Truck decks / Sled decks

Drako99 · Jan 16, 2011

Has anyone heard any good/bed news on a Marathon Truck boss deck?

Retails about $4000 and all aluminum, thinking about going this way as the deck sits on the bed rather than on legs in the box for a cleaner, more usable look. Plus it looks nice and sharp

Can be seen at Truckboss Modular Aluminum Truck Decks

Trax 2 Treadz · Jan 17, 2011

One thing to keep in mind is that Truck Boss recommends light duty use only for a Truck Boss deck mounted on the bed rails. For heavy duty use such as hauling a sled to a typical staging area you'll need to install legs under the Truck Boss deck as well.

goodngrubby · Jan 17, 2011

Trax 2 Treadz said:
One thing to keep in mind is that Truck Boss recommends light duty use only for a Truck Boss deck mounted on the bed rails. For heavy duty use such as hauling a sled to a typical staging area you'll need to install legs under the Truck Boss deck as well.

Really??? $4000 for what? Sounds like an overpriced box cover. What are the add-on legs worth?

jaredszakacs · Jan 17, 2011

imo buddy go full lotus out of vernon way better deck than marathon all my marathon buddies are switiching up to full lotus and Jeff is a stand up guy with amazing customer service and supports! You really do need the legs for the inside of the box if you are doing any kind of hauling with it I have heard a few complaints of guys with shortboxes going over bumps or cattleguards and having the rails starting to fold under pressure from the sleds bouncing up and down. the truck rails are strong but not as strong as having the legs in the box and in real honesty you dont lose that much space undernaeth cause the ramp is still there just like the marathon one. imo if u r gonna be using the deck lots and doing some big trips I would stay clear of the marathon truck boss and go with something with some more support

Anvil1010 · Jan 17, 2011

I would go with a Cross-Trax. They are about 1.5 hours away from you.

jaredszakacs · Jan 17, 2011

just make sure you check the quality of steel and welds real close my buddy was chirping about his new denali deck and how little he paid compared to mine well three weeks after his bragging he had it loaded with twon sleds and it ended up bending the support bars on the one side of the pullout and some of the welds were starting to crack so please look carefully and just dont go buy one cause it has a cheap price tag there is a good reason why they have a cheap price on them. mararthons are great but i just dont like the no legs for me thats were the support is.

maierch · Jan 17, 2011

I have had a Truckboss for a couple of months and haven't been particularly impressed with it but not because of the loading of the box sides. My company has a fleet service trucks all run around Alberta and BC with Nortruck toppers on them with a close to a thousand pounds of tools in them. These trucks bash down some pretty crappy logging roads and we don't see any adverse effects of this loading even with milages approaching 300 000km.

My issue is more with the functionality of the deck. Small details like the tiny #4 self tapping screws that keep the side extensions from pulling right out of the sides of the deck, pins that are next to impossible to line up when moving the side extensions in and out because you cant see them. I also purchased the length extension which is a far cry from the former deck extension. It consists of two pieces of square tubing and a couple of pieces of angle with aluminum tubes bolted across them. There is a lot of flex on them so much that I don't think I will even attempt to run a quad up there. Also because of the configuration there is a great big gaping hole on the outsides of the deck where the side extensions meet the deck extension which make it a huge pain in the a$$ to unload sleds because the outside ski will fall into the hole.

It's my feeling that Marathon rushed to market with something that wasn't fully thought out. I still think its a great idea but it just needs those few tweaks on problems that arise from everyday use.

Longhorn · Jan 17, 2011

Still cant believe they stopped producing the 'real' deck...sad...

teamgreen · Jan 17, 2011

Longhorn said:
Still cant believe they stopped producing the 'real' deck...sad...

Im with Longhorn on this one

Trax 2 Treadz · Jan 17, 2011

goodngrubby said:
Really??? $4000 for what? Sounds like an overpriced box cover. What are the add-on legs worth?

Hey Goodngrubby, have you stopped pimping Cross-Trax decks through innuendo and pm's? I'm assuming so. By the sounds of your comments you are looking for pricing on a Truck Boss, right? If so send us a pm. :beer:

maierch · Jan 17, 2011

Longhorn said:
Still cant believe they stopped producing the 'real' deck...sad...

"allegedly" The reason they stopped building the real decks is because they were sick of competing with the patch to keep welders so they farmed the whole operation to China for a third of the cost and upped the price by $1000

"allegedly"

goodngrubby · Jan 17, 2011

Trax 2 Treadz said:
Hey Goodngrubby, have you stopped pimping Cross-Trax decks through innuendo and pm's? I'm assuming so. By the sounds of your comments you are looking for pricing on a Truck Boss, right? If so send us a pm.

Nope, my sales are still going strong, how about your's? Are people actually paying $4000 + for something you can't even haul 2 machines on? By the way, I wasn't bashing you in any way, it just stunned me that a person would have to pay extra to make a deck do its job. And as far as getting pricing on a Truck Boss...no thanks, I would sooner buy a Titan.

Trax 2 Treadz · Jan 17, 2011

goodngrubby said:
Nope, my sales are still going strong, how about your's? Are people actually paying $4000 + for something you can't even haul 2 machines on? By the way, I wasn't bashing you in any way, it just stunned me that a person would have to pay extra to make a deck do its job. And as far as getting pricing on a Truck Boss...no thanks, I would sooner buy a Titan.

It all depends on what job you intend the deck to do, it is a modular system and not intended solely for using to haul sleds around. Truck Boss is looking for a much broader market base. You can take as many or as few options as you want to get it to do what ever your intended purpose may be.
But seeing as you do not seem to want a Truck Boss how about a Bulldog deck? :beer:

Longhorn · Jan 17, 2011

Trax 2 Treadz said:
It all depends on what job you intend the deck to do, it is a modular system and not intended solely for using to haul sleds around. Truck Boss is looking for a much broader market base. You can take as many or as few options as you want to get it to do what ever your intended purpose may be.
But seeing as you do not seem to want a Truck Boss how about a Bulldog deck?

Are you carrying the Bulldog now??

Trax 2 Treadz · Jan 17, 2011

Longhorn said:
Are you carrying the Bulldog now??

Nope not yet.....but we heard their new deck is supposed to be pretty awesome!

Jan

Longhorn · Jan 17, 2011

Trax 2 Treadz said:
Nope not yet.....but we heard their new deck is supposed to be pretty awesome!

Jan

Keep me posted please Jan, looking for another and maybe 2.

Thanks
Brad

Canuk · Jan 18, 2011

*exert from a post made by Chelle on Snowest.

"....Anyone buying any deck should think about who makes it and who backs it up. We employ welders here to build our decks, not someone in China who works for a couple of yuan a day. We buy our raw material from domestic extruders and we support many other local businesses. Marathon is a deck designed and built by sledders for sledders. In additon to this we FULLY support the year-round motorsports industry."

I don't know what the facts are. Are the Boss decks built overseas now too? if so, then Marathon is no longer built by sledders, and maybe they are not for sledders anymore.

I'll keep my old marathon until it poops, then look elsewhere. Unless of course Marathon has a newer better mousetrap that will work for me and 2 sleds.

just my 2 cents.

JaySimon · Jan 18, 2011

I too see it disappointing that they no longer make the 'old' decks. I will be looking elsewhere when I'm in the market for a new deck. I like the idea of legs, and not paying 4000+ for a deck.

Trax 2 Treadz · Jan 18, 2011

The following was copied from the Truckboss website

TRUCKBOSS TRUCK DECKS - MANUFACTURING FACILITIES
Marathon is based in Edmonton, Canada and operates out of a 19,000 square foot industrial facility. Marathon has occupied the same building for 14 years, prior to that we were in an industrial park rebuilt after the Edmonton Tornado of 1987.

Our partner production facility is located in Minnesota; operating out of a 150,000 square foot ISO 9001:2008 certified plant. Minnesota is home to many related manufacturing facilities (including Arctic Cat and Polaris)—making TRUCKBOSS an excellent fit for industry in the area. TRUCKBOSS components are extruded, machined, anodized, injection-molded, assembled into modules, and packaged for shipping at our Minnesota plant. This retail-ready package is then shipped to our dealers in the USA or to our Canadian facility in Edmonton.

Vaughn @ Marathon Decks · Jan 18, 2011

maierch said:
My issue is more with the functionality of the deck. Small details like the tiny #4 self tapping screws that keep the side extensions from pulling right out of the sides of the deck, pins that are next to impossible to line up when moving the side extensions in and out because you cant see them. I also purchased the length extension which is a far cry from the former deck extension. It consists of two pieces of square tubing and a couple of pieces of angle with aluminum tubes bolted across them. There is a lot of flex on them so much that I don't think I will even attempt to run a quad up there. Also because of the configuration there is a great big gaping hole on the outsides of the deck where the side extensions meet the deck extension which make it a huge pain in the a$$ to unload sleds because the outside ski will fall into the hole.

All of the above issues have been resolved:
The mechanism that keeps the sides from pulling out of the deck (which none of the "classic" style decks had, btw) has been revamped and no longer relies on screws. It is also a lot more substantial, for those of you who like to yank things.

The locking pins/plates have been replaced by an internal system that is a lot easier to use and requires no lining-up of holes.

Maier, your deck extension should have come with 2x 20" tubes for each side to fill that gap (they slide in and out with the sides). If you didn't recieve them contact either your dealer or myself ( vaughn@marathondecks.com ) and I will send you a set. See pic below.

Truck decks / Sled decks

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