Thank you all for the compliments. When you pay more attention to your hobby than to your girlfriend (wife, partner, etc.) (...that's what they think!!...) and work day and night on weekends just to finish one upgrade chapter something useful should come out! ….and children need toys…
I’m posting some more pics and comments covering different areas of this conversion. I tried hard to keep everything simple (stupid!?) (see Ugg’s KISS principle). For the looks spare tire, rear bumpers and pintle hook had to remain in place and it had to be easy and safe to operate, not only for the owner.
The components I used were the only ones available in our small country. The telescopic cylinder I found is designed for light truck applications but it only extends 4 foot. To reach 50º angle I had to mount it behind the double cross member. Ideally it should extend 5 foot and be mounted right in front of the same for better weight distribution and to avoid interference when it tilts forward.
The pump comes with no input shaft bearing to be mounted directly on a std. PTO. So I had to create an additional housing plus extra bearing, seal and shaft for the yoke. The pump has all required safety features, a lever & cable actuated bypass valve. It is the smallest size they sell for agricultural equipment. But with a capacity of 8 gal per minute at 800 rpm the bed goes up almost to fast towards the end of travel (short volume of final segments). Total volume of cylinder is less than 2 gallons.
The space behind the driver seat was used for a flat 3 gal reservoir with filler cap, filter and vent. For light duty operation that much oil should be enough.
Considering that this bed is not designed to work on a dumper the frame rails had to be reinforced and an additional weight distribution support welded in place. It is still flexible enough.
Hopefully this helps others to find their own solutions building something that adds in value and usage of our preferred toys.
Gerhard