Hauling plywood in DblCab short bed

Hey bledsoe, I've been offline for a week so I'm catching up. Any word on those pics?

 

Here's a couple of pictures.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/1735/cat/500/ppuser/2924

http://www.tacomaworld.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/1736/cat/500/ppuser/2924

 

Thanks! I feel like I'm 10 and peeking at my Christmas gifts.

Is it adjustable in length or just height?

 

Just the height. I may have to cut it down and drill a new pin hole. With the long bed it's just a little too long for an 8' piece of lumber.

 

Thanks for the info. I've got a short bed, so that may be just the ticket for me without mods.

 

-makin sawdust-

 

Well, I got the Harbor Freight tailgate extender we've been talking about. I was at the in-laws the week before Christmas and we exchanged gifts then. My FIL and I went ahead and modded it. We cut about 18" off the length so it would support the end of an 8 foot sheet of plywood. We also drilled an extra hole in the vertical support to let it sit as low as possible. The low setting will be great for dimensional lumber that rides on the bed. The top setting was still a bit low for hauling plywood above the wheel wells, but if I strap on some carpet covered 2-bys, it'll be just right. We also carefully cut and notched a 2x8 to fit in those pockets for above the wheel well hauling.

Now I just need to decide which of my many woodworking projects happens next because my truck's all set.

 

I can see the advantage of using a bright paint, but I'm not sure I can bring myself to do something that garish yet. Local laws require a red flag attached to anything more than a couple of feet beyond the tailgate, so I'll be doing that.

You had a grinder! I had to use a file to deburr the cuts. Plus, we didn't have the right sized drill bit or a drill press, so I had to ream an extra 1/16 or so from each hole with a hand drill. "Primitive pet" indeed.

 

I'll resurrect this old thread (seems to be the fashion these days) because I've finally taken some pics of my truck. It got its first wax today and there's some pics I needed to take for craigslist anyway (not the truck, a tool), so I took a few. I got a few of the tailgate extender.

 

I made a bed extender using 2" square tubing and 1 1/2" square tubing....I ran a 4 foot 2" tube out the hitch...I then stubbed up a square tube that was slightly larger than the 1 1/2" and welded it to the 2"....Then I slid the 1 1/2" tube inside.....drilled some holes and that way I had adjustment up and down depending on the height I needed....I welded some cross bars to hold the load flat and some support arms down to keep it all stable..... WORKS great and was cheap if you can weld and have a welder..this is the way to go!

 

I have done this and it worked out really well. I used ratchet straps so I could tighten them up as much as I wanted to. So, you can either do this, or "sell" your wife on a tow behind 8 foot trailer and get ALOT of plywood!

 

Good point. If I'd had the equipment a full custom job would have been great. Yours sounds very similar. But like Phantom said, $20 from HF isn't a bad second choice.

 

you just have to be careful that it can handle the weight....i have stacked a lot of lumber on this thing......it would suck to be driving down the road and see it crumple...

 

Where did you fit the support arms on your custom rack? That's the only difference I can tell between yours and the HF one. Are they bracing the 90 degree vertical angle? That seems like the weak point to me. However, since I cut it shorter, it's only about a foot beyond the tailgate, so I'm trying to minimize the crumpling risk.

 

Not ideal for lots of wood but it'll get me a couple sheets at a time...hopefully. guess we'll find out in a few...


Tried to move the boards and the whole truck shook. Good enough for me

 

Just put a 2x6 across the front bed indents and put the back up on the tailgate

 

I didn't want that much weight on the tailgate. I'd rather the 2x6s take most of the weight. My tailgate is tied to the bed rail cleats and I don't trust them that much yet

 

I do it all the time , no issues

 

Next time then. I was overthinking it. Better than underthinking I guess

 

So if I carry 8-10 1/2" plywood sheets like that would there be any issues?
What about 30-40 2x4s?