Back Seat Dog Deck with Integrated Ramp

[Lucky Devil]

First, the star of the show:





This is Riley. She’s a “Bullador” – an English Bulldog + Black Labrador mix. All the energy of a Lab, with all the grace of a Bulldog. She’s 10 years old now and has a hard time getting in and out of my truck on her own with her aging hips and knees. She’s also 90 lbs and doesn’t like being picked up. So I needed a solution that allowed her to get in and out of my truck on her own. I also wanted a platform that was higher than the OE back seat platform so she could see out of the windows easier.

So I made this:





The entire deck is constructed from extruded aluminum, with the exception of the deck platform itself and some carpeted panels. It bolts into the truck, so it’s rock-solid. It’s modular, so it installs in several chunks rather than one big apparatus.



It has an integrated ramp that pulls out and extends to about 6’, with a small fold-down step at the end to decrease the inclination angle. When deployed, the ramp locks into place automatically so it won’t move when Riley is getting in or out. I made the deck in two halves to mimic the back seat 60/40 split. The ramp is on the right (60% side) so the it can be as long as possible to further reduce inclination angle.

 

[Lucky Devil]

At the top of the ramp is a gate that doubles as a door protector. The gate keeps Riley from trying to go down the ramp before I have it extended and on the ground. It has an overhang at the top to protect the door sill as well.









In the center, there’s another panel that protects the back of the center console. There’s also an upper cross-bar that prevents Riley from getting into the front seats or standing on the center console. I added some pipe insulation on the bottom of the little “window” – she likes to rest her head there when we’re driving.





Behind each seat is another panel. These panels keep her from scratching up the seats, but also prevent her from falling down into the gap between the seats and the deck. The panels move with the seats, allowing my wife and I to still adjust for comfort.





The deck surface is cushioned and upholstered with marine carpeting. Easy to clean up after an eventful day.

 

[Lucky Devil]

Underneath, the in-floor storage bins are still fully accessible. We keep Riley’s gear in the area under the ramp. Plenty of room for a water jug, food, dishes, etc., with room to spare for a small backpack and a jacket.





I also added some LED strips that turn on and off automatically when you open and close the back doors. Beneath / behind the back seat, there’s a convenient spot to store my windshield scraper + brush.





The left side is similar to the right, except it doesn’t have a ramp. I can remove the left side easily (takes about 10 minutes), and the back seat can still flip down if we need to take another 2-legged passenger.





Just like the right side, the in-floor storage bin is fully accessible. The under-seat bin is also accessible on the left side. The right-side under-seat bin isn’t accessible – but I have the OE subwoofer, so that didn’t matter to me. If I didn’t have the factory sub, I would have just removed that bin lid.





The left side also has a drop-down gate. Handy for loading groceries and gear when Riley isn’t with us.



Without a ramp under the left side, there’s plenty of room for our road trip cooler and other gear.

 

[Lucky Devil]

I also made sure I could access the space beneath / behind the left seat because I keep an emergency blanket and a fire extinguisher. (The extinguisher mounts using a bracket I made.)





The LED lights on both sides are powered by USB battery packs. The battery packs plug in to the USB-C ports on the back of the center console and recharge whenever the truck is running. Those USB ports are only active when the truck is running, so there’s no chance of draining the truck batteries.





One of my favorite features is that the USB battery packs are held in place with Lego bricks. I glued one brick to each battery pack and mounted a mating brick to the frame of the dog deck. That way I can easily remove one or both of them if we need to take them with us to keep our devices topped off.



We absolutely love the deck, especially Riley.

 

[Wanderlust073]

Super nice. Especially like the door sill cover. My dog slobbers the hell out of it.

 

[Lucky Devil]

Thanks! The door sill covers do great job of keeping her from scratching up the doors. But NGL, nothing is safe from the slobber she slings everywhere! Take a look at the headrests and rear entry assist handles. Ew!

 

[Brutal_HO]

Very cool.

The lego "velcro" is brilliant.

 

[Eatonpcat]

Dang Bro...Awesome job!

 

[g00fy]

Very nice work, I just lift my old man up into the cab since he's only about 60lbs, however I really would like to make something like this for my pontoon boat. My old man used to love going out on the boat and swimming, but it's really hard to keep hoisting him back into the boat with his life jacket, and I don't trust the life jacket handle after one of them snapped a year or so ago. That made for an interesting process to get him back in the boat.

 

[Lucky Devil]

Very nice work, I just lift my old man up into the cab since he's only about 60lbs, however I really would like to make something like this for my pontoon boat. My old man used to love going out on the boat and swimming, but it's really hard to keep hoisting him back into the boat with his life jacket, and I don't trust the life jacket handle after one of them snapped a year or so ago. That made for an interesting process to get him back in the boat.

View attachment 72930

Somehow, the older they get, the more adorable they become. Why can't the same be true for humans??

 

[McHenry2500]

Great bit of fab work!

How much do you think the assembly weighs?

How long does it take to install/un-install?

 

[Lucky Devil]

Great bit of fab work!

How much do you think the assembly weighs?

How long does it take to install/un-install?

Thanks!

The whole thing weighs between 40 and 50 lbs. The frame itself is incredibly lightweight. The heaviest parts are the deck itself (1/2" plywood) and - of all things - the rubber traction mat on the ramp.

Initial installation took several hours, just to get everything lined up fine-tuned. After the that, installation takes me about an hour now. Removal is less than 30 minutes. I take the left side out occasionally so we can bring a 3rd person, and takes about 10 minutes.

 

[gprguy]

Very nice work, and bonus points for the Legos. Nice to see the 80/20 too, I used some on our dog bed as well - the stuff works great for fabbing up projects like this.

 

[Lucky Devil]

Very nice work, and bonus points for the Legos. Nice to see the 80/20 too, I used some on our dog bed as well - the stuff works great for fabbing up projects like this.

Thanks!

Yeah, the extruded aluminum is great. Super easy to work with, and better results than ol' 2x4 lumber or PVC pipe.

 

[JesseJames]

That. Is. Awesome!

 

[Etoimos]

This is a great mod and very well executed. Well done man. Do you have any pics of how you did the pivot point on the ramp?

 

[Lucky Devil]

This is a great mod and very well executed. Well done man. Do you have any pics of how you did the pivot point on the ramp?

Thanks!

I don't have any pictures of the pivot for the ramp, but I used these pivot joints. They attach the ramp assembly to a rolling gantry.

I see you're in Colorado. I live in the Denver area (despite what my profile says). If you're nearby and interested, you're more than welcome to check it out.

 

[Etoimos]

Thanks!

I don't have any pictures of the pivot for the ramp, but I used these pivot joints. They attach the ramp assembly to a rolling gantry.

I see you're in Colorado. I live in the Denver area (despite what my profile says). If you're nearby and interested, you're more than welcome to check it out.

Thanks for the link. I'm down in the Colorado Springs area, but if I'm ever up there with some time to kill, I might hit you up.

 

[20Limited3500]

Probably one of the coolest mods I have seen. Maybe because we have pups and can relate to loading and unloading them from rear seat along with making the area safe for them.
Great job.

 

[crtlabz]

Awesome job!
When are you going into production?
I want one!