Building a Sled-Bed for my Pickup *Pictures*

[AaronBND]

So this year I am doing things a little different. I am sick of hauling a trailer to the mountain every time we go riding. We try to ride at least 3-4 times per week and are usually up there at 8am and gone by noon. Short sweet rides right after it snows and we have good powder. I know we are spoiled! Anyways, I have an extra Ford F-250 longbed and am dedicating it to be my sled truck from November-May. I am building a sled-bed to go in the back of it and am really looking forward to hopping in it and going to the mountain without it having to take an hour and a half because someone needs a ride or I have to run home and grab the trailer and gear. I am doing this one out of steel and the ramp slides right under it. I have to go get a 4x10 sheet of plywood tomorrow to finish it and do some last final touches, but will post more pictures and keep you updated as it comes together. Fairly inexpensive to build and it would also be real easy for guys with smaller trucks to do this also. You would just need the legs taller to get above your wheel-wells. I built mine to go all the way to the end of the tailgate, but you could just go to the end of the bed too. It is 118" long and the deck is 48" wide. All of the cross-bars are placed so they distribute the weight of the sled over them and the legs are placed to lock it between the wheel-wells. I also did flat side-walls below it to guide the ramp in and keep it enclosed. The track only stick over about 4" and I have a 162" track. I had to put the legs on the outside because my ramp is 47x90". Here's what it is looking like so far.....

Aaron

 

[rev2xheart]

I actually ended up buying something like this a while back. Mine is all out of aluminum except for the plywood base. I think yours will hold up better.

One idea is to put some wood sealer or something like that on the plywood before you bolt it to the frame.

Mine has a headache rack as well. I don't think it is necessary though. Mine just ended up denting in my box rails. Then I learned to put in some wood spacers so the thing could not rest on them.

I use turnbuckles on each corner to hold the thing in the box. I don't think the holes for them were placed in the best spot on the deck though.

I wish I had the tools and skills to build my own.

 

[Extreme-One]

Make the end that sits on the tailgate hinged so you can flip it over and close the tailgate when you don't have a sled... just a thought.

Looks good.

 

[0007]

Need something to keep the ramp from sliding out on the hiway
Yer gonna want to lock it in anyway or everyone will borrow it

 

[H2SNOW]

dude is that a one up basicaly deck or what ?? other than that it is pretty cool nice way to intergate the 1x1s on the sides and for stake pockets and cross members then the 1x3s round it off pretty nice looking anyways

 

[AaronBND]

Oh the ramp will be stowed and locked in place. It won't be able to get stolen. It's all 1-1/4" except the back 1-1/2"x3. I did that because it will take most of the weight while going up and down the ramp.

Aaron

 

[cbc24]

lol im doing the same thing except mines made outa steel and is for a ford rangers box

 

[AaronBND]

For some reason it would not let me edit my original post up top, but I got it done. Below are pictures of how it turned out. It works great and was under $200 to build.

Aaron

 

[PhantomCat]

Nice job Aaron...looks great !

 

[REKXP]

The only problem I see is you waited until now to post the pictures!: I will have to bookmark this thread and do something like that next year. Snowing like crazy now so between work, sleep and playing I just don't think I will have the time until summer!

Nice Job