RC Van Build Series

In this episode, we look at the Decked drawer system and install the SlideMaster custom helicopter slide platforms. The Decked system installs quickly. The $1,400 system is well worth the money and has 5-star reviews from contractors, installers and hobbyists, alike. It just works. It's virtually indestructible too! Installation is fairly routine so we don't go through it in the episode. There are plenty of installation videos at Decked.com.

The centerpiece of this episode and the van, itself, is the pair of custom SlideMaster helicopter slide-outs. The slide units were custom ordered to be 22" x 52" so I could get two of them side-by-side on top of the Decked unit. Although SlideMaster does not recommend mounting these onto the Decked unit, we did it anyway knowing that maximum weight on each slide would not exceed 60 lbs. Even at 100 lbs. each, the slides are just fine -- they each have a 400 lb capacity.

On top of the slides, we attached 1/2" plywood decks. At 48" x 24" we were able to easily source the deck from a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood and have a leftover set for backup! Atop the plywood, we mounted (with glue and the bolts which hold the entire deck sandwich to the slide) 1/4" white masonite. We trimmed the edges with fancy Gorilla tape and mounted some tie-down loops to secure our precious cargo.

To attach the slides to the Decked unit, we drilled into the Decked unit and inserted Rivnuts. We only had one nut fail and were able to correct that with a larger Rivnut in that hole. From there, it's bolt-and-go.

This part of the project was the most rewarding and also the easiest. If you want an alternative to a standard single truck slide, take a look at https://slide-master.com and customize a solution that allows you to pull only one slide out at a time. This gives you better access and keeps the strain off of your back when loading and unloading aircraft of almost any size!

Our sponsors and mentioned product links for this episode are:

Mercedes-Benz of Oklahoma City - https://mbokc.com
Horizon Hobby - https://horizonhobby.com
Slide Master - https://slide-master.com
RBComponents - https://rbcomponents.com