Telescoping Pickup Step

Telescoping Pickup Step PICKUPS Accessories 30-5-33 After buying a new 2004 Ford F-150 4-WD pickup, Rich Driesenga discovered the tailgate was so high he had difficulty reaching inside the bed. And he couldn't find anything on the market to help him get into the bed with the tailgate down. So he made a telescoping add-on step that fits into the pickup's Reese hitch. The step can be extended to various lengths as needed, as far as 32 in. back. When locked in the closed position, the step is flush with the back of the pickup. "Because the step telescopes, it can be used with the tailgate in either the up or down position. When the tailgate is up, it provides an additional step that makes it easy to climb up onto the bumper," he says. The 1-ft. wide step consists of an upside-down channel iron turned up at each end and with grip-style tread on top of it. The step is welded to the back end of a telescoping pto shaft. The pto shaft consists of a 3-ft. long inner section that slides inside a 6-in. long outer section. To make a bracket for the pto shaft, Driesenga welded the 6-in. long section to the bottom side of a 4-in. length of angle iron, which in turn is welded to a length of 2-in. sq. tubing that slides into the Reese hitch. "The step extends 4 in. out on each side of the Reese hitch so even with the shaft pushed all the way in, there's plenty of room for me to put my foot on either side of the hitch. It's easy to take off so I can use the hitch to pull a trailer." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Rich Driesenga, 6591 New Holland St., Zeeland, Mich. 49464 (ph 616 875-8248).

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