spent two weeks sleeping in the back of my truck with a camper shell. The best addition by far was a bed rug. That combined with a thermarest neo-air and I slept as well as I would have at home. It is hard to overstate how nice a bed rug is. It makes a soft, flat deck that is warm and easy on your knees. Gear doesn’t slide around and it keeps dust from coming up through the bed holes for drainage (and gooseneck holes).

Build pipe bumpers, weld tgem up good, plumb them as air tanks.

Teal, just buy a scuba tank with a Schrader tire inflator. My bubble blowing days are over, but that 80 cu in. bottle with that valve has blown up lots of kiddie pools, air mattresses and tires. Not that I wouldn't mind if it was an aluminum 50 cu in. instead of that over weight 80.

Curious - how many tires on a full tank?

I have done only one really flat one at a time or topped off several low ones and the gauge never moves. I suppose a guy could figure it out mathematically. 80 cubic feet of air at 3,000 psi is a lot of air. Just breathing it diving, I’d get at least a couple of hours on a tank. Inexpensive to refill it at the scuba shops as well. A kiddie pool took longer to fill than any tire I’ve filled and a big pool would probably drop the gauge down less than 500 psi. I suppose that a tank isn’t as light or convenient as one of those little cigarette plug tire inflators, but pretty portable and way faster I’m sure. That tank has saved us a bunch of times just to inflate a low tire with a nail in in with enough air to get it to the tire shop.

Thanks.

Interesting this is an under seat ARB compressor mount for Tacos. There's a video on youtube, 30 mins for install but the voice is annoying.