Homemade Dump Bed

You can make your own pickup truck dump bed with plywood.

You can save a significant amount of money if you make your own dump bed for a pickup truck. You can purchase dump beds commercially but you can make one yourself with plywood and a few other implements. You don't need any major skills to put this together. Once you make it, you can remove it and put it back on again when needed.

Things You'll Need

• Sheets of plywood, ¾ by 4 feet by 8 feet, 2
• Circular saw
• Boards, 2-by-4 studs, 4
• 2-inch screws, large box
• Carriage bolts, 3/8 inch by 2-1/2 inches with washers and nuts, 6
• Carriage bolts, ¼ inch by 3 inches with washers and nuts, 32
• Tape measure
• Chalk line
• Drill and bits
• Hacksaw
• Caster wheels with bolts, 8
• Tie-down straps

Instructions

1. Measure the inside of the truck bed with a tape measure. Cut a plywood sheet, the same size as the inside of the truck bed, with a hacksaw. Make sure the bottom part of the plywood is slim enough to remove easily.

2. Measure the sides of the pickup truck bed with a tape measure to. Cut plywood to fit at the sides of the box with the hacksaw. Make sure that you leave about two or three inches in length, so that they are slightly taller than the bed sides.

3. Drill holes into the plywood sides with a drill. Line them up to the truck bed sides and screw them in place. Place screws every 10 inches, use the measuring tape to determine this.

4. Measure the plywood, to fit the between the two sides that you have just screwed in place, with the tape measure. Cut the piece to size using the circular saw or hacksaw. Screw the piece in place using a drill and screwdriver. You should end up with an open-ended box.

5. Cut two by four boards, the same length as the base of the box, with the hacksaw. Use the drill to make 3/8-inch holes on both sides in the middle of the flat part of the box. Place the boards vertically at the base of the box. Use the drill to drill right through the boards. Secure the boards using 3/8-inch carriage bolts.

6. Mark where the caster will fit at the base of the box with a marker. Put one of the wheels 5 inches from the back of the box; another one 5 inches from the opposite side, the part that is open. Put another caster wheel in the middle of the boards. Put the last wheel, central to the wheel in the middle, and the wheel near the open side of the dump bed box.

7. Place what you want to load on the bed and use tie down straps to secure everything in place.

References

• Mother Earth News: Turn a Pickup Into a Dump Truck Read more: Do It Yourself Dump Bed for a Truck