It's not permanent. It's going to be inside the bed 98% of the time. It's easy to lift it out of the slots and flip it over. Not too much of an inconvenience. I've got it put together, but the M10 bolts I bought for the mounting brackets aren't cooperating, so I am rethinking the mount. Plus, the Line-X spray-in bedliner was sprayed into those holes. So, I may need to get a smaller bolt and pop off the tail lights and put a nut on the other side.

 

Did you get any pics?

 

Yes...but I'm not ready to share just yet. The bolts I bought are interfering with the extender...I need to get a couple of panhead bolts since they have a flat top. I ended up having to pop the tail lights out and put a nut on the inside of the sidewall. Not a big deal, two screws are all that had to come out and the tail lights pulled right out.

 

I HATE cheap plastic parts.



I have the mounting brackets on...but one of the plastic pieces that go into the bracket sheared right off. So, I am going to rethink this a bit. I'll get there, it'll just take a bit of ingenuity.


*puts on thinking cap*

 

Okay...I got installed. I used 3/16" x 2" eye bolts inserted into 5/16" aluminum spacers to work as my pivot.

I removed the tail lights and used a locking nut to hold the spacer to the eye bolt.

On the bed extender itself, I drilled through the center hole where the self-taping screws are supposed to go. Through that I inserted a 3/16" x 3" eye bolt and fastened it with a locking nut.

I put a quick release clasp through both eye bolts to hold it together. It now pivots, whereas before it wouldn't.

Couple of things I need to consider...the eye bolts are zinc plated...I am looking for stainless so they don't corrode. Also, I need a different clasp to hold these the eye bolts together I think...the one I used is kind of loose fitting. I'm also thinking about replacing the 2" eye bolts with a 1"...the 2's are a bit too long. Anyway, here are the pics...


The hardware:


Tail light off and aluminum spacer and eye bolt installed:


Tail light back on:


Bed extender with center hole drilled out and eye bolt installed:


Eye bolts held together with quick release clasp:


Bed extender in the bed:


Bed extender out of the bed on tailgate:


Bed extender mid-pivot:

 

Your bed extender looks much more useful than my stock one. The factory one isn't very big because they cut the corners to make it more rigid. I like your setup but I would try come up with a better mounting system. Although given the setup I can't really come up with a better idea.

 

Thanks. Yeah, that was my biggest problem. I wanted to utilize the existing hole(s) and not have to drill the truck. I know it's not that big of a deal, I just didn't want to do it.

This mounting system will work for now, but I am still going to noodle on it some more.