Moving sheetrock with a short bed truck

[supton]

Dumb question: I'm thinking of getting a couple sheets of sheetrock in the near future. Should I get a sheet of plywood too while I'm at it? The bed of my truck is 6'5" long and I never really thought of how to do that before--mostly because I did not anticipate ever moving 4x8 sheets of anything with said vehicle. I suspect I need a sheet of plywood anyhow, and could easily wait until then. Would that be how most would move sheetrock, using stiffener of this sort?

4x8 utility trailer is deep in a snowbank, and would entail hours of digging. It's possible a local yard might deliver, have not looked into delivery costs.

Or I could just cut the sheets in half, that actually would make moving them a lot easier.

 

[Coprolite]

The tailgate, in the down position, will support the sheet rock just fine.

 

[m_peterson6]

Leave the tailgate down

 

[supton]

I was worried about the tailgate flipping up--not latching closed, just it moving on frost heaves. Obviously I'd drive slower but one can get surprised by potholes.

 

[Chris142]

Tailgate wont move

 

[RedOakRanch]

I sell drywall for a living, tailgate down is all you need. Put a tie down across the material at the back of the bed and one across the tail end of the board so it can't slip out.

 

[supton]

Sounds like I'm set then. Thanks!

 

[IndyIan]

4x8's if they are stuck together in pairs wouldn't even need the tailgate there unless you are doing jumps.
Just run a strap to keep the sheets tight to the front of the bed, as going uphill on some bumps may rattle them out.
If you are going to do the mudding yourself, measure out and see if you can use bigger sheets, 4x12's is less mudding and with a lift aren't really harder to deal with.
If you get 4x12's just buy three 12' 2x4's to put underneath them.

 

[JHZR2]

Its not an issue of tailgate for me (S-10 regular cab), but rather the width between the wheelwells. I just took a small piece of scrap plywood and put it on top of some 2x10s fastened in a box like structure. Center this on the sheetrock, and it will not flex too much. We have HD and Lowes within 5 miles of low speed driving so there isnt a lot of stress on the sheetrock, but have moved quite a bit of it this way.

 

[Doog]

Put your tailgate down and get 4 8foot 2x4s to lay underneath the drywall. Just drive easy going home.

 

[hattaresguy]

Drop the tailgate and load it up.

 

[bullwinkle]

There is also a ball mount type gadget that you can put in your receiver hitch (if you have one) to hold up longer stuff.

 

[eljefino]

+5 on tie-ing off to the trailer hitch, to up front to a stake pocket etc.

I've had sheet goods start moving; once you break static friction you have to brake hard. You also want insurance against a freak wind gust.

 

[SatinSilver]

Sup,

How far is the commute home? Sounds like you'll be fine though. Check weather.com to make sure there's no wind warning in effect that day.

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: Doog
Put your tailgate down and get 4 8foot 2x4s to lay underneath the drywall. Just drive easy going home.


What exactly is that supposed to help.
A short box 1/2 ton truck with the tailgate down is almost 8' so what exactly are the 2x4's for

 

[MNgopher]

A short box with the tailgate down supports the sheetrock just fine. No need for any other supports. Make sure you have a strap keeping the sheets from sliding out of the bed. I usually attach to the trailer hitch and then up to a tie down in the front of the bed. Works just fine, even with the 5.5 foot bed on my F150 supercrew.

 

[supton]

Local lumber store (which closes before I get home) is about 3 miles. So no biggie if I need something on a Saturday; and is probably cheapest when factoring gas. Otherwise it's probably close to 25 miles to Lowe's in Concord. Which of course is open after work, and is almost on the way home (there's a HD that is on the way, which is where I do most of my shopping).

On occasion we have a family night out, or family afternoon out, so it's not out of the question to have a big shopping trip.

 

[CurtisB]

A bundle of 4X8' and presumably 1/2" drywall sheets have almost no flex in them if you're worrying about them flexing and breaking at the back. Honestly you could even haul 4X9' or 4X10' bundles worry free laying on the tailgate. One problem you may encounter is the truck box tiedown points may be to high in the truck box to make contact with the drywall underneath, you can use some drywall dunnage from your supplier underneath the straps/overtop of the sheets to clamp everything down.

In my youth my first trucking job was hauling and delivering drywall with a picker truck. We used to lift the drywall off the truck with the picker, boom it to a door or window and carry it in from there. You would not believe how we had to flex sheets to get them into some of these houses, especially cramped top floors and basements. I sure do miss that job...

 

[paulo57509]

Yesterday: Watched a guy near the Home Depot hauling a thin (it was sagging badly) 4x8 sheet of plywood on the top of his roof rack with no binding (full sized pick um up..).

The first turn he took it blew off the rack and into the road.

This looked like an experienced contractor too. Too bad there was no name on the truck. Someone to avoid when you're hiring out for a job.

 

[hattaresguy]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
Originally Posted By: Doog
Put your tailgate down and get 4 8foot 2x4s to lay underneath the drywall. Just drive easy going home.


What exactly is that supposed to help.
A short box 1/2 ton truck with the tailgate down is almost 8' so what exactly are the 2x4's for


That makes no sense with 8 footers but with anything longer like 14's it works well.