I have a 24' box truck that I'm selling. It has a roll up rear door and no liftgate. I've looked around for some used liftgates and given the construction of the rear, a foldaway liftgate isn't possible. Then I saw the cost to buy one.... yeesh.
I would love to have a walk ramp to make the truck more desirable for the buyer but have you seen what even used walkramps sell for these days??? Try $500+
So, I have access to plenty of cheap steel and a welder. The rear of the truck is dock height so I need a 12-14' ramp. I thought about some 1.5" square or round tubing for the length with some 1" square or round tubing welded in a ladder-type support every foot or so with expanded steel decking.
Can you guys help me design a homebuilt steel ramp that is 14' long and about 18-24" wide that won't be so heavy that its prohibitive? The ramp would slide into a pocket just under the gate on a roller, so it wouldn't be something that has to be carried around, just slide it out and hook it on the dock.
In this photo... the arrow points to a pink box that I can cut out as a "pocket" to slide the ramp in using some rollers.
....Discuss...
Advertise that the truck has a has a "pink box" and you may not need to add a ramp to sell it 
That's a lot of work for a truck you're selling.
A steel ramp would be heavy as hell, and a lot of work. I'd just sell it as is.
I think you have most buyers hooked at "pink box".
How about using one section of an aluminum extension ladder with some 3/4" plywood bolted onto the rungs?
I wouldn't sink that kind of money and effort into a truck I'm getting rid of. I don't think you'd recoupe the investment.
I figured I'd have about $150 total investment in steel, welding wire, and electricity. Add $10 if I rattle can it.
I like the idea of the ladder with plywood. I'll borrow an extension ladder and see how sturdy it feels.
A steel ladder frame of 1" square tubing with aluminum diamond-plate treads bolted on should be reasonable to make and light enough to pull in/out of that slot by one person.
EDIT: Maybe, find an aluminum ladder at a garage sale and just deck it with diamond-plate.
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:
A steel ladder frame of 1" square tubing with aluminum diamond-plate treads bolted on should be reasonable to make and light enough to pull in/out of that slot by one person.
EDIT: Maybe, find an aluminum ladder at a garage sale and just deck it with diamond-plate.
True on the steel, but my concern with the 1" steel is the 14' span. Put a 200 lb guy on it with a dolly full of 200 lbs of moving boxes and I think it would be toast. I might also be able to make some drop-down support legs at the midpoint though.
curtis73 wrote:
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:
A steel ladder frame of 1" square tubing with aluminum diamond-plate treads bolted on should be reasonable to make and light enough to pull in/out of that slot by one person.
EDIT: Maybe, find an aluminum ladder at a garage sale and just deck it with diamond-plate.
True on the steel, but my concern with the 1" steel is the 14' span. Put a 200 lb guy on it with a dolly full of 200 lbs of moving boxes and I think it would be toast. I might also be able to make some drop-down support legs at the midpoint though.
I actually like the idea of buying an aluminum ladder or some scaffolding and adapting it for your purpose. It will be rated for a specific load, light and if it wasn't long enough - you can always extend it.
As much as I hate to say it, but a home made ramp could be a liability issue since it won't have an engineered maximum load rating...if someone buys the truck, then tries to load their collection of lead ingots and the ramp collapses, you don't want them coming back to sue you.
Very true, stuart, but I think that risk is small especially since there won't be any proof that I fabricated the ramp. I also sell all of my vehicles with a standard disclaimer on the bill of sale which can be worded to include any accessories and liabilities heretofor and hencewith, yadda yadda.
I found someone on CL with half of a 24' extension ladder (12' section) for $25. I'm going to measure the dock height of the truck and see if that will make a suitable angle and also measure the width of the ladder to make sure its wide enough. If its not strong enough I think I can add a bit of bracing without too much weight penalty. If its not wide enough, it might be back to the drawing board.
Ok... first iteration. (boring day at work I have WAY too mcuh time)
I'm thinking the overall best/economical way is going to be a long piece of bar grating with maybe some angle iron reinforcement along the sides.
There is also something called grip strut which may be too expensive, but if you have an industrial salvage yard there may be hope for either of these options.
-James
5/8" OSB is currently $9 at Home Depot and I would need one sheet. The ladder is $25. I can salvage about 500 self-tapping screws from the inside of the truck box when I remove the old yucky plywood sides... or if I leave the ply liner in the box, I have a big box of self-tappers that was given to me years ago.
The only variables I can't estimate right now are the 2x2 angle and adhesive method.
So far I have cost pretty much handled. If this ladder idea works I should be under $75 if I can find some cheap scrap 2x2 steel angle. Which brings me to my next questions...
-bonding the OSB to the aluminum with an adhesive as well as multiple screws will pay off big time in rigidity. What should I use to bond them? Epoxy? Liquid Nails?
- bonding the steel angle to the aluminum ladder will also pay off big time. I have a good oxy-acetylene welding kit, is there any brazing method that would bond them together?
jamscal wrote:
I'm thinking the overall best/economical way is going to be a long piece of bar grating with maybe some angle iron reinforcement along the sides.
Can you expand on this? Not familiar with bar grating.
There is also something called grip strut which may be too expensive, but if you have an industrial salvage yard there may be hope for either of these options.
-James
Is Grip Strut the same thing as aluminum scaffold planks? If so I found some of those but they are not wide enough, and the ones I found certainly aren't cheap.
Quick google on the bar grating:
http://www.accuratealloys.com/bar_grating.asp
I've seen it in long sections.
Grip strut is google-able too. You're right though, probably too expensive.
On the bar grating, you could probably overlap the bars on some shorter sections, weld to length, and then reinforce as mentioned. That is, if you can't a long enough piece.
http://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/grd/2083381275.html
http://houston.craigslist.org/for/2040728811.html
Big ego wrote:
2x12's
That's what I used for two years. I used two 2x4s perpendicular and screwed onto the bottom with 4" lag screws. Aside from each one of them weighing about 90lbs each, they flexed so much that the mere suggestion of an uneven load would send the hand truck toppling off the side. I thought about screwing them together with some 3/8" ply decking, but the thought of tying together 180lbs and adding another 20lbs wasn't something I wanted to entertain.
They were so ineffective that I accidentally-on-purpose left them at a load site. Its a brilliant idea... the same thing I thought when I tried that two years ago. Turns out I was wrong 
MrJoshua wrote:
http://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/grd/2083381275.html
http://houston.craigslist.org/for/2040728811.html
Oooh... looks like a plan. Good links.
I got the ladder home today and it looks like a possibility. It is too narrow, but its ridiculously light and standing my 240-lb ass directly in the middle jumping up and down provided very little deflection. My neighbor thinks his pops might have a section of extension ladder as well and he had the brilliant idea of bolting two ladder sections together side by side. That brought up the question of where to store a 36" wide plank, which led me to suggest putting pins in every other rung so the two sections can be slid together and share the load, or separated for storage or to use as something like a twin-plank setup for things like tractors, ATVs, or wider bulky items.
Heck, we even went as far as designing an extendable boom with a winch for direct loading of heavier items like engines or drums of liquid.
I'll post a plan tomorrow when I have more time.
OSB is a bad choice. It tends to expand and delaminate when it gets wet. Get some 3/4" Marine Grade plywood instead.
Or, better yet, buy the ramp in Houston.
