1997 F-Superduty ramp truck.

[cleatus12r]

Yes. I had a local frame shop bend four sections of 1/4" plate for this job. Two 8"x3"x60" to be butt-welded to the existing frame and then two sections of 7.5"x2.75"x84" that were bolted on the inside as a sleeve for support. There was A LOT of drilling involved (you can see all of the bolt holes in the picture with the bare frame) but a 5/8" annular bit on a magnetic-base drill press made quick work of it. Also, I used 9/16" lug studs and pressed the knurled portion into the frame to avoid slop.

Between the frame rails ($700), the rear driveshaft ($800), and the metal involved ($1100), I'm into the actual "ramp truck" about $4100. I put airbags and a winch on it as well so I'm still under $5000 invested.

Yes, I have too many vehicles. I still haven't written about the 2001 CC dually (now SRW) I picked up to be "The Family Truckster" for $2000 that just needed a few transmission hard parts. It's the gray one in the background. Its D80 donated the 3.73 gears to the ramp truck - 4.63s are STUPID for a highway vehicle.