Ford Motor Company has filed a patent for an extendable cargo bed side wall that could be used in future Ford pickups, Ford Authority has learned.
The patent was filed on February 17th, 2022, published on August 17th, 2023, and assigned serial number 0257034.
The Ford Authority Take
Ford has explored all sorts of ways to optimize the cargo carrying capacity of pickups in recent months, filing patents for things like an extendable rail assembly, a cargo bed module receiving system, and a side wall storage compartment, to name just a few. Now, that trend continues with this latest patent filing, which outlines an idea for an extendable cargo bed side wall that could be used in future Ford pickups, too.
Pickup beds have been around for decades to this point, but haven’t seen much innovation over that time period, save for the addition of things like tie-downs, lighting, and various other minor tweaks. However, this patent aims to ramp progress up significantly by adding special side walls to the interior of the bed, which would be capable of transitioning between a standard, fixed position and an extended one.
As one might assume, this would enable truck owners to extend the side walls of their bed out as needed to better secure cargo and make room for larger items, which makes a good bit of sense in today’s world, when beds are shorter than they used to be thanks to the popularity of SuperCrew models. It would also give owners access to hidden storage located inside of the bed side, where they can stash things like tools. Meanwhile, the bed floor would also be able to extend to essentially make the bed longer than it is.
This is certainly an interesting idea, and one that would likely appeal to a lot of truck owners who find themselves struggling to fit longer items in their beds. Rather than having to live with a longer pickup, they could simply extend it when needed, then retract it back into place when they don’t, which seems like a great solution to a common problem.
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Comments
I read an article a while back about the 2024 F150 having 2400 less parts and this would lower the MSRP by several thousand dollars. I would appreciate reading your explanation o9f this if you have made one.
What is needed more, is the storage this would provide.