I made this cargo extender for the ’07 Dodge several years ago. It was a fairly good-sized welding project, for me. I looked at some commercially available models, but the ones I found all had what I viewed as major compromises of one sort or another, along with too-high prices. So I decided to fabricate this one myself with about $40 worth of 1″ steel conduit and a few rubber furniture feet.
The design maximizes available space right out to the corners of the lowered tailgate. It enabled the truck to easily carry ten 8-foot tables and 100 chairs for the graduation party last week. That’s a real achievement, considering the bed holds a large toolbox and auxiliary fuel tank to start with. The really cool part you cannot see is how the ~half-ton load does not even begin to stress the 5Klb air bag under it with a minimal 10psi charge.
