Wood sides to truck bed?

Will your truck handle the increased load. Mine is just about maxed out w/o side rails. I guess it depends on the wood species, and the truck

A rack to protect the cab glass would be handy though!

You will be maxed before you get that high.
Some people just keep loading it up.

Bwhunter85 said:

Has anyone added wooden sides to their truck bed? Looking to increase the room for loading firewood, I have a 95 Chevy 1500 with the square holes running down the top of the bed. Any input or pictures with plans would be great!

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Yep. I have a short bed which is 7 feet long on a full sized ford. I load it to the top of the racks which is exactly one cord per my calculations. I built the racks for one cord.

Here I am this last friday sunk to the axle in mud. I needed a tow truck to pull me 10 feet onto the road.

My old wood hauler had side boards, a 74, F250.
Even 8" to 12" side boars with rear window protection would help
It's a PIA to load up wood & loose some of it on the drive home LOL

Your truck will be overloaded or loaded once you reach the sides with a little mounding in the center. That is unless your loading dry softwoods? I cant loat a full bed of oak in my shortbet k10 and not be crazy loaded.

clemsonfor said:

Your truck will be overloaded or loaded once you reach the sides with a little mounding in the center. That is unless your loading dry softwoods? I cant loat a full bed of oak in my shortbet k10 and not be crazy loaded.

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My F350, a feaking one ton, with a 7 foot bed will be within a finger's width distance of frame on axle with just the single cord of green softwood. I can add air bags and be pretty safe and within my axle/tire ratings but with a half ton, you'll be way overloaded.

The reason to put side boards on your half ton is to protect your back window, protect the bed sides/rails, and to allow you to toss in the wood loose instead of stacking it neatly as I must do.

You could always cut the rounds double long and stack on end.

My 2003 F-150 would never take a load of green Oak higher than the sides. With a level load of just cut wood I'm driving home up hill all the way.

My heavy duty F250 is maxed out when I load up to the rail tops. Only did this once and realized I was asking for trouble, so now I mainly use the rails to keep my load in the bed and not on the road! Made the rails out of some scrap wood I had laying around, not pretty but works. I really need to put something up to protect the window though...came close a few times to breaking it even when I thought I was being careful.

Bwhunter85 said:

Has anyone added wooden sides to their truck bed? Looking to increase the room for loading firewood, I have a 95 Chevy 1500 with the square holes running down the top of the bed. Any input or pictures with plans would be great!

Click to expand...

I have uploaded ( or at least attempted to) a picture of the racks i built for my 2004 Dodge 2500(Cummins). They work great for adding capacity and protecting the rear window. They had to be customized a little further than normal to allow for the tool box I keep in the back as well. I hope this helps.

wapiti39 said:

I have uploaded ( or at least attempted to) a picture of the racks i built for my 2004 Dodge 2500(Cummins). They work great for adding capacity and protecting the rear window. They had to be customized a little further than normal to allow for the tool box IView attachment 68677 keep in the back as well. I hope this helps.

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that is a sweet setup.
I have a buddy that has an 05 Dodge. You have to make that thing squat.
He has a slide in camper that doesn't even bother it. Loaded up and ready to go.

mecreature said:

that is a sweet setup.
I have a buddy that has an 05 Dodge. You have to make that thing squat.
He has a slide in camper that doesn't even bother it. Loaded up and ready to go.

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Thanks for the kind words! Yeah these trucks are work horses for sure.