Man Builds a 19-Foot Tower on His Truck and Tries To Drive It With RopesMotorBiscuitRahaan MazumderTue, September 15, 2026 at 11:30 AM UTCAdd us on GoogleWhen it comes to modifying trucks, most enthusiasts stop at a simple lift kit or some larger tires. But YouTube creator Carson Schiess—the same mastermind who recently went viral for strapping a swinging concrete wrecking ball to his back bumper—decided his pickup needed something much, much taller.In a hilarious, anxiety-inducing stunt, Schiess built a massive metal "crow's nest" in the bed of his old blue pickup and successfully steered the vehicle down the road from 19 feet in the air using nothing but a makeshift rope-and-pulley system."You know what's better than riding 19 ft in the air? Driving 19 ft up in the air," Schiess proudly declared at the start of his video.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe engineering behind this terrible idea was surprisingly simple. Schiess wrapped two long ropes tightly around the truck's steering wheel in opposite directions. He ran those ropes out the windows, through pulleys mounted on the doors, and straight up 19 feet into his precarious metal tower.To turn right, he pulled the left rope. To turn left, he pulled the right.To get the truck moving without a remote throttle, Schiess shifted the truck into "four-low, first gear". With the truck locked in a slow, steady idle crawl, he simply ran to the back, climbed up the 19-foot ladder while the truck was moving, and grabbed the reins.The initial test in an empty dirt lot was an undeniable success. "Look at the tires moving, them tires moving," he cheered as he successfully navigated the slow-moving vehicle.A Hilarious Run-In with the Forest ServiceInevitably, taking a 19-foot-tall, rope-steered contraption out onto public dirt roads was going to attract some attention. Almost immediately, Schiess ran directly into a Forest Service vehicle.AdvertisementAdvertisementLooking absolutely baffled by the massive metal tower, the officer asked, "You using it for anything or just…?""Just I'm messing around," Schiess confessed from the ground. "Going to steer up there, just sticking it for four-low, first gear, and go around the circle."The Forest Service officer simply stared at the setup. "I don't know what the legality of that is, but that's pretty wild," he responded before letting Schiess continue his bizarre experiment.The High-Speed Test: "Holy Sh*t"While the slow-speed crawl was manageable, Schiess eventually decided the vehicle "definitely can handle more speed".Because he couldn't shift gears from the crow's nest, he enlisted his brother to sit in the driver's seat and operate the clutch and gas, while Schiess maintained absolute control of the steering ropes from the top of the tower.AdvertisementAdvertisementAs his brother accelerated and shifted gears, the ride went from a "peaceful stroll" to a terrifying ordeal. The heavy ropes cut off the circulation in Schiess's hands as he desperately fought the steering wheel's feedback. Because he was standing 19 feet in the air, the truck's body roll was aggressively magnified, violently throwing him against the metal railing."Holding on is the hardest fucking part of this whole thing," he yelled as the truck bounced down the dirt road. "God damn it's fucking terrifying".To make matters worse, Schiess's elevated position put him directly in the firing line of low-hanging tree branches. The high-speed test ended in chaos as he took multiple branches directly to the face. "I've got like pine needles in my mouth, and I can't spit them out cuz my helmet's in the way," he complained.Ultimately, the ropes tangled around the steering wheel, forcing his brother to grab the physical wheel in the cab to prevent the truck from careening into the forest.AdvertisementAdvertisementDespite nearly tipping over and losing circulation in his fingers, Schiess called the steering mechanism "very successful". He is currently considering taking the project a step further by fully integrating remote brakes, a throttle, and a gear shifter to the top of the 19-foot tower.
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