Again, not one of my more titllating ideas, but possibly useful. The idea is to have a loading ramp built into the bed of your pickup in such a way as to allow easy loading, yet take up very little space when stowed.

The ramp would consist of two main parts. For lack of better terminology, I'll call them "rails" and "planks".

The rails would be square steel tubing and would be stowed in holding brackets on either side of the bed above the wheel wells. The planks would be flat sections of checkerplate or grate material roughly the size of the tailgate. These would stow on the bed just inside the closed tailgate.

The planks would be connected to the rails such that when deploying, all that is required is pulling the rails out from their stowed position - the planks would slide into place to provide the ramp surface. A stop mounted on the inside of the bed would make stowing the planks just as simple, with the planks stacking themselves as the rails are pushed in towards the cab.

While this does compromise some bed space, transporting certain items such as motorcycles or lawnmowers would be made much easier.
-- justaguy, May 23 2005

Artics have strong, thin aluminium ramps stowed under their trailers. And they really are amazingly strong and thin (though not as light as you may think). You could easily get a small version of this slung under your pickup.
-- wagster, May 23 2005


One of the most important qualities of this ramp would be its size - most notably width. When loading a motorcycle, having a ramp as wide as the bed would allow you to ride it up instead of attempting to clutch, steer, and work the throttle while walking alongside on a second ramp.

Due to placement of exhaust systems, spare tires, etc, I don't think under the bed is an ideal place.
-- justaguy, May 24 2005



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