Building a dump truck bed with front loader book shelf

Here is how to make a bed that your son will love. I made this bed for my son’s third Birthday. The goal in making the coolest dump truck bed was so my son would give up his crib to his 6 month old sister without a fight. My daughter was quickly out growing her bassinet and I didn’t want to buy another crib that would only be used a couple months. My wife and I searched for store bought beds but they were all over priced laminated particle board without character. So I decided that my son was going to have to deal with a homemade bed, well the coolest dump truck bed he has ever seen.
This was my first project working with MDF and I was pleasantly surprised. It has a few draw backs compared to solid wood or plywood. It is very heavy compared to its strength and the dust is very fine. All the dust has taken residence on absolutely every square inch in my garage.

Step 1: Specs/Features of this Fully Loaded Truck

The dimensions are 101 L X 49 W X 60 H inches. It hauls a twin sized mattress with plenty of capacity for your precious son. It has a F. River Tilt Steering Column with working steering wheel, horn, blinkers and flashers. Headlights, turn signals, parking lights, dome light, cargo light and caution lights are all LEDs for a total of 242 LEDs. Roughly 203 feet of wire is routed throughout the truck and power is turned on by a keyed power switch in the dash. The storage area is roughly 45 cubic feet under mattress. Both doors open and close on industrial looking stainless hinges. I think the weight is about 650 lbs because I broke my harbor freight furniture dolly :(

Comments

[andrewzach]

WOW, awesome. Kids will remember these when they are older! I made a Jeep Willy for my son and making a castle for my daughter.

[suncraft]

The dumptruck bed is really cool !! I just finished this bobcat bed for my son. Now our kids can start their own construction company!!
Thanks for posting .
Jeremy
Suncraftshutters.com

[ttice0166]

First of all - Thank you! This is amazing! I have been searching for sometime and this is perfect for my truck and frontloader crazy son. Secondly - thank you for posting such a detailed description, it is very inspiring! Lastly - I don't have the time, tools or space to do such project. Are you up for round two? I'd like to discuss this with you.
Tom

[captain Jack]

wow. You've got some MAD woodworking skills!

[coolsk8rdude]

Sweet! I want one!

[agpilotphil]

Dude, that thing is off the Chain! Awesome job! I so want to build one now! (my son is 4) I built my daughter a pedal airplane years ago... Anyhow, nice job!

[davids12]

i want one where do i order or buy stuff to get it?

[davids12]

I want this for my son! how do i get it?

[kevconard]

Can you tell me how you beveled the edges of the front fender over the wheels and the wheels themselved (to give them a more rounded look)?

[djmccray]

You’re probably not going to like the answer, I sanded them. I couldn’t figure out an easier way to do it with my tool collection. I used a 4 inch belt sander with 80 grit sand paper. It goes relatively fast but it makes a lot of dust. The fenders I just went slow and sculpted them into the shape. For the tire it was a little more dangerous. I bolted the wheel to a fence post though the center with a lag bolt. Holding the belt sander tangent to the wheel while sanding spins the wheel. Then by angling the sander towards the axis I slowed the wheel to a manageable speed. It took about 10 to 15 minutes per tire. You could use a lazy susan instead. And again it makes a ton of dust. Good luck.

[kevconard]

Thanks for your help. And nice work on your truck bed. I decided to make a train bed, here it is: http://www.instructables.com/id/Train-Bed/

[kevconard]

Here is pic:

[far2happy]

Wow! That is the most amazing children's bed that I have ever seen.

Well Done.

You have inspired me to do something for my kids too.

Great Job.

[Mr.Miz]

How much do you think this ran you in materials? It's amazing I really want to build one for my boy.

[djmccray]

The bed cost was about $430 dollars without the electronics and steering column /wheel. This is a little pricey but worth every penny when you see your son's smile.

Good luck!

[Mr.Miz]

absolutely it was worth every penny. The craftsmanship is probably almost impossible to duplicate and the painting.... fugetaboutit! It really doesn't seem that much when you look at the price of most kids stuff.

[hackadoodle]

That is seriously one of the coolest things I have ever seen... I have to do this for my son!!!

[bigtreehouse]

Okay... that's the coolest thing. I am impressed.

[tocsik]

Awesome. My son wouldn't go to sleep until he passed out form exhaustion.

[BladeRunner759]

AWSOME!!!!!!!!!!

[PCfreak]

so what did you use for a 12V power source?

[djmccray]

I'm using a WPS-12VDC-60W water proof power supply I got from superbrightleds.com. It is a little over kill but my thought is that I could power future accessories.

[M4industries]

Can't sleep... dump truck will eat me.

[bajom21]

wow very very impressive, i hope you build more

[slice_rulz]

you are an artist, my friend. nice work.

[Topcat2021]

That is a simply awesome job that you did I also thought that the loader was a vinyl poster. A very good job well done (I think that Norm Abrams would be impressed) on both aspects of the project. I hope your son gets many many good years of use out of this one
All the Best to you
Dan

[TRANSLTR]

I WISH I had seen this before giving IKEA another £200. It's totally great and your son's a lucky lad.

[danilo.bar1]

Wonderfull!!! Very very wonderfull work!

[mr.incredible]

Totally awsome... MDF is great and horrible to work with. I had almost the exact same garage setup as you. (even the same garage door)

I did a castle bed for my daughter about 6yrs ago. Lots of vertical storage. I had big plans of door fronts and big roll out drawers for the headboard and footboard towers. The bed has a metal trundle pullout bed underneath.

[djmccray]

Sweet castle bed! I'm planning on making my daughter something like this. I have plenty of time to design it before she will be moving out of her crib.

[socalgirl]

This is a fantastic bed! Will you be building one for your other children as well?

[djmccray]

Thanks for your comment and yes I will be making my daughter a bed. She is only 9 months old so I need to wait to see what she likes. Maybe a castle or who knows maybe a pink dump truck ;)

[SHIFT!]

That bed is so awesome! If my dad made me one like that when I was a kid, I'd still be sleeping in it in my 20s! Awesome instructable!

[CrLz]

"Your bed is a car."

"Yeah its a sweet car"

[eskape_velocity]

Wow! That's awesome! I thought you bought a vinyl backdrop for the wall, it's even more incredible knowing that you painted that yourself, on top of the rest of this build. Amazing work, and I hope the little one loves it!

[dirtydiaperchanger]

Can you send your son away for the night so I can sleep over? Dude, this thing is wicked pissa. If my daughter gets into trucks, I will definitely build her this! Great job

[tantai]

wow...super dad

[bmsleight]

Fantastic project. Really really good finish.

Top Dad.

[jktechwriter]

5 stars! 6 stars if I could!

I went through the same thing with my son not wanting to give up the crib and toddler bed. We did a train theme - no train bed (wish I'd had the time) but I did put up a train that goes around the ceiling and uses a remote control to turn the HO scale off and on.

People think we're crazy when we do stuff like this for our kids, but it's totally worth it, isn't it? Your boy will go to sleep smiling, I have no doubt. Thanks for sharing this awesome project!

[fungus amungus]

So good! I love it.