P500 New Rear Storage Containment. Building a bed.

[100Acre]

My rear box that I’ve had on it the past couple of years has taken a beating from the various floppings of the past. The locking system never really worked right and it eventually disintegrated. After that I was strapping it down for trail riding or two locks and a chain to secure it for traveling. I couldn’t see very well over it and the more space you have, the more crap we are prone to bring. I wanted to lower the COG and reduce the weight of all the stuff I was carrying. So, today went out and picked up an aluminum locking truck side mount box. It was pricier than the ones at Lowe’s but it does have a better quality locking system. I’m also making a box I can flat mount a spare tire in. I may or may not make a lid for it. I’d love to have a strong made basket but that’s just not in the budget right now. I’ll post more pix as it progresses. I’m also wondering how far back I will go with the wooden box past the fenders, towards the rear.

 

[Bad_bowtie]

I like it! The toolbox on the back of my P500 was one of my favorite additions.

 

[DG Rider]

Gotta link?

 

[Choogsbro]

My rear box that I’ve had on it the past couple of years has taken a beating from the various floppings of the past. The locking system never really worked right and it eventually disintegrated. After that I was strapping it down for trail riding or two locks and a chain to secure it for traveling. I couldn’t see very well over it and the more space you have, the more crap we are prone to bring. I wanted to lower the COG and reduce the weight of all the stuff I was carrying. So, today went out and picked up an aluminum locking truck side mount box. It was pricier than the ones at Lowe’s but it does have a better quality locking system. I’m also making a box I can flat mount a spare tire in. I may or may not make a lid for it. I’d love to have a strong made basket but that’s just not in the budget right now. I’ll post more pix as it progresses. I’m also wondering how far back I will go with the wooden box past the fenders, towards the rear.
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Looks good.

I want that truck

 

[100Acre]

Gotta link?

Sausage or boudin ? Link to what?

 

[Choogsbro]

Andouille

 

[DG Rider]

Sausage or boudin ? Link to what?

Sausage. No self respecting 500 ever runs out of sausage.

I mean is this box on their site? Does it have a part #...SKU, or name?

 

[DG Rider]

This one maybe?
Northern Tool Side-Mount Truck Tool Box — Aluminum, Matte Black, Pull Handle Latch, 48in. x 11.5in. x 11in., Model# 36212761 | Northern Tool + Equipment

 

[100Acre]

Sausage. No self respecting 500 ever runs out of sausage.

I mean is this box on their site? Does it have a part #...SKU, or name?

I bought it at the store. I have the sticker. I’ll look tomorrow as it’s out in the shop and there are too many velociraptors out tonight. They mostly come out at night....mostly.— “Aliens”

 

[DG Rider]

I bought it at the store. I have the sticker. I’ll look tomorrow as it’s out in the shop and there are too many velociraptors out tonight. They mostly come out at night....mostly.— “Aliens”

"...why don't ya put her in charge?" - Hudson

 

[Choogsbro]

This one maybe?
Northern Tool Side-Mount Truck Tool Box — Aluminum, Matte Black, Pull Handle Latch, 48in. x 11.5in. x 11in., Model# 36212761 | Northern Tool + Equipment

They are proud of that puppy.

 

[100Acre]

T’were the same price

This one maybe?
Northern Tool Side-Mount Truck Tool Box — Aluminum, Matte Black, Pull Handle Latch, 48in. x 11.5in. x 11in., Model# 36212761 | Northern Tool + Equipment

 

[Irish_Mike]

Looks good.

I want that truck

Me, too!

 

[Wallace]

Looks good.

I want that truck

Needs a piece of chrome for the bed.
Nice box!

 

[Mudder]

I needed to raise the box so used pvc pipe(s) as a spacer, could insert several for trail shovel handle, or threaded caps for extra winch rope, etc. The black paint looks good.

 

[100Acre]

This one maybe?
Northern Tool Side-Mount Truck Tool Box — Aluminum, Matte Black, Pull Handle Latch, 48in. x 11.5in. x 11in., Model# 36212761 | Northern Tool + Equipment

It appears to only come with one key though. I had to talk the clerk into letting me grab another key from one of the larger boxes with the same key code #. It was this difficult convincing her. She said “ I don’t care” . Quality employees at Northern Tool...if you order one, try to order an extra key. Every box like mine only came with one. That looks more like a car key.

 

[100Acre]

I had some time to take some measurements to build the bed. I’m hoping to have enough space to slide a 26x9x 12 spare tire there. I need to find some kind of mount too. The whole bed will extend 6” past the rear of the fenders. 2x4’s are just for looks. The idea is to go with at least 2x6 walls. Also not sure about leaving it square or cutting off the corners. Another thought is say screw the plywood and just mount the box and strap the tire in place. Decisions.....might need to order a spare tire to fit the extra offset rim I bought. The spare in the picture is one of the original 24” stock tires. There’s a big gap left between the box and ROPS, so the lid will open all the way. I was thinking about maybe mounting some sideways shooting photon beam blaster torpedoes for when I go full submersible, or maybe just some kind of music system. I do worry about having such a big wide bed on the back and if there comes a flopping motion. It is 3/4” plywood. Thick, but not made of stone or steel. The 2x4’s under the box were just for the mock up. I’ll leave just enough room to slide the tire up under the lip of the aluminum box.

 

[Mudder]

@MontanaTom did a nice job. Or tire vertical between box and ROPS to keep box COG low? Good luck.

 

[snakeriver]

Good work...keep us posted.

 

[100Acre]

So, because I already had a stack of 2x6's, I thought I'd save some cash by ripping some and biscuit joining two together with some Gorilla glue. I thought I'd reach a wall height of 9". I decided on 9" because the spare I'm planning on mounting will be 9" thick laying on it's side. I'm building with the idea that I'll be upgrading to 26x9x12's in the near future so I based my measurements around that. As stated before the tire will be mounted flat. After glueing and clamping the walls overnight, I then ran them all through the planer to reduce thickness down to 1.25 " and to give them a uniform look. I realize I'm putting a fair amount of weight back there but, I need it to be stout. Plus large enough to haul extra gear especially if I can make it to the Magruder Corridor ride in Idaho. I'm also concerned about having much more weight back there working against the P5 when ascending steep rocky climbs. I don't need anything pulling me backwards. I may also taper the side walls down and even lower on the rear wall, to reduce weight, but wanted to start with more 1st... We will see how well it holds up at the Takeover. I'm installing 1" spacers and the offset rims which will put me out at 54". Hopefully that will make it stable enough.....I had to leave space between the ROPS and tool box so I could still open the lid but, also managed to create a perfect space to store my MaxxTrax. Tomorrow I'll finish glueing and screwing and then give it a few coats of OD Green exterior oil based paint. After it dries I'll mount it onto the rack and also attach the tool box. All in all, I can still see over it better than when I had the taller toolbox installed.. I had also considered making a hinged rear tailgate, but thought that might make it weaker. Especially if we flop to one side.
Side note; I had also made the base for the tool box the same way did for the side walls. I had needed to raise it enough so that the spare tire would fit under the overhanging lip of the tool box.
Side note; I also left enough space maybe 1/4" between the bottom plywood and the ROPS to allow for movement of the rear panel.