by Jim Bessey

Created on: December 22, 2008

We've all seen a pick-up truck tooling down the road with a giant extension ladder piercing the sky. Or we've followed one with six feet of ladder poking past the tailgate, marked with an old red T-shirt for a flag. Sometimes you just have to transport a ladder by improvising. In addition to the dangers such practices present to other drivers, carrying a long ladder without the proper ladder rack is illegal on most roads in the US. There has to be a better answer.

You love your shiny pick-up truck, and don't want to have some unsightly ladder rack cluttering up those stylish lines. You also don't want to add a heavy, expensive cap over your truck's bed. You want a removable ladder rack. You could go to your nearby truck accessories retailer and buy one; but real men and smart women love to get creative and build their own. Here are some tips for building a removable ladder rack for your truck.

BUDGET:

If money was no object, you'd just go out and buy a fancy ladder rack and pay someone else to install it. Hardy do-it-yourself-ers guard their dollars jealously, so we'll consider materials costs for each choice. Lower cost materials might be heavier, or less stylish.

INSTALLATION:

Your removable ladder rack can transfer weight to either the bed of the truck, or to the sidewalls. Generally, in-bed installation is much simpler, but wastes valuable space. Attaching your new rack to the top-rails of the truck's bed looks better and uses less material, but requires more specialized hardware and expertise.

MATERIALS:

With variations in design, your ladder rack can be made of wood, metal, or plastic. Your choice will be decided by both cost and your skill level, as well as aesthetics. It's important that the rack you build is strong enough to handle the dead-load and sway-load for whatever ladders or other materials you plan to carry. There won't be any certifying agency looking over your shoulder to ensure the integrity of your design, so you'll usually want to "over-build" to provide a margin of safety.

SKILL REQUIRED:

Are you a skilled welder? Or can you fit all of your tools into a duffel bag that fits behind your seat? We'll consider level of difficulty for several designs.

DESIGNS:

A. Basic wooden rack.

If you're comfortable with a hammer, saw, and screw-gun - and on a tight budget - use 2 x 4's from the lumberyard to create a wooden rack that sits inside your truck bed. It doubles as a materials storage rack for your garage, too. Assemble two or three upright pairs with

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