2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Hide-n Side Must go

[Diese1nut]

Thanks for the reply. I have both a neuro and an ortho doing the surgery. They are doing a fusion with two rods and 4 to 6 screws. Third time around for me and hopefully the last. Started with a microdiscectomy, then fusion in the front, now the rods in the back of the spine. all done at the L 4 5 S 1 level.

 

[BTowler]

WOW! Hope it goes well for you, have a freind with Harrington rods for a lumbar spine, it was a slow recovery but he is doing very well now.

 

[Diese1nut]

Truck just sold for $25,100. 00

Thanks to everyone for your support.

 

[tom sweeney]

... . glad you sold your truck,i am just about recovered from C-spine surgery at the C5-7 levels this past June 29th. i had the same hardware installed. . 6 titanium screws and two rods with screw cap retainers... . this was done through the back of the neck (naturally) i wish you the best of luck in your surgery and recovery... . its gonna take a while to recover,just do your part and REST-UP!!!... . hope to see you at May Madness '08 !

 

[DKupec]

Why do they not still make these beds. I would love to have one of these on my truck. I've never seen an aftermarket utility bed look so good on a truck before but still have the storage room for all of the other stuff we carry.

 

[SRath]

Here's what I think happened, based solely upon my recollection of that long-ago conversation with the inventor at a time when things were tied-up legally and he really couldn't say much. All of the following is just my conjecturing and filling in of the blanks. I was in a similar situation with a patented invention of my own at the time (getting screwed by the big manufacturer who wanted it for free. I "took my ball and went home" rather than watch someone else profit from my hard work while I got practically nothing. ), so we had a good talk and it was of great interest to me. If someone has better knowledge, I have long wanted to know the details and ultimate outcome. Please share.



The Big Three (though deservedly not so "big" anymore), have rights to body shapes and designs. Trademarks, I believe they are considered. Whether it is more like a copyright or patent, I don't know.



But you may remember that about the same time Hide'n Side was introduced, there were a number of companies who were marketing conversion kits to take Dodge pickups like ours and Chevy pickups (maybe others, too) and convert them into "hummer lookalikes". They were very cool "poor man" kits and drastically improved the offroad capabilites with terrific entry and departure angles and engines moved back in the frames, etc. It was an excellent way to turn beloved rusted out Chevy 4x4's into awesome looking and performing "new" vehicles. Cummins Dodges, too.



AM General sued and shut them all down. Simply because they "looked" like Hummers and the General wanted to keep Hummers as high-end rich dude toys. The courts bowed to their wishes.



There was another lawsuit brought by Daimler (I can't remember against who, though) for trying to introduce a vehicle that Daimler felt too closely emulated their "trademark" Jeep vertical grille.



Ok, so along comes the absolute hottest thing to hit pickups in years: the Hide 'n Side. All three corporate giants drooled over it. I'm sure they also berated their own design teams for not thinking of it.



The inventor had it nailed-down and patented. Trouble is, by marketing them, he was also in violation of the Big Three's "Trademark" rights, since they HAD to look just like the real thing. So they tried to squeeze him out and refused to pay for his idea. He stood his ground and said "Ok. I'll just take my ball and go home. "



The Big Three are actually quite happy about that outcome. Sure, none of them can steal his design concept and profit from it; but that's just fine with each of them since the competition doesn't have it either. The inventor cannot continue to manufacture and market them, either . All is well except that we, the deserving consumer, and the deserving inventor end up with nothing.

 

[IanF]

SRath,



Definitely makes sense... still stinks, though... It would be cool if he could sell a conversion "kit" of some kind... supplying your own side panels... My issue with the hide-n-side is how much the design eats up bed space as well as the only pictures I've seen so far of of short beds. I will have an 8' bed 'til the day I die...



This really caught my attention as I've been thinking of ways to add additional storage. Right now, I'm thinking of some sort of under-bed truck box similar to the old factory-option on late 70's Fords.



Diese1nut - Congrats on selling the truck and good luck with the back surgery.

 

[Diese1nut]

Thanks for all the support.



When these bodies first came out the inventor was looking for installers all accross the country. He had set up a school for for installers/distributors. When you signed up for the school the cost included learning the entire installation process and when you where done, it included one Hide-n-Side kit to take to your own shop as a selling tool. At the time it really wasn't that un reasonable.

I was going to do it myself but found a shop within 100 miles that already was set up, so I opted for them to do the install. It worked out slick because the owner Had a brand new 2001 bed off of his own truck sitting there to use for the conversion. He set up the one he had with my paint code. I went to his shop with my stock bed and 2 1/2 hours later left with the new bed complete. I never had a problem with the bed since. Always loved it but no longer need it.

The buyer is going to be real happy.

 

[SRath]

IanF,



The real beauty of the design is how it did not use up any truly useful bed space. Far less than any crossbox tool box. On a longbed pickup, for example, you still had a full 8' of length and a full 4' between the wheel wells. The only interior bedspace it used was the nearly useless space in front of and behind the wheelwells. Combined with the large wasted space between the inner and outer walls of the bed, it produced an amazing amount of easily accessible, weather-protected, lockable storage space that otherwise is just wasted on every pickup. And it did so without altering the stock body lines of the truck.



The kits consisted of fiberglass (say "bye-bye" to rust) bedsides that simply bolted on in place of the factory bolt-on bedsides. Obviously, on some pickups this was more easily done than on others, but overall, it was ingeniously simple.



A talented guy with a welder, plasma cutter, metal brake, etc. (and LOTS of time on his hands) could probably come up with a similar design knockoff. You can imagine how much time and money the inventor had invested in his design before he went public. Huge bucks for a privateer.



His best option for sitting back and reaping the rewards of his brain child and hard work would have been to strike a licensing deal with one or more truck makers rather than continue the manufacturing and marketing system Diese1nut described. It also appeared the demand was going to be extremely high.



But with every slight body design change, he would be scrambling to make new molds (very expensive) and would have to pay for new licensing. Far, far better to let the Big 3 pay him to utilize his idea in their assembly lines and incorporate it into any design changes themselves.



But you are talking about companies accustomed to screwing the little guy and taking what they want. Several years ago, there was an interesting little news blurb about how the descendants of the guy who invented delay wipers finally won the court battle started decades before against Chrysler. He himself died penniless and long before it was ever resolved.



So no licensing agreement was ever reached either way apparently on the Hide 'n Side. The Big 3 just hoped that everyone would forget about the design and quit clamoring for it, I suppose. You have to buy their trucks whether they have it or not and have no choice in the matter.



Maybe they hope he will one day let the patent expire and are just waiting him out. Big business is nasty business. Many great ideas and inventions come from individuals. Very few of them ever enjoy any rewards after the big corporations and lawyers get done.

 

[DonTX]

I can't get that design out of my mind. I have been toying with the idea of just doing one myself, wish I had one to look at to save myself some time figuring it all out. I was surprised that a poster said the bedsides were part of the "kit", I had assumed that the original bedsides were being used. Wonder why he did not just use the original bedsides. With a one ton dually, that would make it easier I think, and perhaps it would have not infringed on copyrights/patents had he done it that way instead of "copying" the factory shapes. Anybody else wishing to "brainstorm" the home made idea a bit?

 

[BTowler]

Don't know about your truck, but my bedsides are definitely not bolt on, spot welded all the way.

 

[DonTX]

Now THAT information is not helpful! :-(

 

[SRath]

It is important to understand that we are talking about complete boxsides, not just the outer skins. At the time, I was really wanting a set for my old-style '87 Chevy K30. Those factory boxsides bolt to the floor and the front box panel and have only a couple small welds at the rear. The factory wheelwells themselves are also bolted on. You have to look between the cab and box and underneath to see all of this. They bolt on just like fenders and you can buy each component separately if needed.



I have never really looked at my Dodge to see how the box sides are attached to the floor and headboard of the box, but I would be disappointed if they were all-welded instead of bolted even if just for the fact it would make any needed future repairs very difficult. I don't like replacing just skins. The spot welds are inevitable rust points. That's why newer doors have their skins glued and crimped on.



Unfortunately for me, he did not make the Hide 'n Side for the older Chevy's then. Only the newer (at the time) '88 and up style. Some of the advertising photos used to show things a large as a bag of golf clubs being stored in them. Inside were various shelves and compartments, as well as a fuel filler opening. You would need to open the boxside to fill up, which meant allowing some space when pulling up to the pump, but it would sure make fuel theft difficult.



I had a 10' slide-in pop-up pickup camper I used alot back then. I really liked how his system would not interfere with being able to use that. There were no real drawbacks that I could find to his design. It was simply an outstanding concept.

 

[IanF]

IanF,



The real beauty of the design is how it did not use up any truly useful bed space. Far less than any crossbox tool box. On a longbed pickup, for example, you still had a full 8' of length and a full 4' between the wheel wells. The only interior bedspace it used was the nearly useless space in front of and behind the wheelwells. Combined with the large wasted space between the inner and outer walls of the bed, it produced an amazing amount of easily accessible, weather-protected, lockable storage space that otherwise is just wasted on every pickup. And it did so without altering the stock body lines of the truck.

True... but for what I use my truck for (hauling mulch and firewood), I do need that space around the wheel wells. As cool as hide-n-side would be for a contractor considering a utility bed, it creates far more space than I really need, which is just some "not-in-the-cab" storage for a floor jack, tie-downs and a tarp or two that doesn't encroach on bed-space like a cross-box would. I still think a couple of under-bed side boxes would suite my personal needs better.



Yep... many big-business practices really stink...

 

[IanF]

The spot welds are inevitable rust points. That's why newer doors have their skins glued and crimped on.

Boy, do I hear ya there... my '78 Ford and '86 Toyota both rusted out badly at the spot-welds above the wheel arches. I'm hoping the Dodge bed doesn't suffer from the same problem.

 

[Diese1nut]

Mine didn't rust.

 

[TJSHOTROD]

I have a set of hide-n-sides in garage uninstalled that I might be willing to part with for the right money pm me if any one is intrested.



TJ

 

[AMink]

TJ, 2nd or 3rd gen? Haven't seen you for a while. I'm gone from Lazy 5 and back at Rancho San Rafael.

 

[TJSHOTROD]

2 gen. I been playing alot of ball.

 

[coreysmc]

I have a hide n side bed for sale
I am in Tennessee
Bed is in used condition but fairly decent
Call for more info
615-573-9426
Thx, corey