[eanx32]

I found out that if I unhook my tailgate straps and hook them onto the tailgate latch posts, the top of the tailgate was from what I saw, the same height as my wheel wells. I was able to slide a sheet of ply on top of the wells and the tailgate. I still strapped it to the rail system so it could not go any where.

I am just wondering if any one else does this?

Cheers. (New 2010 Pro 4x Crew owner, and love the truck!)

 

[Zero Six LE]

I found out that if I unhook my tailgate straps and hook them onto the tailgate latch posts, the top of the tailgate was from what I saw, the same height as my wheel wells. I was able to slide a sheet of ply on top of the wells and the tailgate. I still strapped it to the rail system so it could not go any where.

I am just wondering if any one else does this?

Cheers. (New 2010 Pro 4x Crew owner, and love the truck!)

:worthless_thread:

 

[eckemoff]

I don't think that is a good idea. The tailgate straps are limited to 200 LB, but there isn't a limit if the tailgate is up and latched. Also, you want the 4x8 sheets to be at an angle toward the center to give the truck a better center of gravity and ensure the sheets don't go anywhere.

As a side note, as a CC short bed, I can easily load 12 sheets of 3/4 plywood and drive it without an issue. I also just strap the plywood with 1 tightening strap.

Of course, when I use my trailer for stuff like this as much as possible.

I do hate the I dented the inside the truck bed by loading that much plywood 3 times. The 2 tiny dents on the wheel wells aren't noticeable, but I still annoyed me... the metal should be stronger... then again it hard to get metal to not get dented when it has about 1,000 LB on a few points (edges of the plywood on the wheel wells).

 

[eanx32]

good point

I have loaded the sheets with tailgate up, but I liked it down so I could leave my tanneau cover down. 12 sheets of 3/4 is a good amount with the gate up. I may just use 2x4 on the indents for a flat service across the bed. I was at the store so I decided to give it a go.

 

[Mathster]

ya know. these threads come up every so often and I still dont have a picture of the bed of my truck..

I have a 10" dam in front of the fenders and two 2x4s behind the fenders in the appropriate spots on my bed liner. I have added a couple supports under the back 2x4 after I found the bed liner couldn't support 5 sheets of 3/4" ply wood.

 

[dubie2003]

Anyone else remember the thread where someone carried a set of 4x8 sheets in the bed of the truck with the tailgate up and it bent the hinges?

I think the only safe way is to use the 2x4 or 2x6 in the bed indents and then something above the tailgate. This way the load is level.

Also a single tie-down is somewhat stupid. Yes it can work but it is a single point failure. It is better to use 2 (1 as a back-up) and 4 if you are paranoid. Its always easier to add/remove a tie-down then to have to pay for repairs when a few sheets fly out the back and cause an accident.

 

[scooter2131]

hitch bed extender

I just picked one of these up last week and will be using it to haul home a 10' sheet metal brake from a local rental place this weekend (and for many other things I'm sure):

~$30 from Harbor Freight.
Truck Bed Extender

I haven't used it for 8' plywood yet, but I have an idea as to how to make it work great for that; out of the box it's only really good for stuff that's 10'+. I'll be building some cornhole boards in a few weeks with some friends of mine, so I'll post pics when we go to pick up some plywood then.

Just an FYI, the one that HF actually had in the store was not identical to the one on the website (they source from all sorts of asian manufacturers)...mine only has about 7 inches of adjustment. On the lowest setting it's perfectly flush with the floor of the bed. on the highest setting it lines up pretty well with the top of the wheel wells. Yes sometimes HF stuff blows, but this looks like it'll do enough for what I need and without seeing other manufacturers stuff in person to see how thick the metal is, the design is, for all intents and purposes, identical.

Also, HF doesn't advertise it this way, but you can install the short end of the large L-shaped piece in the receiver and use it as a ladder rack in conjunction with your roof rack if you have one.

Like this:

 

[eckemoff]

Anyone else remember the thread where someone carried a set of 4x8 sheets in the bed of the truck with the tailgate up and it bent the hinges?

I think the only safe way is to use the 2x4 or 2x6 in the bed indents and then something above the tailgate. This way the load is level.

Also a single tie-down is somewhat stupid. Yes it can work but it is a single point failure. It is better to use 2 (1 as a back-up) and 4 if you are paranoid. Its always easier to add/remove a tie-down then to have to pay for repairs when a few sheets fly out the back and cause an accident.

I frequently carry 10+ sheets of 3/4 plywood and the hinges look new. In fact, the hinges do not hold any weight when the tailgate is locked in the up position. If you look closely, there are 2 latches the hold the tailgate in place while it is up.

I mean ratchet stripes when I say tie down. Some of these have 10,000 LB capacity (they are frequently used to pull boats out of ramps) and get the plywood really tight together, so that you basically carry a big block of wood that is so heavy that it holds itself place in the truck bed do to plain mass. An example: Ratchet Strap: 2 inch Ratchet Straps, Tie Down Straps

But yeah... it is always good to secure the load as much as possible.

 

[eckemoff]

I just picked one of these up last week and will be using it to haul home a 10' sheet metal brake from a local rental place this weekend (and for many other things I'm sure):

~$30 from Harbor Freight.
Truck Bed Extender

I haven't used it for 8' plywood yet, but I have an idea as to how to make it work great for that; out of the box it's only really good for stuff that's 10'+. I'll be building some cornhole boards in a few weeks with some friends of mine, so I'll post pics when we go to pick up some plywood then.

Just an FYI, the one that HF actually had in the store was not identical to the one on the website (they source from all sorts of asian manufacturers)...mine only has about 7 inches of adjustment. On the lowest setting it's perfectly flush with the floor of the bed. on the highest setting it lines up pretty well with the top of the wheel wells. Yes sometimes HF stuff blows, but this looks like it'll do enough for what I need and without seeing other manufacturers stuff in person to see how thick the metal is, the design is, for all intents and purposes, identical.

Also, HF doesn't advertise it this way, but you can install the short end of the large L-shaped piece in the receiver and use it as a ladder rack in conjunction with your roof rack if you have one.

Like this:

I read 350 LB capacity... Meaning it is useful for carrying long, light stuff, but 12 sheets of plywood is about 1000 LB (80lb per 3/4 piece) and about the payload capacity of the truck (considering + the weight of everything else inside the truck). The sliding bed extender (which is useless crap IMO) is only 225 LB.

The best way is really using a trailer.

I do like the heavy duty tailgate on the frontier too. It easily holds stuff at an angle without damage.

 

[scooter2131]

....to answer your question

I read 350 LB capacity... Meaning it is useful for carrying long, light stuff, but 12 sheets of plywood is about 1000 LB (80lb per 3/4 piece) and about the payload capacity of the truck (considering + the weight of everything else inside the truck). The sliding bed extender (which is useless crap IMO) is only 225 LB.

The best way is really using a trailer.

I do like the heavy duty tailgate on the frontier too. It easily holds stuff at an angle without damage.

No doubt I probably wouldn't haul 10 sheets of 3/4" plywood with the hitch bed extender, but while the extender is rated to 350 pounds, your bed will be supporting the majority of the 1000 lb payload....so it may not be totally out of the question...especially if you have the 6' bed.

I agree....a trailer is probably the best way to add way more load capacity and space than our beds could ever dream of....not to mention they're easier to load.

eanx32 - Sorry I kind of took this thread in a different direction, but to answer your question...If you are just hauling a couple sheet of thick stuff, or a several sheets of the thinner stuff, I don't see why you can't use the latch posts as far as strength goes. The only thing I'd be concerned about would be the clips coming off the post (I'm not looking at the ring/clip and post in person right now)....as long as they couldn't work themselves off those posts and upset the load (and royally mangle your tailgate), then they should be strong enough for what you're talking about. I know I've seen other trucks (maybe the last generation Silverados?) whose tailgate cables actually had a second ring in the middle of the cable so that you could shorten up the effective cable length by attaching this intermediate ring to the original post but achieve the same function out of the tailgate that you're talking about.

 

[dubie2003]

I frequently carry 10+ sheets of 3/4 plywood and the hinges look new. In fact, the hinges do not hold any weight when the tailgate is locked in the up position. If you look closely, there are 2 latches the hold the tailgate in place while it is up.

I mean ratchet stripes when I say tie down. Some of these have 10,000 LB capacity (they are frequently used to pull boats out of ramps) and get the plywood really tight together, so that you basically carry a big block of wood that is so heavy that it holds itself place in the truck bed do to plain mass. An example: Ratchet Strap: 2 inch Ratchet Straps, Tie Down Straps

But yeah... it is always good to secure the load as much as possible.

Do you actually realize what you type?

You should read this thread: http://www.clubfrontier.org/forums/f8/load-onto-tailgate-while-closed-36690/

He was carrying something in the load range of 1k and it was up on the CLOSED tailgate and the end result was failed hinges and pulled bed pins.

I give you this thou, your 2010 has the updated hinges but I am still not confident that they would hold up to a heavy load.

I still stand behind my tie-down statement. It doesn't matter how much they can hold in tension if there is a chance that they could be cut by a sharp edge. Once the strap starts to get cut, its holding power decreases and it quickly reaches its tension limit and then....... SNAP and your crap has a chance to fly out the back.

This is also why it is best to stop every once in a while to check your load. Check all the straps and to ensure the load hasn't shifted. If everyone would do this it would eliminate the guys that are on the hwy with tarps flying off and chairs falling out the back of their pickups.

 

[eckemoff]

Basically, the latches on top of the tailgate support all of the weight and they can bend or tare the metal at the corner wield points, which is what happen to the guy in the post.

I've carried 1000 lbs on the tailgate plenty and looked at the metal around the latches and it doesn't seem to be effected at all.

I suppose if you put enough pressure there, I can see how the metal will tare, but it also seems like you'd have to place a heck of a lot pressure.... and 10+ sheets of 3/4 plywood haven't been enough to do so. Maybe if I ran over a huge bump and the plywood flew up in the air and hammer down, the metal would tare, but securing it down and not speeding over bumps solves this problem. Seems like the top of tailgate is really solid when up and should be able to support A LOT of weight.

Seems that playing 2x6 in the slots would also bend the truck bed at their resting points. You'd have to leave the tailgate down in order to allow the 4x8 sheets to lay straight/level and it seems it would be hard to strap the sheets from sliding out the back or throw the rear glass (if you put more than 5 sheets) with this method. Suppose you can get the extender that plugs into the trailer hitch, get 3 2x6's, lay all the plywood, and ratchet strip it together and to the utili-track system.

 

[dubie2003]

Seems that playing 2x6 in the slots would also bend the truck bed at their resting points. You'd have to leave the tailgate down in order to allow the 4x8 sheets to lay straight/level and it seems it would be hard to strap the sheets from sliding out the back or throw the rear glass (if you put more than 5 sheets) with this method. Suppose you can get the extender that plugs into the trailer hitch, get 3 2x6's, lay all the plywood, and ratchet strip it together and to the utili-track system.

I support this idea. Heck, you can even add some additional supports below the 2x6s so that it also rests on the bottom utilitrac rails. This way the weight is not only on the sides but the bottom too. Then if you figure out a way to turn the bed extender into some kind of rear support you would be good to go. Not to mention a bunch of tie-downs, lol.

 

[eckemoff]

Hmm... I inspected the latches of my tailgate again.

I DO HAVE A LITTLE BEND on the metal surrounding the latches! It is barely noticeable, but still there!

This is plain stupid because I never had this problem on my chevy s10 and I loaded it with more than I have on this truck.

Word of warning: Don't stack too much stuff on top of the tail gate with the weight pushing from inside toward the rear (the type of pressure that occurs when you load 4x8 sheets and lay them against the inside of the tailgate).

 

[dubie2003]

Hmm... I inspected the latches of my tailgate again.

I DO HAVE A LITTLE BEND on the metal surrounding the latches! It is barely noticeable, but still there!

This is plain stupid because I never had this problem on my chevy s10 and I loaded it with more than I have on this truck.

This is what gets a lot of people. Apparently Nissan has a different design or tolerance issue when building or something but the tailgates are not as sturdy as the older GM one (like the S10).

Heck, the bed on the truck will flex to the point that when you are loading dirt into it, if you don't have the tailgate closed, it may not close afterwards. This has happened to a few people. Others even had issues trying to open the tailgate when they had the bed loaded with dirt. Not to mention the flex it gets when offroading. I believe Penski even stated that he can no longer put his tailgate on because his bed has flexed too much (his case is the extreme thou since he puts that truck thru hell and it just wants more, lol).