Do-it-Yourself Ramps for Pickup Truck Beds

Building ramps for your truck helps load heavy equipment.

You want to take your ATV on a trip with friends but have no easy way to load it in your truck. You want to help a relative mow his yard but getting your riding mower there provides a problem. Building your own truck ramp gives you a solution to both situations. A truck ramp, built correctly, makes it simple to load a mower, ATV or motorcycle onto the bed of your truck.

Things You'll Need

• Truck bed ramp kit
• Two wood boards, 2-by-8 inch or 2-by-10 inch
• Drill and drill bit
• Socket wrench

Instructions

1. Purchase a truck bed ramp kit. These will simply be the metal pieces that will fit snugly over your tailgate. You can try and get your own metal pieces, but buying a ramp kit provides a safer and tested solution.

2. Get two 2-by-8-inch or 2-by-10-inch wood boards from a lumbar yard or home supply store. Make sure the boards are perfectly straight. Lay one over the other to determine if they line up with no bows.

3. Line up the metal pieces over the ends of each board. Mark through the holes of the metal pieces onto the boards.

4. Match the size of the drill bit with the hole in the metal pieces. Drill holes through each marked area on the boards.

5. Bolt the metal pieces to each board and tighten using a socket wrench. Ensure the bolts are tight.

6. Rest the boards with the metal pieces now attached to the tailgate of your truck. Test to make sure both are secure and rest correctly over the tailgate.

Tips & Warnings

• Consider cutting the ends of the board that will rest on the ground at an angle so it will rest flatter on the ground.

• When loading heavy vehicles on your truck back up to a hillside so the angle of the boards is decreased.

• Have someone with you to load the equipment on your truck, watching the ramp boards for any movement while loading.

References

• Auto Shepherd: Truck Bed Ramp Kit