Lately, I’ve been working on a personal project for storage in the rear of my Tacoma. I wanted the functionality of the flight deck and was sorry to see GFC discontinue it a while back. My “flight deck” is made of 1530ul aluminum extrusion and 3/16" CNC cut and bent aluminum side plates. The top plates are made of 1/8" aluminum and are not quick detach per se, but are still reasonably easy to remove with a 5/32 t-handle wrench.
The deck is still a prototype; I’m not done with it yet. I’m planning on powder-coating the raw aluminum components when my rear bumper comes in. I also have a modular tray to mount electrical components to. It’ll bolt to the underside of the platform towards the head of the bed where it’s out of the way.
I want to make platform available to the community at some point but I’m not sure the best way of how to do that. I could either sell the DXF files so people can order all the components themselves or dropship it from the companies I ordered it from (oshcut, tnutz…). I don’t have an interest in managing and shipping large parts. It may be possible to sort and sell small components like pre-packaged hardware or tiedowns. Either way it would be up to the end user to powdercoat, anodize, or paint the aluminum to prevent corrosion.
I’m not in an immediate rush to try and sell anything as I would like to finish this prototype first. I will keep this post updated on the progress of project and hope to get it done soon.
Super cool! So this is supported by tying into the Toyota Deck Rails as well as the Tacoma bed slots?
I’m wondering if something like this could be supported solely by the Deck Rails, if you added maybe 2 more “hangers” for support. I’d love something like this in my Tundra but I don’t have those bed slots
Thanks! Yes, it is supported by both. I believe you could design something that would bolt up in the Tundra but I’d be hesitant to load it, especially offroad. I don’t really trust the t-tracks to hold that much hanging weight. Perhaps it would be viable if there was some sort of foot that transferred the weight to the floor of the bed.
I don’t have access to a Tundra to prototype with and I’m primarily interested in developing products for the Tacoma. That said, I have some ideas about how to overcome the issue with non-Tacoma platforms that don’t have a bed lip to support the deck. I’m curious, what generation of Tundra and bed length do you have?
I don’t think there are any differences in the Toyota Deck Rails for each truck model, besides the actual lengths of each rail, so as long as the side plates are adjustable in height, it would be okay. Unfortunately, the Tundras don’t have bed slots like the Tacoma, for your flight deck to rest on, but adding legs to all 4 corners should solve the issue with load.
I have a 2019 Tundra Crewmax, so 2.5 generation with a 5.5ft bed. Also, all Tundra 5.5ft bed dimensions are the same from 07-21’
I’m sorry, I’ve been quite busy the past week. From what I’ve read online the Tundra bed is not quite square front to rear, it seems to be off by about half an inch. Not a big deal as the platform shouldn’t need to contact the side of the bed (unlike the Tacoma where you want to maximize purchase on the bed shoulder).
I’ve attached a dimensioned drawing of the rails I designed for the Tacoma. To keep the bar spacing at 1 foot there’s kind of limited options for length. I’m not sure what would work best in a 5.5ft bed and it’s hard for me to tell from pictures online. I imagine you could use the same side rails with a different bar width, fixed height foot (that bolts to the underside of the crossbar), and adjustable “hold down” plates bent to interface with the Tundra rails.
I finally got my project back from the powdercoater. Having it disassembled also gave me a chance to weigh it. The whole system for a DCSB taco came in a little heavier than I had hoped for at 71lbs. However, I think the 1530ul crossbars and 3/16 side plates are significantly stronger than the beef bar extrusions and side plates used in the og Flight Deck (not that it needed to be stronger). It’s also still roughly 1/3 the weight of a drawer-type system like the Decked.
Looks amazing! I was bummed they discontinued the flight deck too. This is exactly what I’ve been looking for. Currently I have a platform sitting on some sheets of Baltic birch and it does the trick but I definitely like the look of this.
That’s what I used to use (until it got moldy ick). I’m considering selling my version of the flight deck as either the dxf drawings so people can DIY it or drop ship the whole deck.
Hi guys, sorry for not updating this thread in a while. I’ve been busy but should have more time this summer once school is out. I think I’ll release the cad files and a guide on how to build a similar deck if the people want to see that. I’d either sell the files for a negligible cost or share them on the forum for free. No timeline on this but hopefully this summer.
Yesterday I finished the installation of a simple electrical system underneath the deck. I’m running 4gauge cable from my secondary battery under the hood to the distribution panel in the back, the whole thing is fused at 50amps. Currently, I’m just running a Dometic and some Hardkorr lights but I plan on adding some charging ports for phones and lanterns. I also want to add a solar charge controller in there to keep the battery topped off so I don’t need to tender the battery every day I don’t drive the truck.
I want to keep the system simple and easy to remove if need be, but eventually, I’d like to have a lithium house battery mounted underneath the deck. Combined with a DC-DC charger I think it would drastically increase my house battery capacity and simplify the wiring throughout the vehicle. It would also keep me from having to put bigger batteries under the hood and thus more strain offroad on the inner fenders and core support.
Love this. So clean. Would you ever consider producing a design with just one or two sets of crossbars for one or two sets of top plates? I am thinking of making a shelf over the wheel wells where the bed meets the cab. Those cross bars are perfect.
Could you make crossbars that bolt directly to the Tacoma deck rails instead of using the hangers?
A short platform like this (just over 2 feet long)? I actually considered building this myself but decided to go full length. If you want to get the parts laser cut yourself (I used OshCut and SendCutSend) I can send you the files.
edit: I also chose the full platform because I can shorten it to whatever length I like by removing plates and crossbars
I specifically designed the platform to sit on the lip that runs down the sides of the bed so the bed was supporting the weight. The t slot rails are not sturdy enough to support a platform like that imho. The 4 “hold down plates” do just that, they just keep the platform from lifting off of the bed lip while offroad.
Dynamite. That’s exactly what I was thinking. This is so cool. You, my dude, are a wizard.
I want a shelf to strap my battery to… or under. I’m realizing that if it sits on the lip/wheel well, I could do less engineering and use some lumber. But your set up is, dare I say, rather fresh, amigo… and I want. I have aluminum envy.
If you DM me I could give you the designs and walk you through how to order the parts. There’s a lot of little stuff to order but in the end, it all just bolts together. I’m just not in the business of manufacturing and shipping them myself so I hope you understand.
That’s possible to design, or you might even just be able to bolt a pre-fabbed battery cage to the underside of the platform using the tslots on the 80/20.
Sorry, I haven’t been on the forum in a bit, I’m in the midst of a finals week. I’d ballpark about $800-$1k.
The nice thing with OSHCut or SendCutSend is that they will give you an instant quote online, that’s the bulk of your cost. Powdercoating varies a lot by area, but you could probably get away with bedliner or spray paint.
The goals of the project were to be modular and lightweight like the OG GFC Flight Deck, while undercuting the cost of a Decked system or the OG Deck. (it’s also all industry-standard hardware and extrusions, only the laser cut parts are custom)
