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 47" wide by 90" long. Here's what it is looking like so far.....

Aaron

 

[sunbather1969]

ramp

did you buy or build the ramp if bought ,where

 

[kpeters]

thats awsome man, looks like a well built piece.

 

[Rally2]

:beer;:beer; I been thinking of doing this for years but don't have the fab skills. I have a deck but 95% of the time it's just my sled up there. Having the sled in the box keeps the CG lower and better fuel mileage to boot. Very nice job.

 

[Going West]

good workd looks real nice. Be sure to post up some pics when you have it installed.

 

[AaronBND]

did you buy or build the ramp if bought ,where

Bought the ramps on Craigslist from a guy as three separate pieces, and tig welded them all together. 1800lb capacity.

Aaron

 

[1080paul]

This is the ramp I have. It works great.

http://allrampsneeds.com/snowmobile_11888.html

 

[AaronBND]

This is the ramp I have. It works great.

http://allrampsneeds.com/snowmobile_11888.html

I hope so for $400 shipped! This whole setup will be half of that, and the ramp will be stowed and locked.....

Aaron

 

[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

 

[backcountryislife]

I don't mean this as a cut, so please don't take it that way.
What was the reason for doing this aside from locking the ramp? It seems like the sled is sitting the same way it would have if it was just in the bed normally?

Cool build though, well done!

 

[summ8rmk]

I don't mean this as a cut, so please don't take it that way.
What was the reason for doing this aside from locking the ramp? It seems like the sled is sitting the same way it would have if it was just in the bed normally?

Cool build though, well done!

where would u put the ramp if the sled is sitting in the bed? its not a fold up ramp u set against the side of ur sled. that is the same idea i had for hauling a single sled and a lockable ramp.

 

[Steve D]

I'll have to take some pictures of the "single sled deck" I built. Same idea, except I built mine out of 2x6's, and I take my tailgate off. Basically, I hate them fawking folding ramps that slide off while your loading and crap so I didn't want to buy one of them. Figured I'd build my own for cheaper. Anyway, kind of a fun project, cheaper than buying a two place deck and it ends up working slick. There's a couple things I'd do differently with my design if I did it again, but after the changes I made this fall I think I'll be pretty happy for now.

 

[06 RMK 900]

Good Idea, I was going to do somthing like this but didn't want to spend the money on the ramp so I built my own.

 

[ndmtnsledder]

Great build. I've thinking of doing something on this principal and like the metal alot better then wood atleast if you have the ability.

 

[Sergeant HCR]

Here's mine. The platform uses metal studs and a sheet of plywood on top. The ramp is from old quad crates cut up and re-welded. The ramp sits on a piece of rebar that goes through the end of the platform. Abit crude, but does the job.