Winch mount in the bed of the truck?

I am considering mounting a winch in the bed of the truck. Possibly on the top of the wheel well.

Reason for this is to assist with pulling my kayak into the bed of the truck. I am going to have an ankle replacement surgery and the doc doesnt want my dragging or pulling too much. Loading the yak isnt that hard normally, but pulling it up a hill can get rough on my ankle, and probably not much better after the surgery.

thinking about using a pulley center mounted on the bed, maybe on the rail and having the winch mounted sideways with the line running through the pulley.
Also considering building a ramp out of something to have it slide right up in the bed.

I was looking at one of the more inexpensive harbor freight jobs because this wont be for pulling anything more than about 150 pounds into the bed of the truck.

Any thoughts on the stresses applied to these areas of the truck bed?

 

The truck bed is fiberglass. Suggest tying the winch into the frame.

 

stripped down, about 80 lbs.
with the seat, and some gear it can be as much as 120- 150.

Not really wanting the expense of a trailer. Still would need to drag the kayak to the trailer also.

 

Sorry. I deleted my post when I realized you said it was 150 lbs in the original post, but you beat me to the punch.

Is 80 lbs too much to lift?

Won’t you need to drag or carry it to the truck?

Are also going employee a ramp for the winch to pull the kayak in?

How will you get it out of the truck?

None of this is adding up for me.

 

Considering a ramp, yes.

its not that 80# is too much to lift. its the dragging it up a hill. the angle of the force is not good on the ankle joint.

 

Ah I think I understand now. You want park the truck on top of a bank and then winch the kayak out of the water and up the bank to the truck. We do something similar with the boat hoist each fall.

 

You can buy hitch receiver thingies that you can mount a winch to.

 

This is just an example.

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200672566_200672566

 

How about just using a pulley block in the nose of the bed with a long length of nice rope, then pull the kayak up by hand? Not sure if that would work for your situation, but would certainly makes things a lot simpler. Not having to run electrical to the winch just for starters.

 

A hitch mounted winch won't help much getting it in the bed. Maybe attach a pully near the cab thru the bed attached to the frame.

 

The existing mounts in the bed or the hitch receiver could probably be used as well.

 

Boy that looks perfect. I like it because it's temporary and gets it close enough to just lift the kayak up on the tailgate.

 

He said lifting it into the bed wasn’t the primary issue.

 

How bout just a hand crank up near the cab on a piece of plate steel?

 

Running wires isn't a big deal, but they also make some wires you can temporarily attach to the battery like jumper cables.

I like projects, and working on stuff, so all of this isnt to big of a deal.
It would be kind of cool to have it just slide it into the bed, if im going to winch it anyway.

Not ever seeing the underside of the wheel well, How hard would it be to put some reinforcement in there?

Something to run some bolts though, then through the bed and use that as a winch mount?

 

ahhh....Then I would just get a crank pully tyoe and attach it to the reciever.

 

So I am in a similar situation as you. I have spine damage and lifting my ice fishing sled or kayak is not a fun adventure.


So, how we need to do this is start by making a PVC ramp for the kayak to go up, I will leave that part to you, but as for the winch mount there are 2 ways I have seen people mount them.

1: Using 1x1 box steel you make a frame that bolts to the header rail and to the side rails. Then mount your winch to that. This would result in a winch line that is higher up.
2: Using 1x1 box steel make a frame that bolts to the frame bolts at the front of the bed. Mounting your winch here would have the disadvantage of the winch taking up space that your kayaks front needs.
3: You can use a pulley mounted to a chain that goes between your front tie downs, then from this pulley you put the winch near the tailgate. with this method you can use a small hand winch bolted right to the bed mount bolt. You can use a drill to turn a hand winch, or use your hand.


1 is the best, but the hardest
2 is the strongest but the most intrusive
3 is the most hacky but the cheapest

All 3 options will get the same result in the end, it just comes down to how much money, time, and effort you want to put into this.

And as many will point out "the bed isnt strong enough to hold a winch" they are right, but they are also wrong since your dragging a 150lbs of plastic against more plastic that is slick or mud that is slick, or grass that is slick. Very little pressure will actually be put on the winch.

Now since you are going to use it to pull up a hill, I would go with option 1 as it will help in loading and dragging it up the hill.

Here are some examples (not 3rd gen tacomas, but ideas)

 

I personally would not modify my truck for this. This is just temporary until your ankle heals, yes?

 

I tend to agree with this. If its a temporary-ish situation, a boat trailer crank (like mentioned above) mounted to the front might be a good way to go. You could even modify it and power it by a cordless drill

If you are set on mounting a small winch to the bed, probably would want to cut a piece of plate steel that goes under the bed. Mimic the bolt pattern and it sandwiches the composite to spread the load out a bit.