Folding Ladder/Bed rack options

So with this quad cab short bed, moving anything long is a little bit awkward.

8' lumber, I can put it in the bed with the tailgate up or down and as long as I strap it appropriately I do alright.
10' lumber, not so much.

I did put a lovely roof rack over the cab, and being a quad cab that rack is something like 5' long- so I could potentially strap 10' lumber to the roof and only have a few feet of overhang front and back... as long as its nice and tight, it will look funny but generally be OK as long as I don't take any hard turns.

Where I'm running into issues is with 12-16' lumber.
Normally, anyone moving this sort of thing would be doing it with a rack attached to the truck bed.
My issue with this is sometimes I need it out of the way- today I had a small load of crushed rock dumped into my bed from a tractor, and a bed rack would have been in the way. A few months ago I was using my truck to move some windows up to some scaffolding... and a few months before that I was throwing carpet out of a window into the back of the truck... you get the idea. I don't want it in the way.

So, I've been playing with a few different ideas of how to build something like this, to no avail. I think I've got a pretty solid idea for one that would be fine moving a few pieces of lumber or trim or pipe, but it wouldn't stand up to a heavier load, or something like a kayak.

My old trusty '99 had a stake bed flatbed, and I had put a removable rear wall with some 1/2" iron pipe that happened to line up with the headrack, and was able to easily move even a 21' kayak without issue... so I never thought too much of it when I got this bigger truck!


Having said all that, this isn't a work truck and I don't use my truck for my job! I'm just a homeowner who expects his truck to carry its weight around here

 

I’m on a similar search. The best option I’ve found so far is made by Thule. Theirs retracts down and I think has removable sections. In the down position, it might not be out of the way enough for loading a bed full of rocks. Then I’ve seen some that attach to the tie down rails. I’d think they’d be easy to completely remove. I think they’re made my the same company but under a different brand name.

 

Something like this works well in conjunction with your roof rack :

https://www.walmart.com/ip/2-IN-1-P...VB7LICh0segnHEAQYCCABEgI7vPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

Probably the easiest fix for your goal.
Unless someone wants to fab up a collapseable rack that matches up with a cab-rack.