Building a sled deck

[machinest660]

Good day fellas, i am curently building a sled deck for my 06 dodge 3/4 ton and was wanting to here some inpunt and sudgestions of what or what not to do. The main deck is going to be 1.5x.100 wall steel tubing and going with an aluminum ramp. any tips or pics would be great thanks.

 

[dmkhnr]

Check out the trailer/transport section in the swapmeet. There is an identical thread going with maybe 10 replies and pictures. Mine was build for an 07 Ram.

 

[mOdD]

You should buy mine it will be cheaper than the material you need.

 

[Cyle]

Honestly probably ain't worth building. I'm not just saying this because i'm selling my deck but they are cheap. I'm selling my alum deck with retractable sides, 2 piece ramp, and superclamps for $1800 I doubt it would be worthwhile to make it for that.....Just saying.

 

[j_e_summit]

Build it yourself, there is way more satisfaction then just buying one

Also, you can build axactly what you want. I found that I could not buy the deck that I wanted, so I built it. I used 1.5 x .125, but .100 should work. I also made a beaver tail with a one piece 8' ramp.

You can see pictures of mine here: http://picasaweb.google.com/JEsummit/SledDeck

Make sure that you use some good primer and atleast three coats of paint, or you will be repainting it every couple of years. I would also put a hatch up at the front so I could stow stuff up at the front.

JE

 

[Coldfinger]

Summit, nice pics. Do you know the finished weight of your deck & ramp? How long is your ramp?

I took a plan which was posted a year ago and got prices and weights for the metal. The deck drawing was from Redline Engine Performance - Sled Deck, and spec'd mostly 16ga steel, 2x2 & 2x1, 4" x 1/16 plate and 1x1x1/8 angle. The supplier only had 14 ga tubing, so the weight of all metal was 304# and the price was $321 w/o tax. That doesn't include a headache rack, plywood or expandable sides.

I know the beavertail is really helpful, but if I build a deck I'd prefer not to have to duck under the tail when accessing the box. Since my truck is not lifted, I'm hoping an 11' ramp will suffice.

 

[j_e_summit]

I do not know the finished weight, but I woudl guess 500+lb.

The ramp is a one piece 8' long ramp. I hate messing around with two piece ramps, as they awlays seam heavy and akward. When I was a kid, my dad had an 8' ramp with no beavertail and we loaded/unloaded just fine.

 

[machinest660]

Thanks for all the pics guys. i will post pics when i am done. (and when some one can tell me how) thanks again.