Hinged wood bed floor (lock?)

[LowLifeS10]

Hi, we are doing a hinged wood bed floor in a steel frame with sheet metal around it.

But we havent figured out how we'll lock it nor open it. Dont want no ugly big thing sticking up in the bed. A small handle or something that you may turn to open/lock it like on the regular bed covers? As it needs to be in the wood area how can we attach it (handle) to the wood?





Any great ideas?

[Lanman1972]

Check out Southco Latches, http://www.southco.com/en-us/, I have used many of their latches. May spark an idea. Good luck, it looks awesome!

[67ChevyRedneck]

Really cool bed floor. Depending on what you use, an area that large with wood could get a little heavy, you may also want to consider adding some lift assist shocks.

[piecesparts]

Have you considered powered powered lid lifts?

http://www.jegs.com/p/Electric-Life/...55571/10002/-1

[LowLifeS10]

Originally Posted by Lanman1972

Check out Southco Latches, http://www.southco.com/en-us/, I have used many of their latches. May spark an idea. Good luck, it looks awesome!

Thanks, gonna check it out!

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

Really cool bed floor. Depending on what you use, an area that large with wood could get a little heavy, you may also want to consider adding some lift assist shocks.

thank you! yup already got some shocks mounted and tested with the wood in and works ok.

Originally Posted by piecesparts

Have you considered powered powered lid lifts?

http://www.jegs.com/p/Electric-Life/...55571/10002/-1

Never looked into that! Ill check the site!

[LowLifeS10]

Like this simple one, need to find out where to buy it!

http://www.southco.com/en-us/m1-fp/m1-25-42-18

[hanly2]

You can click on pricing and availability and that will get you there. Bed looks great. I was going to go the same route but decided not to go that low.

[LowLifeS10]

Originally Posted by hanly2

You can click on pricing and availability and that will get you there. Bed looks great. I was going to go the same route but decided not to go that low.

It only shows one result and when im looking at their page its out of stock for at least 60 days. And im not in the US so I need to find it online. Ebay has some but not with these specs ofc.

[budman k20]

A quick google search of "marine hatch locks" yielded a bunch of inexpensive online options.

[67 cst swb]

look at the door latches on bodied race cars, such as Pro Stock cars.

[88k5jimmy]

Originally Posted by LowLifeS10

Thanks, gonna check it out!



thank you! yup already got some shocks mounted and tested with the wood in and works ok.





Never looked into that! Ill check the site!

How did you figure out where to attach the struts and what force was required to lift the bed floor? I found online calculators but they aren't very complete and none in non metric units.