Show your work truck mods

Please show your mods to your trucks -- and trailers too -- for work. Mine have been slow coming but here they are so far.

HF bed extender.


Westin bed mat, 3/8" eyebolts added to rails, and chains for multi-point tie-downs. I attached the chains to the stock d-rings in the rear and added d-rings to the front bed bolts. You need T-55 bit sockets for the bed bolts. I still need some heater hose to keep the chains from rubbing holes into the wheel wells.


Started with 3/8" electrical spring nuts from HD.


Ground them down til they barely slid in because I didn't want them to rotate in.


Had to nip the springs and bend them in a little.


I've seen these priced in the double digits and that's ridiculous. These are from Fastenal rated at 800 lbs, price $1.73 each. Had to grind some small reliefs in the hinge brackets so the bed bolt heads fit flush.


Still to come: shorter bed extender main beam for 4x8 sheets, and headache/ladder rack...

 

My fathers it's not a 3rd gen buts it's work truck

 

can you set up that Harbor Freight extender the other way to load long things even with a roof rack?

 

I believe you can. I watched a video where a guy flipped it to use it for hammocking.

 

You can, but I don't know if I'd do that myself or not. The set-up is rated for 350 lbs even though it's only ~13 ga. The long end that you mount into the receiver has a ~4 ga vertical reinforcing bar inside it extending 11-1/2" into it. The short end does not have that reinforcing bar.

 

Sheetrock on the 2 bed supports all the way to the front still leaves 32" unsupported in the rear, so I made this support out of 3/8 and 3/4 ply. I don't think it obstructs the tail lights too much but just about any load of rock or ply will block them some. The gate latches will secure it into the rear c-section bed support but I've gotta wait til the shutdown is over to get some brackets made because that c-section is some pretty thin stuff and I don't want the holes I'll drill into it to wallow out.

I won't be able to use my handy-dandy milk crates when I haul rock or ply though.

 

There are a lot of guys in Hilux’s running service bodies and they are pretty awesome rigs. Haven’t seen many Taco’s. Nice setup.

 

OK, a headache rack for work. This was a Discount Ramps Apex adjustable rack modified by a local welder.



I had him weld it all solid and make sure the rear window was unobstructed. He added 1/4" aluminum angle to raise the top bar for better third brake light visibility.



I got it done just in time for the rain to come back.



I have super-custom redneck rain plugs in the uprights made from wood hole saw plugs, real plugs to come later.

I measured several times, drilled 6 holes one time, and everything fit. It was a two-beer job, with a celebratory third beer when I came back inside. Of course, just coming inside any time of day is reason to celebrate with a beer.