What I Saw at Home Depot Yesterday...

[Arizonarob]

Years ago, when I had much less money, and apparently less brains as well, I had bought my first house and did almost of of the renovations myself.

I had a 4 speed Toyota Tercel EZ hatchback at the time. I needed a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood and some 4' x 8' sheetrock. Back then having something small like that delivered was not an option, and I was not renting a truck just to get that home (remember, dumb and poor).

I bought two 8' 2x4 studs and put them in the back, with about 4'6" in the car, and 3'6" sticking out, and then loaded the sheet goods in on top. I was fine for about 6 miles, and then I got to the section of the highway that is a pretty decent uphill area. As I am driving along, with every pothole and bump I hit, the steering got squirrelyer and squirrelyer - the load was slowing sliding out of the back of the car, and the shift in weight was taking the weight off of the front wheels.

I checked my rearview mirror and nobody was behind me, so I hit the brakes hard. The entire load shifted back into the car with a satisfying "thunk" into the back of the drivers seat, and then I made it the other mile or so home. Never tried to do that again.

Now if it does not fit in the Explorer, then my utility trailer makes the trip - much less nerve wracking.

I remember you!!!

 

[jseyfert3]

A 12 ft. deck board in my 5.5 truck bed yesterday wasn't particularly fun. But they make rope and bungee cords!

Crew cab....everything in life is a trade off.

Ah yes, just like this? A 14' 2x4 I got for leveling my pool area. 5'8” bed.


I considered buying a standard (6'5”) bed, but crew cab with standard bed wouldn't fit in my garage. This one does...with about 1" of clearance front and rear...

 

[Newdude]

Ah yes, just like this

I go right in the back window up to the dash. A 12 footer fits perfect inside the short bed. I use a washcloth or a T-shirt on the dash. The 14 would have had to hang over ~2 ft but it still would have been 100X better using the inside.

 

[jseyfert3]

I go right in the back window up to the dash. A 12 footer fits perfect inside the short bed. I use a washcloth or a T-shirt on the dash. The 14 would have had to hang over ~2 ft but it still would have been 100X better using the inside.

Huh. I always forget my truck even has a back window...

That makes a lot of sense.