Ever tried to load or unload a big tool box, a full cooler, a generator, pavers or other heavy cargo in the front of a modern pickup bed? Extract that folding chair or cooking kit buried somewhere near the front under a sea of camping gear? Or just grab some beers out of the cooler?
I’ve decided to stop my bitching about the overly tall pickup beds and sidewalls and do something about it: The Curbside Sidegate™, as rendered here by Dan Moran. A 32″ wide one for 8′ beds and a 20″ width for 6.5′ beds. New pickups bristle with every possible comfort and convenience option, but none have ever offered a sidegate. Which manufacturer will take me up first?
Well, there was one in the past, the Corvair Rampside. But that was a bit different, due to the unusually low center section of the rear engine Corvair, which facilitated an actual loading ramp.
Of course European “pickups” like the venerable VW have had folding sides all-round for ages, and still do. That applies to many other light trucks and utes in other parts of the world. But these are designed primarily for genuine hauling, with either an enclosed bed or flatbed. American pickups are a breed of their own.
On my ’66 F100, the top of the bed side wall is 44″ from the ground. I can easily reach in or even hop over the side. On a current F150, the top of the bed wall is 56″. That makes all the difference in the world, especially for someone shorter.
The issue becomes even more acute on the Super Duty trucks. A stock F350’s bed sides top out at 59″, and the ever-growing popularity of lift kits makes it essentially impossible to access the front half of the bed without clambering up via the tailgate and steps. Or rappelling gear.
The growing popularity of pickups (they outsold passenger cars in the first quarter) desperately calls for a way to offset certain intrinsic shortcomings. The Curbside Sidegate™ is the solution to the most glaring one, especially so on the HD trucks like this F350. It opens up a world of new utilization opportunities. Carry a kennel? Now it can be loaded easily, and the dogs can enter or exit without lifting via readily available lightweight ramps. The same applies to bikes, scooters, lawnmowers, and all kinds of outdoor and recreational equipment.
Better yet, we’ll add integrated slide-out ramps in the sidegate, and turn the pickup into a genuine Rampside.
Built in steps and a grab handle on the cab C-Pillar makes climbing into the front of the bed a breeze. Here’s the 20″ sidegate on a 6.5′ bed F150.
There’s even a variation for the shortest 5.5′ beds. Perfect for loading tools, or the shopping at Costco.
The Curbside Sidegate™ opens up endless possibilities. Let’s hear some more of them from you.
Niedermeyer! Why the hell are you still on the net typing this? Pick up the phone and call your patent attorney this instant! A large and glittering fortune awaits (and do remember a humble million or two for he what insisted you act, kind sir).
Hell, I really do like it. At minimum, it could be a very sellable option.
My contribution would be the small set of steps that folds from under the electric cab steps, for shorter folk. (This will be for the next gen of these vehicles ofcourse, which, as a matter of logical size-progression, will have second stories and a standard bathroom in many models).
“A large and glittering fortune awaits …”
Not if the Detroit automakers have anything to do with it. Reminds me of the case of Robert Kearns, who invented the intermittent windshield wiper in the late ‘60’s. He took his idea to Ford, who spent several days with him going over his invention in great detail before telling him they weren’t interested. Then in 1969, Kearns’ exact system appeared as an option on Ford products. Kern’s sued Ford, then later Chrysler, who also copied the Kearns invention. After decades of hellish legal battles, $10 million in fees, a mental breakdown and divorce, Kearns was awarded $30 million. He died less than 10 years later.
What ideas are and are not patentable is a very subjective subject, and involves several different issues. This statement from a patent attorney’s office addresses one of these issues:
“In order to obtain a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the existence of “prior art” can be a roadblock. The USPTO will not ordinarily grant a patent over an invention that already exists.”
I guarantee you GM would argue the Corvair Rampside represented prior art and would attempt to negate Paul’s claim. Not to say their claim is absolute (For example, the addition of steps inside the Sidegate differentiates it from the Rampside), but given this and other roadblocks, I’d be surprised if a patent for the door itself is ever issued.
Brilliant.
This is an excellent concept! In fact for years I’ve imagined a similar idea for 3 row CUVs. Sort of a “gull wing” door between the “C” & “D” pillars that utilizes your concept but flips it 180°.
But as for your design I’d recommend taking it step or two further. Why not maintain the wall thickness of the bed in the Curbside Sidegate? The additional thickness would add additional functionality and possibly solve another issue.
1. You could incorporate a single (illuminated) step at the door bottom aiding in ingress and egress making it much easier to climb in and out.
2. A flush round knob at the top of the door (where bed rails are located) and would rotate latching bars. Positioning the knob here would make it accessible from inside or out. Twisting the knob clockwise would extend either round or flat bars from the door sides into the fixed bed walls. to lock it in place similar to a security safe door locking mechanism. Rotating the knob counterclockwise would retract the bars to facilitate opening. Naturally a key lock in the knob would add some security.
3. Speaking of security… by maintaining the same wall thickness as the bed the door not only adds the aforementioned features but provide additional safety, strength and structural ridigidity too. Thereby maintaining and possibly improving vehicle side impact effectiveness.
4. The door could be fabricated from a number of materials including high strength steel, aluminum or even plastic.
I think this is a wonderful idea and wouldn’t be difficult at all to design and incorporate… bravo!
Also, adding some substance to the side gate would allow it to be equipped with a sliding-out or folding-out panel that would allow it to serve as a ramp. It would be steeper than the Corvair Rampside ramp, but still useful.
Before my eyes actually focused I thought “Wow, Ford has really brought something new to the pickup wars.” I am actually kind of amazed that nobody has tried something like this.
I wonder if the second opening in the bed sides would cause a rigidity/structural problem, but surely there would be a way to create the stiffening necessary. An indentation under the rim would make a great step, or they could use the flip-down tubular steel sort that Studebaker used to put on Wagonaire tailgates. Although that would probably be rude and crude on a modern $60k vehicle.
And, if you would rather have a sedan there is the Kaiser Traveler
As a horseman who is all too familiar with what equines produce and emit, I couldn’t imagine traveling with a pony in the same enclosed passenger compartment. One squirt of urine and that car would be ruined for any other purpose!
I was surprised when GMC copied this for the Envoy XUV. It never really sold very well but they copied the Wagonaire concept to a T.
I read “Car Guys vs. Bean Counters: The Battle for the Soul of American Business” by Bob Lutz who says his approval to produce the XUV cost GM’s bottom line MILLION$ upon MILLION$
A very nice idea.
And proof that, despite all the articles showing laborious charts of dimensions and claiming otherwise, pickups HAVE gotten too damn big.
Great writeup!
In a king cab the sidegates are already there: the back doors. Turn the back half of the cab into a sort of Landau, with pillarless back doors and a divider wall behind the front seat. Remove the back seat, fold the Landau roof forward, and presto.
The pillarless back doors could pivot forward or down, like the old AMC/Ford station wagon trick.
Brilliant ideas come along once in a generation – and this is it. The built in step and hand rail seal the deal, and adding them on both the driver’s and passenger’s sides helps those Costco runs. It’s not often that I get stopped in my tracks and say “Whoa” – but this is one.
Hopefully you’ll invite all of us plebs to the Estate de Niedermeyer when you purchase the Curbside Classic Mansion from all of your royalties.
The intelligent looking hound driving the vintage F-100 can laugh at all the tricks used to make the beds of contemporary pickups accessible, for, unlike those devotees to fashion, he had the wisdom not to buy one in the first place.
Very cool inventions! It’s refreshing to see such practical solutions that overcome a clear issue with modern pickups.
Thanks for making it visible!
Paul, I hope you have scheduled time this Fall to present some concepts at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, which starts November 3. I imagine it being cancelled, but you never know. 🙂
Neat idea, and incorporating a reinforced step into the bottom edge (which is the top lip/rim of the bed anyway with a natural upside down step already when closed) as opposed to the smooth cladding would make bed entry simple – the main reason the rear gates don’t already do this is due to the protruding bumper which then begets complex affairs such as the new GMC tailgate with integrated fold-down steps and Ford’s man-step (not complex, per se, but time consuming to deploy). Bring it!
Wow, these are excellent illustrations. When I first looked at this, and glanced through the pictures, I thought “I can’t believe Ford is actually using the term ‘Curbside Classic’ for this idea!”
My favorite here is the short-bed version, where the sidegate door arches over the wheel well.
Of course, to achieve market success, I bet these curbside doors would need to be power-operated as well. And come with a special option package that costs about $5,000 extra.
I was very impressed when Paul asked me to render these concepts. I placed the ‘Curbside Classic” watermark on each design as I figured these might get spread widely around the web. Paul’s ideas are highly viable. Here’s another view.
Not to ruin a good idea, but…:
Folding sides all around, as mentioned and showed (VW pickup) in the article. Naturally, while much more practical and useful to haul cargo, no one will ever use that as a family truck(ster).
Pickup manufacturers over here offer cab chassis with all alloy dropsiders from the factory or just have one made by numerous companies that supply them, wellsides have out grown their usefullness.
Yes, that’s exactly how it’s done here too. Either a straightforward, factory alloy product or something custom-built by an independent specialist, often with tool boxes and other items, like below.
The starting point in both cases is the factory chassis-cab. The bed height for a RWD chassis is somewhere around 100 cm (40”).
You’re not crazy, Paul, but it’s already been done… sorta.
The previous-generation Chevy Colorado (and GMC Canyon, maybe?) offered a fleet-spec truck with a side-hinged door in the cargo bed. It looked somewhat like a rear door from a crew cab Colorado with no window frame.
I still haven’t figured out how to link a photo into a comment, but you can see one here:
http://jingletruck.com/2012-chevrolet-colorado-work-95566
edit: not a factory-produced option… appears to have been offered as an “upfit” from a company called Decoma, but available from the factory under RPO E6Y
Ford did the same thing too.
Thank you! I spent too long looking for this. Back in my fleet manager gig I nearly bought one of these.
Another option was the bed rail doubling as a tool box, quite similar to what Ram is doing now.
That’s a complete integrated storage system with drawers. Like in a utility bed. It’s permanent, so you lose the storage capacity in the bed. A good alternative for a very specific application.
It’s rather different in function and its target market than a sidegate.
It was configurable, you didn’t have to have drawers you could have adjustable shelves too, or mount a compressor/generator in it.
Yes definitely not the same thing since the Ford version used the 6.5′ bed on a 8′ bed chassis.
5.5′, but yes.
Oh so the Ford bed isn’t modified, but rather there’s a separate insert between the cab and an off the shelf bed? That’s interesting.
@Jim, yup a standard off the shelf bed. Somewhere I’ve seen pictures of them after they had left the assembly line before they had the mid box installed.
Photos in the wrong format or too many pixels or something won’t post. I haven’t figured it out. I just give it a try and see what happens. Then I give up.
Yes, yes…I foresee commercial success! Patent this ASAP, before someone else runs away with the money.
For the short and elderly truck owner, maybe a truck mounted comfy chair would be a good idea. You have to make it weather proof of course.
Ach! You stole my idea! It could be run off the truck’s electrical system. But then, you would need a bigger electrical system, so you would need a bigger engine, and then you would need a bigger truck. If you added a door to the back of the cab, that would solve the problem of how to get into the bigger truck in order to drive it. Unless the bed was full and the door was blocked. That’s what the optional Cherry Picker attachment on the back would be for. (How do those guys with the Monster Trucks on the street get into their trucks, anyway?) But as an “altitudinally challenged” person, the fold out side step makes great sense to me and I think Paul should patent it as soon as possible.
I still want my Corvair Rampside, however. it is a cool truck.
I quickly mocked up a version with steps and a ‘C’ pillar mounted grab handle.
Great! I just swapped that image into the post.
I’m 5’5″ tall. I could reach into the side of it and grab bags of groceries and easily climb into the bed of my 93 F-150 flareside using the tailgate. My even shorter ex wife and I would use the truck to travel to sci-fi conventions. Those trucks were the right size for me – and millions of other buyers.
I can barely see into the bed of these present day monsters, and would need a step stool to get into the bed. I have to grab a handle and pull myself up much higher to get into the cab of the Ram I recently rode in. Where’s the easy utility in that?
The Ranger and Colorado are the only domestic trucks I would consider buying.
Marc:
Utility is secondary to the people who are buying these elevated thrones. Image is everything. Wouldn’t you have more self-esteem if you had one of these?
No. I’m comfortable with who I am. I don’t depend on a vehicle to do that for me.
There used to be a company that made these F150 utility beds with an almost OEM looking extra door on the beds.
No ramp, but still looks very useful.
Apparently called the “Midbox”, it was made by SVE Commercial and sold through Ford.
https://www.autoblog.com/2007/05/01/midbox-feature-introduced-for-ford-f-150/
And they made one for the Colorado too.
I especially like that the Midbox Colorado shows us what a regular cab/7.5′ bed Colorado might have looked like. For normal pickups, the regular cab was only available on a special SWB model with 6′ bed.
I’d never noticed that before, you’re right, no such thing as a long bed, regular cab Colorado.
You’d think the opposite would be true, that it’d be cheaper to make only long bed/reg cabs on same wheelbase as extended cab/short bed, as opposed to a special, dedicated SWB.
It’s not just a door, but an integrated and permanent storage system with drawers, like in a utility bed, so it’s rather different than a sidegate.
Yeah it’s hard to find one not combined with a steel utility cap, I assumed they’re more of a commercial-grade replacement for the diamond-plated steel tool boxes you see mounted behind cabs, while allowing the install of a cap. They are an interesting almost-OEM look at how one of these proposed side entries could look though.
Here’s another utility bed with an almost OEM look & built in doors & storage, the “Royal Sport”.
A variation on the old fashioned running board could probably work. Back in the day the running boards went back to the rear fender on flareside type bodies.
I’ve got wheel to wheel diamond plate steps on my old F350 and yeah access problem solved. If I didn’t have a canopy on my current F-250 I’d put a set of bed side steps on it, in addition to the ones on the cab.
So they created a problem that a $1000 option will solve. Brilliant.
Even this K2500HD 4×4 is only 51 inches to the bed rail from the ground. At 5’6″ I can still reach into the bed.
It isn’t just height, newer trucks (starting with the 2004 F150 and most recently the newer Silverado) have higher bed wall height in order to have more in-bed volume. This can matter when carrying loose items (gravel, mulch, whatever), and perhaps provide greater security when carrying larger items, i.e. boxes, tools or whatever goods to shield them from casually prying opportunist eyes. As useful as a tray-side bed is, it’s virtually useless for loose items.
…”As useful as a tray-side bed is, it’s virtually useless for loose items”…
Certainly not. See Scania grain tipper below. Dump trucks (including grain haulers) have had dropsides for ages. On a much smaller scale, many professional gardeners and such use dump trucks (think the VW Crafter I posted last week) and dump trailers with detachable dropsides, exactly the same configuration as on the flatbeds.
The extra bed rail height of later trucks has another problem, slide in campers, which is the main “mission” for this truck. I could not find a good photo, but here is a similar setup to mine. Note minimal space above bed rails. Ive seen lumber used to raise these up for newer trucks, too much of a step up from the bumper to camper entrance door, higher cg and tie down complications.
I borrow my buddy’s ’98 K1500 step side occasionally and the step side is great in making access easier. Seems that they’ve all gone by the wayside however.
Back when the norm was the aluminum running boards were the norm many people had the wheel to wheel ones, I did on my 84 F-350. Yes they are two separate pieces. Now though everyone has the nerf bar style steps and for what ever reason everyone does cab only.
It’s astounding how such a successful segment the pickup market has become that there are so little practical solutions like this from the manufacturers, and no I don’t count GMs silly Swiss army tailgate. There was an intrinsic advantage to the old stepside in this respect too, no thought is given anymore to ease of front of bed access, and I would gladly pay for the curbside sidegate if I were in the market for a new truck!
Not so astounding when you remember that most modern pickups (mid-size to HD) are used for towing a trailer rather than for hauling in the bed.
When I sketched these for Paul, I wasn’t familiar with the similar earlier applications marketed towards industrial or contractor applications that other commenters have presented. But given the volume of sales of full-sized pickups to the general population for personal use, these ‘sidegates’ offering easier bed access (additionally as ramps or steps) appear like a market niche that has not been addressed for a broader use by people that also use these for private daily use. The high bed height on modern domestic full-sized pickups is a valid problem for people that aren’t over 6′, that hasn’t been addressed. I see these concepts as reflective of serving that non-industrial part of the market.
I think that it is time for the 4×4 Pickups to be built lower to the ground. But, then the MACHO EFFECT would be lost.
4×4 and 4×2 pickups have all been the same height for some time now.
Maybe it’s because I’ve grown up with seriously tall farm equipment, but even at 5’8″, I’ve never noticed much of an issue with bed liftover height, on half-tons at least. HDs are another issue, but you gotta remember, there are valid reasons to have a taller truck. Just because we see a truck sitting in a parking lot with an empty bed doesn’t make it a useless vehicle. There is also such a thing as too low a bed.
FWIW, Ford at least realized the problem and made the 2017+ Super Duty beds lower. GM seems to have doubled down on their recent HDs.
Great idea! It just looks ‘right’.
At the same time, perhaps truck manufacturers could think about offering kneeling suspensions.
I wonder if something could be devised to make those steps slide out when it’s opened so they’d have a larger area to step on. It’s a great idea even as is though.
I’ve long thought something like this, positioned vertically between the cab and bed, would work well to actually get into the cab. But I like the fold-down steps even better as you don’t need to climb over the sides.
Since so many trucks are sold as passenger vehicles I’m surprised that there haven’t been more tailgate and access options available. A dual action tailgate similar to those that had been used on station wagons would be a welcome option. The bedside access door or at least a fold down step panel would also be welcome. I find that reaching across the tailgate to push a heavy load onto the bed, or pulling it back to unload, is very hard on my back. Truck bed heights have risen to the point that they are inconvenient to load. I find that I prefer using my Explorer. Besides the lower lift height, with the raised hatch I can load and unload directly into the bed and I have access to the load through the rear doors. Base model or heavy use trucks can retain the traditional set up. There are some great opportunities for manufacturers to make a bundle of money on optional set ups.
RAM now offers a sort of 60/40 split barn door tail gate arrangement (side-hinged). It doesn’t offer two way opening like an old station wagon but the split makes the pieces short enough to open without all of the space needed for a one-piece to swing out and removes the need to lean over the tailgate to load or unload. You obviously lose the very handy tailgate workbench feature intrinsic to normal tailgates though.
I just purchased a new microwave oven, had it loaded in the hatch of my prius, backed up to my front door and without too much trouble slide it out. If it went into a 51″ high pickup bed, it would have required lifting it out, which at 56 pounds I suspect most people would not want to do.
Please, we get you hate pickups but which pickup specifically has anywhere near a 51″ bed height? The majority are at or around 36″ which is pretty much perfect for unloading that microwave.
But even at 51″ that’s a bit over four feet. For a regular 6foot tall person, that would put the box at right about chest height, seems about right.
Open tailgate to ground on a current F-150 is between 34″ and 37″ depending on the exact configuration. Or right around typical counter height and right in the range where you don’t really need to lift to pick something up, it is already at carrying height. Plus you can slide it all the way to your body, w/o tearing up the hatch seal or scratching up the bumper.
Most people wouldn’t take a 50lb item out of the bed over the rail.
The increase in height has led truck makers to change their tailgate designs. The recently introduced GMC Multi Pro tailgate is split horizontally to produce a sub tailgate for easier access for small items plus a step, and some extra bed length for long items, It’s also power operated since tailgates have gotten heavier. Ram trucks now have an optional tailgate that splits vertically like van doors as well as opening normally, rather like the 2 way tailgate on older Ford station wagons.
I think drop side flatbeds offer better utility, but at the price of increased load bed height since they almost always sit above the wheel wells.
That is also true. Before we replaced the pickup bed with a flatbed, the bedsides of our ’08 F-350 farm truck came up to my nose. Now, it’s more in my chest area–but the floor is slightly higher than the pickup bed’s was.
Imagine a Mercedes pickup with a minivan-like, sliding bedside door and powered drop-down steps. It would fit perfectly with the classic MB mantra of “why make it simple when we can make it complicated”.
Brilliant idea. How is this not a thing?
BTW, GM is preemptively sending the SEC after you for fraud and having the FBI entrap you on a drug bust.
You’ve been DeTuckerLorean-ed.
75 comments on a vintage vehicle site, and no one has mentioned the side ramp of the Corvair based GM open bed truck of the early ’60s?
What do you mean “nobody has mentioned the side ramp of the Corvair” (Rampside)?. It’s right there in the post. Picture too.
Mea culpa. I apologize. I use an ancient iPad that often takes a huge amount of time to load an entire article. My first scroll through, the second half of the article and photos weren’t there. I must have also missed a couple of mentions early in the comments, which I’m sure were there. I will try to be more patient and careful before posting in the future.
As I read through this the dumb idea that kept occuring to me, and which probably already exists if I’m honest, is a bedside similar to a crib. You’d undo a kickplate or something and the whole thing would drop. This would likely be an electric option, but I confess I don’t know of any engineering challenges this would undoubtedly present.
Edit: If any of the above pictures show this, I apologise. I can’t really tell some details in pictures.
Some of the front ends of today’s pickups are close to 70 inches in height. When I pass some of them, the top of the grille is at eye level. They must be tremendously difficult to load up the camping gear, bikes, barbecues, etc. Helping someone move and you just need a spot for that small table or chair? Boom – drop it right in that side door. Brilliant idea.
If GM were to claim patent coverage from the Corvair, one could argue that patent has lapsed from lack of use. I’d say go for it and patent this concept.
This harkens back to the days when someone dreamt up the brilliant idea to put a sliding door on the driver’s side of a minivan. We all said, “Why didn’t I think of that?”
Ford could modify their Lincoln grande staircase concept for pickup trucks:
(AutoBlog pic)