Featured here: the DECKED DECKED Drawer System — Ford F-150 (2015-current) 5'6" bed.
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These two get compared because they cost similar money and both live in the bed. They are not alternatives in any useful sense — one gives you organized sealed compartments, the other gives you a flat deck that comes out to you with everything on it.
If you cannot find the right tool, buy DECKED. If you cannot lift the generator out of the bulkhead, buy the Bedslide. If both are true, the drawer system is the better single purchase because you can still stack on the deck.
The decision table
DECKED drawer system
Bedslide
What comes out
Two sealed compartments
One flat deck, everything on it
Weather
Drawers are sealed
Open — the load is exposed
Lockable
Yes
No
Organization
Two drawers, dividers available
None — it is a deck
Deck above it
Load-bearing, still usable
The deck is the slide
Published capacity
Per the manufacturer's documentation
500 lb or 1,000 lb by model
Heavy single items
Awkward — drawers are not for a generator
This is what it is for
Install
Factory cleats, no drilling, two people
Bolts to the bed floor, two people
Bed height cost
Raised by the module height
Raised slightly
Buy DECKED if
The daily problem is finding things. Many small items, many trips to the truck. Drawers end the excavation.
The bed is open. Sealed drawers mean you do not also need a tonneau cover for the tools.
Security matters. The drawers lock; a slide does not.
You still need to carry cargo on top. The deck above the drawers remains usable, so you have not traded the bed away.
Buy a Bedslide if
The daily problem is lifting. A generator, a welder, a pallet of bagged material, a loaded tool chest.
The item is heavy and singular. Drawers are the wrong shape for it; a deck is the right one.
You already have a cover. Under a closed cover the open deck is nearly as dry as a sealed drawer, which removes the drawer system's main advantage.
Vertical bed space is precious. A slide costs you less height than a drawer module.
The four options, with live prices
DECKEDSpec-verified
DECKED Drawer System — Ford F-150 (2015-current) 5'6" bed
Two full-length weather-sealed drawers under a load-bearing deck. You keep the whole bed floor on top and gain two drawers you can reach from the tailgate without climbing in, which is the single biggest day-to-day change you can make to a work truck.
Who should skip it. It raises your bed floor by the height of the drawer module, so you lose vertical space and the ability to carry a full-height pallet. If you haul bulk more than tools, this is the wrong buy.
Build
9.4
Capacity
8.2
Install
8.8
Day-to-day access
9.8
Value
7.0
What works
+Drawers are reachable from the tailgate — no climbing into the bed
+Deck surface stays usable for cargo on top
+Weather-sealed drawers keep tools dry in an open bed
+No-drill installation on the factory cleat system
What does not
−The most expensive item in this category by a wide margin
−Raises the bed floor and costs you vertical capacity
−Very heavy — payload matters if you also tow
−Sold per bed length; ordering the wrong one means a return freight bill
65 x 48 in of US-built slide rated to 1000 lb. The reason to buy the original rather than a copy is the slide hardware: it still rolls smoothly loaded after years, and that is the whole product.
Who should skip it. It is a flat deck on rollers. If the problem is organization rather than reach, a drawer system solves more for the same money.
Build
9.6
Capacity
9.2
Install
7.0
Day-to-day access
9.4
Value
7.0
What works
+Slide hardware is the best in the category and the reason for the price
+1000 lb rating published, not estimated
+Deck surface takes a tool box, a generator or a pallet
Adjustable 62-74 in length, 48 in wide, rated to 500 lb. Half the capacity of the 1000 Classic at a much lower price, and 500 lb covers the way most trades actually load a bed.
Who should skip it. If you put a generator, a welder or a loaded tool box on the deck, you will be over 500 lb faster than you expect. Buy the 1000.
Build
9.0
Capacity
7.4
Install
7.6
Day-to-day access
9.4
Value
8.4
What works
+Adjustable length fits a range of beds
+Genuine Bedslide hardware at a lower price point
+Lighter than the 1000, so less payload sacrificed
What does not
−500 lb is easy to exceed with heavy equipment
−Still no drawers or lock
−Adjustability adds hardware to check periodically
A 65 x 48 in slide-out tray rated to 1000 lb with six movable tie-down rings and a two-position slide. It does the one thing a drawer system does not: it brings the whole load out to you rather than opening drawers.
Who should skip it. It is a tray, not drawers — nothing is sealed and nothing locks. If the gear needs to be dry and secure, this is not it.
Build
7.8
Capacity
9.4
Install
6.8
Day-to-day access
9.0
Value
9.0
What works
+Published 1000 lb rating at a fraction of branded slide money
+Six movable rings let you secure odd loads properly
+Two-position stop means you are not always pulling it fully out
Full-size beds with 65 in or more of clear floor length and 48 in of width
✗ Does not fit
Mid-size beds
Beds with a factory-fitted bed liner lip that reduces floor width
What they cost you, side by side
Both are expensive and both take something. Worth seeing it plainly.
DECKED costs you vertical bed capacity, permanently. Loads that sat below the rails now stand above them. Appliance boxes, full-height pallets and plywood on edge are the casualties.
The Bedslide costs you the bed floor as a working surface. It becomes the slide, so anything you want to put down goes on the slide rather than in the bed.
Both cost payload. Significantly, before you load anything, and it comes out of the same budget as a rack and a cover.
Neither is cheap. Which is why a cheap slide-out tray is worth trying first — it answers the question for a tenth of the price.
The cheap experiment worth running first
A polyethylene or steel roll-out tray costs a fraction of either product and tells you within a month whether reach is genuinely your problem. If it is, you then know exactly what capacity you need. If it is not, you have saved a lot of money finding out.
The 1,000 lb budget slides are a genuine third option here rather than a compromise, and they are the one we would point most people at before they spend on either brand. Cheaper alternatives.
Can you have both?
Not really, and not sensibly. They occupy the same bed floor. What you can have is a drawer system plus a crossover tool box above it — which is the combination most well-sorted trade trucks run — or a slide plus a box.
Check payload before committing to any pair of these. A drawer system, a box and a rack together consume a large fraction of a half-ton's door-jamb figure before a tool goes in.
Questions people actually ask
Which is better, DECKED or BedSlide?
Neither — they solve different problems. DECKED gives you sealed lockable drawers and keeps a usable deck above them; a Bedslide brings one flat deck out with everything on it. Drawers for finding things, a slide for lifting a heavy single item.
Can I have both a DECKED system and a Bedslide?
Not sensibly — they occupy the same bed floor. What works is a drawer system plus a crossover tool box above it, which is what most well-sorted trade trucks run. Check your payload before committing to any pair of these.
How much weight does a Bedslide hold?
500 lb or 1,000 lb depending on the model, both published by the manufacturer. Treat the figure as a property of the slide: the bolts into your bed floor and the cantilever when it is fully extended both sit between that number and reality.
Is there a cheaper alternative to both?
A roll-out cargo tray, from inexpensive polyethylene up to 1,000 lb steel. It costs a fraction and tells you within a month whether reach is genuinely your problem — which is the question worth answering before spending on either brand.
Does a Bedslide work under a tonneau cover?
Yes, and it is a good combination: under a closed cover an open deck is nearly as dry as a sealed drawer, which removes the drawer system's main advantage over it. Check the clearance between the slide's loaded height and the cover.
Last reviewed October 5, 2026. Think a figure here is wrong? Tell us at contact@toolboxandtruck.com and we will check it, fix it and date the correction — see our editorial policy.
