Truck bed extender for variety of makes of vehicles

A truck bed extender mountable on different trucks having sidewalls on opposite sides of a truck bed, a tailgate pivotable at a lower edge along a pivot axis across the rear of the truck bed from a closed or latched position, tailgate latching pins extending towards one another from the truck sidewalls along an axis spaced at different distances from the pivot axis of the tailgate, and latches to receive and latch to the tailgate latching pins on opposite sides of the tailgate essentially the same distance from the tailgate pivot axis as the tailgate pivot pins, the truck bed extender comprising:

• a. first and second opposite sides each having fronts, backs, tops and bottoms;
• b. a rear side configured to span the backs of the first and second opposite sides;
• c. pin receivers at or near the fronts of the first and second opposite sides to releaseably connect to the tailgate latching pins of different trucks spaced at different distances from the tailgate pivot axis and hold the fronts of the sides of the truck bed extender against at least fore, aft, and lateral movement relative to the truck;
• d. pins at or near the bottoms of the first and second opposite sides to releaseably connect to the tailgate latches of different trucks spaced at different distances from the tailgate pivot axis and to hold the backs of the sides of truck bed extender against movement in any direction relative to the tailgate latches when the pins are latched to the tailgate latches, the pins at the bottoms of the first and second opposite sides are slideable over a range of distance for different tailgate latch positions on the tailgate, wherein each pin is on a tubular sleeve that slides along one of the first and second opposite sides;
• e. so that the truck bed extender can be mounted to trucks having a range of different spacings between tailgate pivot axis and tailgate latching pins and latches.

A truck bed extender for a truck having a truck bed, opposite truck bed sidewalls, and a rear downward hinging tailgate having opposite sides that generally align with the opposite truck bed sidewall and a tailgate hinge generally aligned with the truck bed, where the tailgate includes along each opposite side an original equipment latch which receives and latches to an original equipment pin spaced above the truck bed and extending inwardly from each opposite truck bed sidewall when the tailgate is hinged up against the truck bed sidewalls, comprising:

• a. first and second truck bed extender sidewalls each having a front, back, top, bottom, and opposite sides;
• b. a truck bed extender rear wall configured to span between the first and second truck bed extender sidewalls;
• c. plural pin receivers at the front of each truck bed extender sidewall each adapted to receive and capture a said original equipment pin on the truck bed sidewall and hold the truck bed extender sidewall at least against fore, aft, and lateral movement relative the truck bed;
• d. an adjustable pin at the bottom of each truck bed extender sidewall each adapted to simulate a truck bed sidewall pin and latch into a said original equipment latch on the tailgate, wherein the pin receivers comprise tail-gate pin capturing slots and the adjustable pin comprises a slideable tubular member and pin that slides along the bottom of the sidewall.