I've got a friend that wants me to build him some wood racks that fit in the stake pockets on his stock 55 . He wants it 3 boards high with each board shorter toward the front with a small space between each horizontal board. Note that this is purely going to be decorative since this truck is used for little more than parades. I sort of know what he wants, but I could use some input from you all. The fact that there are only two stake pockets has me wondering what the best approach would be in building these racks. I couldn't find any pictures to show as an example of what I want to do. My search gave me nothing but flatbeds. Anybody done anything like this? Any input would be appreciated.

Drewski

 

Maybe my description of these racks was confusing since there has been no response. After about an hour of looking for some examples I found this photo. Something like this with 3 boards instead of 2, with each shorter.




Anybody built anything like this?

Drewski

 

I know I've seen what you're speaking of a lot around here... just hard to specify the right search words. But I've seen it on stocker looking trucks.

 

Since you are doing this for someone else, it would probably be a good idea to lay it out on paper and get your friend's input so that you only do it once.

Out to out on my stake holes is 77 inches and a 1.5" square stake looks like it would fit. Knowing this takes us right to how wide a plank will be used and how much space between the planks.

What will end up looking good is how the three planks relate lengthwise to each other given the overall length by height. As far as I know, there is no formula for this relationship. This is where you and your friend's judgement come into play.

Vertical elements are fixed front and back by the stake holes. Further judgement of how many and where the other vertical(s) go is all there is left to it.

The sketch shows a way of looking at it... the seven (or six) elements. It is not to scale but perhaps, since it is of a different material and presumably a different color, it can be evaluated for its merits and then tried on the truck.
I am toying with this same option for my truck when I get further down the road so your results will be of no small interest. Surely it would be easier to just look at a picture... but you've seen how that goes.

hopefully helpful, himmelberg