New Car/Truck Cargo Abilties for Sheet Goods?

[Jim Becker]

Even with today's pickups handling sheet goods isn't straightforward. My '16 GMC Canyon's bed interior has embossed indentations that I use with 2x6s cut to fit, which support 4x8 sheets above the wheel wells and a "stool" I place on the tailgate to support the load full length.

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Luckily this bed also has tie downs in each corner.

I had a 2007 Canyon, it had a stop on the tailgate strap that left it level with the wheel arches. That was cool.

The mid-size pickups like the Canyon, Ranger, Tacoma, etc., have less width because, well...they are smaller. Hence, the need to use cross pieces to get 4' wide material over the wheel wells.

[mike stenson]

The mid-size pickups like the Canyon, Ranger, Tacoma, etc., have less width because, well...they are smaller. Hence, the need to use cross pieces to get 4' wide material over the wheel wells.

Yea, and that's been true for a while.. but the stop position on the tailgate made that a lot easier to deal with (especially since I'd just replaced a 1 ton Dodge dually quad cab long bed with it, that was a great towing.. sucky for daily type parking kind of truck)

[Jim Becker]

You must be really having major smiles being able to turn your truck around in less than a half square mile now.

[roger wiegand]

This is what I look like going down the road-- tell me about turning around and parallel parking!

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(2009 F350 (8 ft bed) diesel dually, 24,800 lbs fully loaded, just shy of needing a CDL)

[Scott Winners]

I can fit a fair bit of sheet goods in my 6.5' bed Tacoma with the tailgate up, with an eye on the weather.

If I need a lot of material, or stuff longer than 8 feet, i have a small trailer. I picked up a boat and a motor and the trailer from Craigslist just to get the trailer. I gave the outboard away, sold the boat with no trailer for $300 and ended up with a trailer that can take 16' planks with new bearings and new races and new grease and new wiring blah blah for under $400 out of pocket. The thing that got me was it uses 14" Chevy rims that take regular tires, and I do have room for it.

[Kev Williams]

I've only had one truck in my life that DIDN'T have an 8' bed. Loved the truck but couldn't haul crap with it.

Bought my trusty '02 F250 brand new. 8' bed, will haul practically anything. Only thing it won't tow is a gooseneck trailer (for now)
While it'll haul plywood great, I've had other uses for it over the years--

2003
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2005
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2006
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2010
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2015 (just moving around the boat yard) -below was in 2008
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2016
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coupla months ago at the grocery store
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-- it's never been garaged, never had a wax job. Still looks and drives like new...

-back on topic, did I mention plywood fits in it?

(hey Roger, you started it!)

[Terry Wawro]

In February we bought a Chrysler Pacifica. We drove it off the lot and directly to the lumber yard, where I lowered the "Stow & Go" seats and loaded it up with 7 sheets of plywood and 100 board feet of poplar. And yes, the hatch will still close with 4x8 sheets of ply.

[Mike Soaper]

These folks didn't need a truck to haul plywood
pylwood on car roof.jpg

[Rod Sheridan]

Roger, where I live most of those trucks carry one person plus a briefcase, in downtown traffic....Rod

[Brian Elfert]

These folks didn't need a truck to haul plywood
pylwood on car roof.jpg

I would like to figure out if there is any truth to this picture and the story behind it. The story I always read is Home Depot loaded the car with a forklift, but made them sign a disclaimer first. How the heck does that cheap twine keep 1000+ pounds of material from sliding off that fairly steep angle? This picture has been around for years, but I can't imagine current Home Depot policies would allow them to load a car with that much weight, disclaimer or not. Retail stores are really worried about liability these days.

[Brian Elfert]

This is what I look like going down the road-- tell me about turning around and parallel parking!

IMG_1923 (1).jpg

(2009 F350 (8 ft bed) diesel dually, 24,800 lbs fully loaded, just shy of needing a CDL)

That is a short combination compared to my 43 foot motorhome towing a 24 foot trailer. Are truck campers not exempt as RVs?

Man, I would think acceleration would be slow with that much weight behind a small diesel engine.

[Anuj Prateek]

These folks didn't need a truck to haul plywood
pylwood on car roof.jpg

Hah! Not same but have done similar load in Accord. 4-5 years back I was lining a small pond with concrete. I went to Homedepot and filled the car with as many 50lb Sakrate bags I could fit. Trunk, back seat and front passenger seat all were full. It was a short trip (a mile maybe) and car survived (and me). Luckily, shocks and other suspension components did not get damaged.

Super stupid of me but I was not aware of yellow sticker on the door. Had never hauled before and checking weight limit never crossed my mind.

@op I would vote for trailer as well. With small pickups or SUV, you will hit payload very quickly, if you haul drywall.

[Mike Soaper]

I would like to figure out if there is any truth to this picture and the story behind it. The story I always read is Home Depot loaded the car with a forklift, but made them sign a disclaimer first. How the heck does that cheap twine keep 1000+ pounds of material from sliding off that fairly steep angle? This picture has been around for years, but I can't imagine current Home Depot policies would allow them to load a car with that much weight, disclaimer or not. Retail stores are really worried about liability these days.

According to Snopes it's rated as true. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/lumber-car/

Seems they also had 10 80lb bags of concrete in the back.

[Mike Soaper]

"Hah! Not same but have done similar load in Accord. 4-5 years back I was lining a small pond with concrete. I went to Homedepot and filled the car with as many 50lb Sakrate bags I could fit. Trunk, back seat and front passenger seat all were full. It was a short trip (a mile maybe) and car survived (and me). Luckily, shocks and other suspension components did not get damaged."

I had a used beater chevy c-20 3/4 ton pickup that supposedly had a heavy? suspension which I had taken to a local gravel pit. The bucket on the frontend loader was large and had a fair size load of gravel.

I was impressed with how much finesse the loader driver had as he slowly dropped the gravel into the truck as I was using my hand to signal keep adding more.

The dust from the gravel caused me to sneeze which caused me to bend forward and lower my hand, upon which I heard a big wooooomp as the driver thought I was indicating to dump it all in. I think I heard the tires screaming at me on the slow drive home.

[Kev Williams]

I would like to figure out if there is any truth to this picture and the story behind it. The story I always read is Home Depot loaded the car with a forklift, but made them sign a disclaimer first. How the heck does that cheap twine keep 1000+ pounds of material from sliding off that fairly steep angle? This picture has been around for years, but I can't imagine current Home Depot policies would allow them to load a car with that much weight, disclaimer or not. Retail stores are really worried about liability these days.

I don't know the back story, but I do have another pic with a little law enforcement added for good measure
And I can attest that's WAY more than 1000 pounds, there's enough lumber there to build a 2-car garage!

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