Truck bed extender

[iamironman]

I built this little project so a customer could haul his ATV with out having to pull a trailer.

It's getting powder coated black right now and should be ready for pick up tomorrow afternoon.











-Brian-
www.appironworks.com

 

[PurdueSD]

Nice looking work, but i'm confused. It only looks like its about 2" longer than the down tailgate? Why did he need the "extender".

edit... Looking at the pics, man that is one short pickup bed... I guess its one of those quad cabs with the baby bed.

 

[iamironman]

Nice looking work, but i'm confused. It only looks like its about 2" longer than the down tailgate? Why did he need the "extender".

edit... Looking at the pics, man that is one short pickup bed... I guess its one of those quad cabs with the baby bed.

Yup, it's a quad cab, nice truck, too. One of the limited whatever model Tundra, loaded. Came with some sort of nice 20" Toyota rims with Nitto all terrains, sharp if you like that kind of thing. (I'd rather have a set of boggers on 10" soft 8's but this aint my rig)

You're close, the cl of the pipe is 6-1/2" from the edge of the lowered gate.
That's enough to put a toolbox behind the cab and fit his ATV. Truly this is more to keep the weight off the tailgate (high dollar gate w/ back up camera and carpeted bed). Toyota says 200 lb limit on this one.

-Brian-
www.appironworks.com

 

[kbs2244]

I like the slip joints so it can be stored flat.
Nice touch.

 

[gandyj]

Real nice work

 

[HOTFR8]

What a great idea. I can see you have taken the weight off the tailgate and supported it on the tow bar. Very cleverly done.

 

[nolatoolguy]

Looks pretty good. Ive saw those extanders for a laddeer but there were just cheap square tubing and very flimsy. If that works as good as it looks it would you should go to like atv illstrated, side x side or one of those magizines and see about getting an add in there

granted it would cost some moeny but looks like you could have a very good idea here

 

[Ign]

Nice. Too bad trucks aren't trucks anymore. A 200 lb limit is very low, and the carpeted bed confuses me.

Did you put some bends in the round tube "V"? I can't tell.........

 

[IDASHO]

Silly trucks with short beds.

I wont buy anything that doesnt have an 8' bed.


Nice job on the extension though. Very cool.
Although, that is sure to place a good deal of weight on the rear of that truck. Right where it isnt supposed to be.

 

[Cabby89]

Nice. Too bad trucks aren't trucks anymore. A 200 lb limit is very low, and the carpeted bed confuses me.

I argued against having a carpeted bed rug in my fathers Colorado. Thought it was the stupidest thing ever. I was so wrong and its amazing. We beat up the rug and is still doing great after 140k on one truck and another 5k on our replacement truck. Real easy to empty the bed and spray it down with a high pressure hose.

 

[iamironman]

Nice. Too bad trucks aren't trucks anymore. A 200 lb limit is very low, and the carpeted bed confuses me.

Did you put some bends in the round tube "V"? I can't tell.........

Thanks.Yeah I thought the same thing when the owner told me about that.

That means my fat azz is to much for it. I reckon you're supposed to step over the gate to get in the bed.

I may not see the wisdom in the carpet either, but I'm not about to start bashing a customer's truck.

Yes there's a slight dog leg in the riser tubes.

Silly trucks with short beds.

I wont buy anything that doesnt have an 8' bed.


Nice job on the extension though. Very cool.
Although, that is sure to place a good deal of weight on the rear of that truck. Right where it isnt supposed to be.

Thanks,
Well when it comes to what makes a truck you can see mine next to it in the 1st pic. 'Course even with a 9' bed I couldn't fit an ATV in it either, especially with the Ranger too-fiddy in there.

Regarding weight. The load is being transferred to the trailer hitch which, on this truck is rated for 10k lbs. towing, and 3k lbs. tongue load.

The ATV weighs near 800 lbs. Even with the added length of the riser support tube creating a load moment that's plenty of wiggle room.

Figure during loading the ATV and rider weigh in at 1000 lbs. During transport consider the fact that a good portion of the load is carried by the ATV's front wheels which are near the front of the bed, in front of the rear axle.

 

[nate379]

So the tailgate on that Tundra is only rated to 200lb?! In other words most men couldn't stand on it without being over that limit?

 

[akdiesel]

iamironman,
Nice work and creative design. Do these trucks have a dedicated anchor that you secured the wing nut to on the side of the bed?
So does he simply use the ramps to drive it up into the bed?
I have said I like to make things and improve them all the time and I don't mean to take away any of your creative / great ideas, but why did you not include a 2" receiver so that he can pull a trailer if he chooses to while the atv is in the bed?

 

[Mickey O]

iamironman,
Nice work and creative design. Do these trucks have a dedicated anchor that you secured the wing nut to on the side of the bed?
So does he simply use the ramps to drive it up into the bed?
I have said I like to make things and improve them all the time and I don't mean to take away any of your creative / great ideas, but why did you not include a 2" receiver so that he can pull a trailer if he chooses to while the atv is in the bed?

Don't know if this is his reason, but the tongue weight rating would be drastically reduced extended that far out, plus you wold have to subtract the weight of the ATV if it was loaded. Might be okay for a very small utility trailer but why take the chance, you know some one would load it down and have a problem.

 

[nate379]

I was thinking the same, but that does make sense. I'm too used to my 3/4 ton truck. A 600-700lb ATV would just smooth out the ride

 

[iamironman]

iamironman,
Nice work and creative design. Do these trucks have a dedicated anchor that you secured the wing nut to on the side of the bed?
So does he simply use the ramps to drive it up into the bed?
I have said I like to make things and improve them all the time and I don't mean to take away any of your creative / great ideas, but why did you not include a 2" receiver so that he can pull a trailer if he chooses to while the atv is in the bed?

Thanks, yes the anchor is a factory footman (tie down) loop mounted to the bed's rear most standard pocket.

To load just lay the ramps on the extender, and strap them so they don't slide out from underneath you, then ride on up into the bed.

I offered to make him a set of clip on ramps, but he's already got a nice aluminum set that he uses. I offered to make them clip on if he wanted, but he uses them for other things and needs to leave them as they are.

As far as adding a receiver to pull a trailer with, nope. Not a good idea at all, see below. When it comes to roadworthyness of anything like this or a trailer you'd be wise to always err on the safe side.

Don't know if this is his reason, but the tongue weight rating would be drastically reduced extended that far out, plus you wold have to subtract the weight of the ATV if it was loaded. Might be okay for a very small utility trailer but why take the chance, you know some one would load it down and have a problem.

Could you pull a trailer, probably. Would it cause trouble, it may not. BUT if you did have any trouble you're putting others at risk creating a huge liability. My insurance guy doesn't even want to hear about trailer hitches, he told me flat out don't do them, or expect your premiums to go through the roof if you do. Heck he doesn't even like that my main line of work is handrails and guardrails, but that's where the $$$ is.

Thanks,
Brian

www.appironworks.com

 

[iamironman]

So the tailgate on that Tundra is only rated to 200lb?! In other words most men couldn't stand on it without being over that limit?

I know! Crazy aint it?

And to make it worse if anything happened to that gate it's around 2 g to replace.

-Brian-

www.appironworks.com

 

[akdiesel]

Understood on the safety side, but did I read your earlier post correctly saying a 3k tongue weight, or is that a misprint? I am assuming these trucks are a 1/2 ton or lower rating.

 

[iamironman]

Understood on the safety side, but did I read your earlier post correctly saying a 3k tongue weight, or is that a misprint? I am assuming these trucks are a 1/2 ton or lower rating.

Yeah I did say 3k, that's what the owner told me.
But I just checked Toyota's web site and it's more like 1700 lb. Which is the same as it's payload capacity, which makes more sense.

 

[D KRAGER]

Yeah I did say 3k, that's what the owner told me.
But I just checked Toyota's web site and it's more like 1700 lb. Which is the same as it's payload capacity, which makes more sense.

And I'm guessing that 1700 #'s is with a weight distributing hitch. 500-1000# hitch weight would be plenty on a half-ton without a weight distributing hitch.