Home made folding aluminum truck bed cover with BB-8 attachment. 

This is an amazing idea, and I am sad I did not think of it! Thank you! If I build another I will for sure try this!

I am reasonably certain it would be possible to build it without a welder using a combination of adhesive and fasteners (rivets or nuts/bolts) depending on how you wanted it look. I still came in WAY under what any of the local places wanted for bed covering options cost wise. Clearly not the solution for everyone, but it works pretty well for me :). Thanks for watching.

Thanks!

Good to know! I shall give this a try on my next aluminum project! Thank you!

Great video too - of all my amateur skills, welding is not one though haha. Hope y'all had a blast at Dcon and see you in 2020! (Will be my 8th consecutive!)

We did, and yep, we will be back in 2020. This will be my 8th consecutive as well! Be safe!

I considered going with a 3 section set up (it is how most of the folding hard covers in my area are sold), but I needed it done quickly so I didnt have time to fool with a hinge system that would let me fold it as close to flat as possible, and figured if I needed it out of the way I could just remove it, store it on the side and then put it back on when I was done. IF I was gonna do it again, I would probably try to make a nice 3 piece section though. As you pointed out, there is more room to cover as much or as little of the bed as you need, and if you have to take it off for any reason, it should be slightly easier to store I would think! Good luck on your build! Thanks for watching!

I buy my metal from a semi local distributor, I dont have the receipts anymore, but I was paying 60ish dollars for a 4x8 sheet. Prices have gone up some since then so I am guessing it isnt quite as cost efficient. For me, a big factor was not just the cost, but actually getting what I wanted meant 3-4 times the cost of what i could make PLUS a 4-6 week wait on delivery. Thanks for watching, and best of luck crafting your own solution!

We wanted to do an R-2 type astro mech build, but didnt make the time to get it done, so we went with the big BB-8 head we had. Excited to hear about your R2 build though! Hope it all goes well!

Primarily to minimize panel distortion on the sheet metal, and time. I HAVE a TIG welder, but I wont claim to be a weldor lol. My skills are, very basic. Rivets and panel bond are quicker (for me) and less likely to warp the sheet metal. Thanks for watching!

Thanks for watching! The cover is off the truck currently. I took a few pictures of the bracket, but haven't made time to start an account with a photo hosting account and haven't figured out how (or if?) I can post one directly in a reply. Working on figuring out what the best way to post those is, when I get it done, I'll hollar!

It good thanks

The sheet aluminum is 14 gauge 6061 (1.628mm thick if the conversion chart is right). The aluminum square stock is 1 inch Outer Diameter 1/8 inch wall thickness. The angle stock I used for the outside frame so it overlapped the sides was 1.5 inch by 1.5 inch 3/16th inch thickness. I chose what i did mostly because it was scrap I had around from other projects. It is really pretty durable and solid. I took it off for the time being since I needed a camper top for a few recent trips, but I intend to put the aluminum cover back on once I can store the camper top. Quite happy with it so far! Thanks for watching, any other questions, feel free to ask!

Eastern North Carolina, but at the moment I'm neck deep in a ton of other stuff. Sorry :(.

@@eric-bkc OK, I see you started a build for a friend. Your work is so professional that I had to ask. I'm in WNC and Upstate SC. Jesse

It is/was holding up quite well while I had it on, a few minor little dings here and there (aluminum is pretty soft!) but still secure and solid, and still protected cargo in the bed from the weather. I had to take it off and put a top on the truck :( I needed more space on a few road trips, sadly, the cover didnt quite have enough room.). It's currently stored and will go back on once I have someplace safe to store the top.

Seriously! theres isn't even a shot of the cover on the truck...

I didnt buy the materials outright when I built this, they were scraps left over from other projects and/or pieces I picked up on a whim at the metal supply place. The sheets at the time I built this were about 60 bucks for a 4 foot by 8 foot. I tried to find the receipts from the trip I picked up the square stock and angle but I couldnt find them. I would guess I have less than 200 bucks in the whole thing. Cost wasnt just the only factor for me though, I wanted a cover for the trip and all our local businesses wanted 4-6 weeks for delivery, so I made my own! Thanks for watching, stay safe!

Legit point, and one any DIYer has to weigh constantly! I needed one NOW (and my local places all had several week lead times) AND I had everything I needed sitting in my garage. Most of it scrap from other projects (minus the sheet aluminum, I had it obviously, but it wasn't scrap so to speak, I just wasn't using it for anything else). Also I did this quite a few years ago, before the insane increases in metal prices. I would probably choose to do it myself again if I had to, but I LIKE doing things like this, but you are 100% correct, for most people with different opportunity cost on their time, it would probably be easiest to buy pre-made! Thanks much :) Stay safe!

No leaks (in fact it did a better job of staying water tight than the camper top I had installed not too long ago (needed more room in the truck bed)). The rubber seal has actually held up quite well too! However, It is currently off the truck and stored until I can get my garage/shop built, then I will take the camper top off, and put this back on. My biggest planned upgrade is changing the fastening system. It is secure, and tight, but I THINK I can come up with something easier to use once I have time.

@@eric-bkc Maybe just some cotter pins would do the trick