(Truck) Bed Extender?

[FDNewbie]

Go for it, but you will have to engineer your own system and have a shop bend the parts and weld it up for you.

I for one would rather trailer an 8 or 10 foot long load than have it hanging out the back of my rig, but everyone has different comfort zones and experience levels. I've been towing stuff for close to 40 years with no accidents yet (knock on wood), other than one failed wheel bearing.

I guess to each his own. But I think the general public would be a lot safer hauling stuff in the truck bed than towing anything behind a truck. Ppl have a hard enough time driving as it is, let alone managing something attached to their vehicle and extending several feet behind it!

If I had to haul long skinny stuff with no trailer, it would go on the roof if at all possible.

Please keep us informed of your project's status.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

I wasn't really looking to gather interest so I could make one; it was more of curiosity if one already existed. Easier to buy than to fabricate

And it wasn't a long skinny item. It was a futon. Fits just about an inch before the end of the tailgate.

My old catless street ported 12A ('84 GSL) was a killer in traffic as well lol

Yea I had an '84 12A for a while as well. Fun cars!

My coupe puts it to shame in the fumes department though.

Funny thing is there's no 3rd brake light, licence plate light or even seatbelts, yet it's completely legal (well, maybe not the flamethrowers lol)

Yea lets not get into the irony of that lol.

 

[retrofive]

If one were to do it, seems the bolts in the inner wheel well for the 3rd seat brackets would make for a secure place to easily bolt something in place. I have no horse in this race.

 

[hawaiicruz]

I have hauled plenty of oversized stuff with the tailgate down, lumber, pipe, couches, kayaks a fridge...the fumes suck! just get a roof rack

 

[Flank]

! That is about the funniest nail of hipocrisy I've heard recently. Well done, sir.

That is pretty rich, coming from the guy who tows this! I'm guessing way over GVW, especially with all of the other junk bolted to the rig. IIRC it's connected to the four bolt holes in the rear cross member (not rated for towing), lots of safety and legal concerns there! Just saying.

 

[western flyer]

Fun thread guys!

On occasion I used to carry long stuff in the back of my Tundra with the Snug Top shell lift glass up. Every bump I would hit would throw the lift glass up and down, sometimes putting substantial strain on the hinges. I would have to drive it slowly, lest the lift glass tear itself off. I would expect similar strain on our 80 hatch hinges without some control (e.g., rope controlling movement), or some method of keeping the hatch fully down.

I concur that the fumes could be a problem. I have been poisoned by an exhaust leak (company delivery vehicle) that made me momentarily pass out while driving... This is not something to take lightly.

Nevertheless, I would drive home with the gate down from Home Depot (a few miles), but I would do it with the DS and PS front windows down (vent open, fan on), with a strap on the hatch, and would take it slow on bumps. I have had enough exhaust fumes in my life. I would not do it for 20+ miles; I would use one of my roof racks or a trailer, etc.

 

[OG 91 LC]

I was thinking of this idea myself a couple of weeks ago. Ok def safety first. I was thinking if you were gonna haul stuff in the back the rear seats are most like out. Attaching the bed extension to the third seat metal attachments would be pretty secure. And of course making sure the hatch does not bounce around.

 

[kashmir]

I was hoping the OP was still around, I'd love to hear his final solution. Every once in a while I want to move something light but long and this would be perfect.

I wonder if my old hatch strut could be rigged in to hold the hatch down in a dampened (both directions) way...

 

[FDNewbie]

Haven't gotten anywhere with it, but I recently moved, and it really woulda been handy to have yet again.

I have a high end fab shop that's local to me. I'm gonna run the idea by him and see what his thoughts are. And based on that, I'll get some pricing, both for a one-off as well as for possibly doing a run of them.

If possible, I'd like to use an existing truck bed extender for another vehicle (to minimize cost and maximize availability) and simply fabricate the appropriate bracketry to make it plug 'n play with our trucks, should there be enough interest to make several.

Step 1 would be finding a place that lists the dimensions of the existing truck bed extenders, cuz we gotta find one that's as wide and just a bit less deep than our bottom hatch door to make it work.

 

[JCruse]

I drove on the beach slowly a couple times (up to 30mph) and it got pretty fumey inside.

 

[MrMoMo]

Please google "station wagon effect" before driving with something like this. These days it generally applies to boats, but one can make pretty good assumptions as to where it originated based on the name... Make sure your front windows are open.