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im getting ready to build my dog box and i havent decided how long to make it yet. its going in an 04 tundra should i make it as long as the bed or leave a little room in front or back? is the length of the bed to much for 6 dogs?

depends on if you want some room in the bed of the truck to put other stuff. I've got on 08 f350 and i built mine half the length of the box, but it is long box. I like to be able to throw fuel cans and muddy boots and whatever in the bed instead of the backseat.

hmm yea thats what i cant decide really.. i think i might leave about a foot between the front of the bed and front of the box. anyone with a smaller toyota pickup have pics of their box that would be helpful?

viewtopic.php?f=48&t=11889

This is the box that I built for my 06 tacoma. If I remember right its 42*52*22 and there is about 8 inches behind the box for random stuff. Also I made the top extend over so its from bed rail to bed rail. That way I can put a shovel and stuff to the side of the box and no snow gets in the bed. Sorry I dont have a picture of it in the truck. I went with just an open box, no divider. Kinda regret that now but it will hold 6 dogs good. Hope this helps some.

I like to run a truck box in my rigs to hold all my stuff then it can be locked up. I then fill whats left of the bed with dog box. You may only want to haul 6 dogs right now but you will find buddys that want to use it too. As for gas cans, ice chest and all that type of stuff can go on top inside the rigging rack. Also as said before always over hang on the sides and back it just helps keep rain and snow out. I also like to seal up where the dog box meets the truck box to help keep water out also. If you do a little planning now you can make your rigging rack where you can hang and hook a shovel and ax even a chain saw to the rack. They make tons of after market stuff for the off road guys that can be copyed or even made to work on your rack.

well im going to be building out of steel. as of now i plan on building it to fit over the wheel wells extend out to the bed rails so like 3-4 inches on each side. the part that will go over the bed rails will be roughly 8 or so inches high and this is where i will have 3 holes on each side for the mutts. depending on how high up the holes are on the side and dog height i might build a sliding drawer under the dog box it will be part of the box just the floor the dogs stand on will be 4 inches or so above the bed with a drawer under it so i can stor collars and leashes ect.. as for length im kinda thinking about making the box as long as the bed but have the front foot or so of the box sealed off and used as dry storage. lol or option #2 is build a simple rectangle box and option #3 is build a flatbed and then build a rectangle box for the flatbed. hope some of this made sense it would be a lot easier if you could just see the picture i have in my head lol

so i went out and took a few quick measurements and it doesnt look like i will have room for the drawer underneath. as of now the main box will be 55 inches long 61 wide and 17 tall. with the 4 inches on each side that rest on the bed rails and being 8-10 inches tall it will be 69 inches wide and 25-27 inches tall and overall length with be 71 inches long with the front 16 inches being dry storage..

Lots of guys like them boxes under the dog just for that. For me I would never do that unless its metal or Alum and welded air tight you could get dog piss or any water down in there and cover your stuff. I have made a few now with the box on top and it works nice only thing is you need to get some good shocks to keep it up with a good rigging rack on it. But for them you can just get them from any auto parts store they are what is used on SUV and mini vans to keep the back up. I think the flat bed is a very nice way to go if you set it up right you can do lots with a flat bed.

i would love to go with a flatbed but just dont want to have the hassle when going duck hunting and bringing decoys or hauling stuff for deer/elk camp. im going to price it out for steel and aluminum i might wait a little longer and save up a little bit more change and have a friend tig it all with aluminum. livetohunt do you have any pictures of your bowes you have made?

If you went with a flat bed and made some sides and a tailgate about 18" tall out of square tubing and expanded metal you could have them slip into some Stake Pockets. Or what I was thinking about doing is having them hinge and keeping them up and down with pins. It would take a little more welding be would make it nice if you wanted to haul stuff. You could even make the sides and back pin out where you could add 18" or what ever to your bed or as I was going to do use them as a platform for loading and unloading of the dogs. I seen a very nice set up on a flat bed rig where the guy made a 4 compartment box it had 2 doors on each side and could haul his quad on the back behind the dog box side ways. Most of the boxes I made are on here in post all over the place dont have any other photos sorry.