hey new to the powerwashing business. ive done a few jobs in this summer heat and im tired of lugging around hoses. i just bought a cox reel for 200 ft of hp hose and a liberty reel for 200 ft of garden hose. im looking to build a slightly raised platform in my truck bed to hold the hose reels above the sides of the truck. problem is i dont know the first place to start when it comes to mounting anything to my truck or framing. do i use nuts and bolts? or can i use thick screws? and how do i frame around the wheel wells on the inside of the truck bed while still having everything stable? any help would be greatly appreciated
Don’t use screws to hold anything together in the back of a truck. Definitely over build if something could come loose and go flying out the back of your truck.
Search thru some old threads and find some other truck bed builds. I’m sure they have pre-built frames you can purchase that just slide into the back and then bolt down. If not, you need to either learn to weld or find a welder. I’d use 3/16" X 2" steel angle as the frame.
Scroll towards the bottom for search results. Look through the threads and it should give you ideas and help you figure out how you want to lay everything out.
https://pressurewashingresource.com/community/search?q=truck%20bed%20build
Hotshot I think the pic you are talking about was built by jr chance. That one is aluminum. I could build you one just never have built any to sell. Mine are steel.I will happy to help you but I need more info on what you and how you want to lay it out everybody’s different. But a basic skid is simple. If you have a ladder rack even better we can can put a hose reel tray on the curb side mount your reels to that. It will give you storage and a nice dry place to mount your electric boxes. I have lots of questions before I just randomly type out ideas
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The fella who started this topic was asking. I’m good man,we run outta trailers, but a fella would probably do very well on here by making steel custom skids in the winter months @Firefighter4hire . 
Your probably right the guy I was looking to build one for me charges 3500 bucks. Maybe I will build something universal and see how it goes worth a shot anyway
@Firefighter4hire no ladder rack. I have an f150 with 6.5 bed. I wasnt really looking to build a whole skid yet because i still have equipment to buy down the road and my pw is on wheels so i can bring it in my garage and work on if if need be. Just wanted to mount the hose reels to the curbside of the bed. Ive seen pictures of some guys who have the front of their reels on the edge of the bed and the back being held up by metal. I was looking for something like that but with wood if thats possible
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Dont use wood its just going to fall apart. What reels do you have and what are the dimensions. Where are you located? A reel shelf is super simple to make you can get the metal cut to size weld on some uprights with a foot on the bottom. Weld a lip to catch the bed rail and your done.
You want at least # 10 steel and a 2x2 or 2x3 legs. Its worth it to do it right he first time. You can easily build off of it in the future. When you want a ladder rack. Wait how do you carry your ladders now
Here are the links. The first one is for pressure and the second is for supply line. I am on a steep budget so im trying to get everything as i go.
Do these seem like ok reels to start with?
And i am located in south jersey
And i have a little giant ladder that i adjust all the way down and put in the bed of truck
@Hotshot What is the difference between the garden hose reels? The 709 doesnt look as thick as the 703. (The one i was picking)
I’m not sure but one looks plastic and one looks metal
There both 13g steel. Won’t last but about a year. But look at the difference in the supply hook up ,the one your wanting is a pain to keep the hose from kinking when rolled up. I used zip ties,hold 200 ’ of 5/8 hot cold hose. The other is more on the commercial thinking side. You’ll get laughed at on here. But I bought 2 from menards when I first started. Both models, $70,80 a piece
I’m not sure how tight your budget is. But I’m thinking you may be better off to mount them on a poly skid along with machine. Not hard to set up and you can slide the whole thing in and out of the truck bed till you get going and can afford to invest some money. Maybe save the money on building the shelf and buy a little better reel. Have you tried to look for reels used.
I dont care if it’s pink and says Fisher price,long as it works for a while till more funding arrived.
You know maybe it’s just me might be cool if we started a thread for used equipment.
