Built a bed lifter

[Robert Haas]

I will be putting the bed on and off the truck countless times over the next year or so as I begin building 2 1965 GMC trucks side by side.

The bed is not that heavy but it is awkward and I want to be able to do this with out any help if I am alone as I work late at night after I close the shop so having a bed lifter is a necessary tool.

So I converted my cherry picker into a long reach crane by building a new boom extension and extending the forward wheels and arms to make it stable.

I built the lift frame out of 1" square mild steel

I also incorporated my engine "tilter" and that makes getting the bed at exactly the right angle a piece of cake. A ratchet tie down to control the side tilt took care of that wobble as well.


So here are the pictures of it in the bed for the first time.