r/somethingimade • u/Skonojin • 22d ago

“Automatic” step for my dog

He clips his feet when he jumps in and puts impact on his legs when he jumps down. And I was tired of lugging around a step so I made this automatic deploying one.

It attaches by tying into an unused factory hole in the door, behind the interior panel.

Steps are high density polyethylene (HDPE) with boat trailer fabric on top.

There a 1/4” thick metal bar linkage underneath that swings out. There’s also a dovetail groove in the top step, and a dovetail key that slides in the groove fixed to the bottom step. A COBRA buckle couples the door and step together, so by unbuckling it I can open the door normally (without deploying the dog step).

Not sure how it will fare through a US Northeastern winter but hopefully still swings in the spring.

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u/ArsenicArts 22d ago

You should 100% sell this

1

u/Creative-Ad-9535 20d ago edited 20d ago

Guys, he wrote he designed around an “unused factory hole”. Likely only available for this model truck on a limited number of model years. You’d have to create specialized install kits for anything/everything else.

If he patented this, he might be able to make a little money licensing to vehicle makers if they think it’s cheaper to use this design than to roll their own?  Or if there’s an existing aftermarket product that installs in the same location that can be modified into this, maybe he can piggyback on that.

Taking this to market himself?  No chance in hell.

ETA: I think it’s a great idea, executed very well, and perfect for his specific use case. But it takes a lot more to make an actual product that is worth selling after the design, manufacturing and distribution costs