A newbie question.....

[mamavair]

Why would Chevy discontinue the rampside feature on trucks? Anybody have an idea? I mean, it's such an excellent idea

Rampsides really peaked my interest when I really started looking at the contestants for the February contest. I had to do a double take on the ramp on the side. I even did quite a bit of research on them...very intriquing. I have even questioned some of my friends what they thought about the feature, and their response is always 'wha?' so I refer them to this forum so they can see it...and they think it's awesome too!

I figured someone on this forum would know.

[UNSAFE]

MamaVair - the rampside had the motor in the rear. This eliminated the common driveshaft as used on all front engined trucks which allowed a lower bed height. With the low bed height the ramp was was a good feature but on more conventional trucks the ramp would be too steep to be of much use. A longer ramp would not be feasible because of the increased height when closed.
The rear portion of the bed on a rampside over the motor was higher than the forward section where the ramp is and it would be very difficult to load large items from the rear without a ramp.

[4carbcorvair]

Ummm. Yea... What Kevin said. :D

[mamavair]

Thanks for answering my question...really appreciate it. In my minds eye, I can see a retractable/extendable ramp that's attached to the inside wall of the bed...you know, where you would open the ramp and an additional ramp would slide further down to meet the ground...or whatever to make up the difference in height. Still think it is an awesome idea! Thanks.

[Vanman]

Oooh I want some chrome bumpers with the vertical bars, those is super cool.

[Scott H]

Ummm. Yea... What Kevin said. :D

[Scott H]

Oooh I want some chrome bumpers with the vertical bars, those is super cool.

Sancho would look sweet with those!

[Vanman]

Yeah he's still missing something. Definetly needs trim rings on the wheels, and bumpers I think. That Corvan in the semi local yard has chromies on it, but he wants $50 each, and they arent in the best shape, if they were cheaper I would go for them.

[mamavair]

Yeah he's still missing something. Definetly needs trim rings on the wheels, and bumpers I think. That Corvan in the semi local yard has chromies on it, but he wants $50 each, and they arent in the best shape, if they were cheaper I would go for them.

If your avatar is 'Sancho'...he would look most awesome with chrome bumpers

[Vanman]

Yeah thats Sancho, soon to have his name changed (wifes rules, lol).

Thanks. I cant wait for the snow to melt around here and go back out and check out those bumpers, hopefully the rear is not completely messed up, and maybe get a little better deal.

[mamavair]

Been out tootlin around and checkin out trucks. Looks like they width from the beginning of the bed to the tire well would not be wide enough either...especially on king cabs. Guess if a person wanted a ramp on their truck it would have to be a Corvair truck or at least one with the motor in the bac to avoid the tire wells. Still thinkin the rampsides are pretty cool though!!!

[ericST]

Wow , that is so cool. I never knew there were made like that.