I have a Ford F-150 Crew Cab with a short bed.  Up until my recent 7 ft medium action casting rod aquisition I have only had 6.5 ft rods that fit fine in the bed of my truck corner to corner.  Well the 7 footer doesnt sit well and I don't like how it puts a slight bend in the tip as it rests in the bed.  I really dont want to cause any damage while driving.  What options do I have for rod storage accesories that arent crazy expensive? 

 

Tight Lines and Happy Fishing

Joshua

I've seen homemade racks people have made. I purchased the rodsman. It's a little expensive but works great. www.rodsman.com

No way I'd roll with my rods in the bed, even if they fit.  I can carry at least a half dozen rigs in the cab itself, with room for passengers.

No way I'd roll with my rods in the bed, even if they fit.  I can carry at least a half dozen rigs in the cab itself, with room for passengers.

 

How do you arrange them in the cab?  I have been putting the 7ft rod through the back driver side door and passing it through my front seats with the butt against the rear panel the tip has roughly 1.5in of space between it and the dash beside the passenger side door.  Maybe I am just not using enough imagination here lol.

The butts rest on the transmission tunnel, lean against the seat.  The only rod I have trouble with is a 7'9" swimbait rod, and that has to run from the passenger footwell to the back, and even then it's tight.  I have a GMC Sierra extended cab, so it might be a little different than the Ford, but should work..

I have gmc sonoma zr2 ext cab short bed. Basically an s10/sonoma with a factory lift and bigger tires. I put my rods in on the passenger side and they run behind the drivers seat. A 7'3 is the longest I can fit but there's a slight bend. 7' clears no problem. I can't have a passenger though.

Have you considered PVC pipe? Foam inserted at one end with a threaded cap and stepping up to whatever size is needed to enclose your reel if that's what you want to do. Cheap as possible & will protect rod/reel very well in bed.

Good luck.

I have GMC Sierra Crew Cab and my rods ride up front with me. I open my passenger door and I put the buttend on the passenger floor mat and the tips go to the back. The longest rod that I have is a 7'5" flipping rod and it fits fine. A passenger would ride in the passenger side rear or drive a separate vehicle before I put my rods in the bed.

Just get the premade rod tubes and mount it in the bed of the truck then strap them down with a bungee while youre driving. id go take a picture of mine but its raining cats and dogs

Multi-piece rods. (I know, I know, I can hear it already, they aren't as sensitive as one-piece rods, not many to choose from, etc.)
The rod tubes do work well, but I find myself buying more two and three piece rods, even though even long one-piece rods fit just fine in the Jeep.

Don't know why I never thought of it before but I took the head rest off of the passenger front seat, leaned the seat back a bit and put the butt end of my rods on floor and seny the tips over the seat. Worked great! Thanks for making me think a little folks.

they ride in the cab. not going to risk em bouncing and getting rash

Yep pvc pipe.