My Taco sled/ATV deck

Just finished building a deck for my Taco. Since I live in eastern Canada, I had to go with pics for the design, they dont seem to be available in these parts. The deck is all aluminum, 6 X 8 and weight about 250 lbs and ramp another 70. The sled is 550 topped up. I bought the ramp since I wouldnt be able to make it as thin and lightweight building my own. The deck is bolted in front using the same holes as the bed. The back is also bolted thru the frame. The feet are on 3/4 plywood pieces to distribute the weight. The extendible ramps slide under the deck in the C channel. I still have about 14'' of height for some cargo in the bed.

I've got an OME setup, dakars in the back and airbags. I have 25'' 1/4 between center hub/fender inflated at 50 PSI. I dont notice the added weight, even in Quebec's pothole laden roads and the 4 speedbumps next to my house. A note about the airbags, I welded some 1'' 1/4 spacer under them because of the dakars. For my ATV, I made the deck large ehough so I can park it perpendicular to the deck as close the rear window as possible to center the load. I'm probably a tad over the weight limit but the truck seems to handle the load pretty well.

 

That's pretty neat. Definitely unique and serves it's purpose

 

My thoughts exactly...props for the good work...

I would personally have gotten a 5x8 trailer, but that's me, where I live...no snow...

 

Nice

 

Thanks guys. As for a trailor, I've had too many problems in the past on washboard roads breaking springs, loosing bolts and straps and I can never seem to keep the rear lights intact for more then a couple uses not to mention backing up is sometimes problematic on narrow roads.

 

This is some very nice handiwork. I would do the same thing if I had only 1 sled. I see a lot of people with sled decks in Minnesota.

 

awesome work, looks a big big on the mid sized taco but i've always liked these for the full sizes. Well done!

 

Looks a little goofy, but nice work!

 

Nice setup and awesome sled too! Will have to keep this in mind if I ever get one, I want a sled really really bad, they look like so much fun, bunch of my friends have them and they claim they are more fun that dirt bikes and quads.

 

why does it look goofy?

 

Do you have plans for this I want to build one for my Tacoma and then have slide outs to make the deck fit 2 sleds if I go on bigger trips

 

Nice!!!

 

I can give you the approximate dimensions but would highly recommend against 2 sleds. I'm already over capacity with one, usually the double sled ones are only legal for 3/4 tons and even so, it's pushing it in some cases.

FYI, I bough the ramp (marathon ramp for sled decks) and the tolerances are pretty tight for it to fit in the bed but well worth it. Also, the deck cost me about $2200 total (ramp $900, Aluminum tubing $800 + plywood, paint, superglides, superclamp, welding supplies).

I'm going for a buisness trip today for a week, I can make rough plans and post the dimensions when I come back.

 

Thats awesome OP! nice work! I have seen some decks like that on full size/3/4 and 1 ton truck but never a taco. looks good and is very use full. also i know some states have a slow speed limit when towing, this will avoid that as well.

P.S. I don’t get having a 55 or 60mph speed limit for towing. I can tow 3k just fine without trailer brakes at 75 and even 80mph with hills.

 

I think ill try a single sled deck to try to be safe

 

would u have any pictures of the bolted down deck and how you did that ?

 

I'll get a few pics in the next week or so (I'm on vacation at the moment). I have a total of 4 bolts holding the deck.

I basically used the same holes as the front bed bolts. I drilled-out the welded nut (the one on the truck frame) to be able to use imperial size bolts. I think I used 1/2" but I'd have to double check.

For the rear, you can see the bolts on one of my pics in one of the square tube, I just drilled thru the bed and bumper under the deck legs.

 

Our Marathon ramp just arrived. Cost to San Francisco was $840 + $135 freight.

Guaging from its hooks, the round tube is 1-3/4"? I'm assuming the plywood is 1/2" (5 ply) so the crossmembers are 1-1/4" square tube? The angle is approximately 3-1/2" x 2"? I'm guessing you used 5" x 2-1/2" AA channel (our ramp is 4-1/4" thick on one corner) and 2" x 2" vertical supports? Did you use all 1/4" thickness?

I haul two RMK 155s on a sledbed in a 1-ton Chevy dually, plus two more and a 136 on a 12' trailer. Using a sledbed is far smarter!
* No 55mph speed limit
* No 3-axle bridge tolls
* No need to carry an extra (trailer-sized) spare tire/jack/lug wrench
* Not limited to gas stations with long, straight lanes
* No problem parking at restaurants
* No fussing with trailer lights every other trip
* No space/money wasted storing a trailer in the off-season
* No dragging/turning a trailer around by hand
* Sleds aren't sandblasted with dirt/pebbles from the truck tires

My son and I are building your deck for his 2002 Tacoma. Very nice design (except we're adding two more crossmembers; 1/2" plywood sags under my weight if not supported every 12-16"). We're expecting his 155 will stick out about 2-1/2" feet past the end of the deck, so we're planning on LED running lights. And we hope to make the truck bed watertight with Alligator Skin (paint) plus a bed rail seal like Marathon's. LED lighting along both sides of the center tube will make it easier to load and unload the cargo/luggage underneath.

 

Here is some info I shared with another member: All the material is 6061 T6 grade. I used nearly all of the listed material. I also have 2 sheets of plywood 5/8 ,superglides and the superclamp system. I painted a few coats of polyethylene paint on the plywood and the plywood is held by heavy-duty self-tapping deck screws (hexagonal head). I also added stripes of HDPE plastic on the ramp where it slides in the U channels to prevent rattling. I used the front bolt holes from the bed to secure the deck, I did drill thru the welded nuts to fit longer standard bolts because I couldn’t find a longer metric replacement.



The rear pipe is 1-1/4" inside diameter, Schedule 80 thickness which comes to 1.66" outside diameter.

The 2” square tubes were for the feet, the 1.5” X 1.5” X 3/16” for the deck and the 1.5” X1.5” X 1/8” for the headache rack.
The plywood is 8’ long (full length).
The total exterior width is 72 1/2 “ I suggest not to go wider than the widest part of the truck otherwise you need side signal lights.
Total length of angle is 100 1/4”.
Exterior width between U channel is 52 ¾” (pretty tight in box).
U channels are 72” long.

The weight only includes the aluminum I purchase and there were some leftover. I estimate close to 330 lbs for the deck not including the ramp.

I might of overbuilt it but I often work in the bush with my ATV/sled and I wanted to make sure thatit would be bulletproof. I logged at least 12 000 km loaded with about half on logging roads and it still looks brand new.

If I had to make another, I wouldn’t do anything differently, it works great.

 

Here's a few other pics that can help: