BuiltRight
Well-Known Member
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So I made a set of these for my own truck recently and posted in my build thread. I got enough interest via reply and PM that I thought I should start this thread separately, to discuss bringing these to market and hopefully get some feedback from the community regarding features and such.
Introduction:
First, a little background. I originally designed the Bedside Rack System for use in my own F-150. I was needing to load/carry/unload full pallets of product but didn't want to unload the gear I was using in the truck on the weekend. The unused space above the wheel wells was a perfect fit for most of that stuff, so I designed a set of panels and began manufacturing them.
It really picked up some steam quickly and I ended up winning the SEMA Launch Pad competition last year with the product.
Anyhow, our business still revolves around the Ford platform, but I recently bought my JT as a new daily driver and am really loving it. I've been tinkering with it after-hours but if there's enough interest in these panels, I'd really like to manufacture them and add the JT to our list of supported platforms.
To get to that point, though, I'd really value feedback from you guys regarding what attachments will be useful and how the panels can best interface with the truck.
Purpose:
The purpose is to make the space above the rear wheel wells useful by providing a modular mounting surface that gear, tools and accessories can be attached to. My proposed requirements include:
I Need Your Help!
Here's where you guys come in. I want to be sure that panels don't just work for my uses, but for yours as well. Below are a couple items that would be helpful in refining my existing custom set (which I just made for myself) into a more complete product.
Timing, Pricing, etc:
I really want this thread to be technical in nature but at some point, we'll begin taking payment and shipping these. In order to get to that point, I'm going to keep a list of users that are interested in a set of these, so that we can get an idea of how many people might be interested if we do a run of them. I think I'll do that in the next post. The more people we can get interested, the lower we can get the pricing. As we narrow in on a design, we can nail down pricing. That said, our existing kits are around $300 and I'd like to keep these around that. I base pricing very strictly on actual cost to manufacture, so it's just a matter of give and take.
As far as timing is concerned, once we've got some of these design issues sorted out, we'll run some more prototypes and maybe work with a couple members to do some testing and evaluation. I'd like to have that phase of the project complete in the next three weeks so that we can be shipping completed kits in early August.
Thoughts? Interest? I'd love your feedback! In any case, thanks for welcoming me into this great group!
Matt
Introduction:
First, a little background. I originally designed the Bedside Rack System for use in my own F-150. I was needing to load/carry/unload full pallets of product but didn't want to unload the gear I was using in the truck on the weekend. The unused space above the wheel wells was a perfect fit for most of that stuff, so I designed a set of panels and began manufacturing them.
It really picked up some steam quickly and I ended up winning the SEMA Launch Pad competition last year with the product.
Anyhow, our business still revolves around the Ford platform, but I recently bought my JT as a new daily driver and am really loving it. I've been tinkering with it after-hours but if there's enough interest in these panels, I'd really like to manufacture them and add the JT to our list of supported platforms.
To get to that point, though, I'd really value feedback from you guys regarding what attachments will be useful and how the panels can best interface with the truck.
Purpose:
The purpose is to make the space above the rear wheel wells useful by providing a modular mounting surface that gear, tools and accessories can be attached to. My proposed requirements include:
- Must be bolt-on and require no permanent modification to the truck
- Must be strong enough to support equipment like a hilift jack or 3gal gas can
- Must hit the $300ish price point for a set of four panels
- Must have an OEM-like fit and finish
- ?
I Need Your Help!
Here's where you guys come in. I want to be sure that panels don't just work for my uses, but for yours as well. Below are a couple items that would be helpful in refining my existing custom set (which I just made for myself) into a more complete product.
- Should we mount to the trail rail system or below it? Mounting to it simplifies installation, but does it occupy the rail space unnecessarily? If we mount below the rail, so we prevent fixed-width accessories from fitting by effectively moving the rails closer together?
- What accessories or gear would you be wanting to mount? Typical things are hilift jack, axe, shovel, tow straps, rotopax cans, fire extinguisher and so on. We have solution for all of those items, but is there anything else I'm missing?
- Should we make a panel to fit across the front of the bed as well?
- ?
Timing, Pricing, etc:
I really want this thread to be technical in nature but at some point, we'll begin taking payment and shipping these. In order to get to that point, I'm going to keep a list of users that are interested in a set of these, so that we can get an idea of how many people might be interested if we do a run of them. I think I'll do that in the next post. The more people we can get interested, the lower we can get the pricing. As we narrow in on a design, we can nail down pricing. That said, our existing kits are around $300 and I'd like to keep these around that. I base pricing very strictly on actual cost to manufacture, so it's just a matter of give and take.
As far as timing is concerned, once we've got some of these design issues sorted out, we'll run some more prototypes and maybe work with a couple members to do some testing and evaluation. I'd like to have that phase of the project complete in the next three weeks so that we can be shipping completed kits in early August.
Thoughts? Interest? I'd love your feedback! In any case, thanks for welcoming me into this great group!
Matt
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