"Stretch Trucks" Accommodate Big Families, Work Crews

"Stretch Trucks" Accommodate Big Families, Work Crews TRUCKS Conversions 26-6-4 Even with club cabs, pickups aren't designed to haul a big work crew or a large family. That's what has created a market for the "stretch trucks" built by Mark Bayer and his 8-person auto body crew in Elrosa, Minnesota. Bayer Auto, Inc., adds more doors and seats to cabs. They've made everything from regular Dodge two-seat crew cabs to stretched Ford F-350's with six doors on a side. "When Dodge quit making a full size crew cab pickup, we got a lot of calls to make them for construction and farm people," says Bayer, explaining how he got started. They made so many, in fact, that they used up the available supply of extra crew cab doors so they had to start making the doors themselves. In addition to stretch pickups, Bayer customizes anything from small pickups to big over-the-road trucks. "I recently modified a Peterbuilt truck for a custom harvester. We stretched the cab and added a 21-ft. service body with compartments for tools, welder, air compressor, and even a crane so they could do just about every type of repair that might be needed on a combine in the field," Bayer says. Having built a reputation as a custom vehicle fabricator, Bayer gets a lot of interesting calls. "We built an RV tow vehicle on a Freightliner semi truck for a man who wanted to use it to haul two full dress Honda Gold Wings," he tells. "We put a van body on it, and then split and hinged the body so it would open up hydraulically and he could load or unload the motorcycles with the 35-ft. travel trailer still hitched on the back." Occasionally he considers the requests a little too far out and doesn't take on the project. "Not long ago, someone wanted us to put a flatbed on top of an SUV," he says. "I asked more questions about that one and it turned out he wanted it so he could mount a machine gun on the SUV. We didn't do that one." If you're looking to add seating in a regular pickup, Bayer says the base price is $10,500 per bench seat. "Then we can add a lot of options, like TVs, running boards, upgrades in engines or performance packages, duallies and auxiliary transmissions," he says. "We can even add 4-WD if it's not already on the truck. We also custom build vans and can add four-wheel-drive on those, too." You can see examples of Bayer's work at his Website: www.bayerautoinc.com. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mark Bayer, Bayer Auto, Inc., Box 7, Elrosa, Minn. 56325 (ph 320 697-5671; E-mail: bayerautoinc@willmar.com).

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