I assumed that, you said he made a face, I thought there were serious safety concerns, run it past him, I think it to be true.
LOL! I cut 3" off of my uprights so I could drive into my garage… I also made a couple of PVC crossbars for the bed of my truck, that I slide foam block kayak carriers onto and strap the kayaks down to my tie off points in the bed. I only put the kayaks up on top now if I haul more than two or am going a pretty good distance.
I can put up to.14’ 6" in the bed. I posted that picture. The 175 has to go on the ladder rack.
You are the one driving around with all that junk in your truck! I’ve seen my share of decapitated people and I think what you do is even worse than what I do. 
I bet if you took a vote, most people would agree.
Most people ain’t me.
You should always do a little cross check in case you could be wrong 
Think in terms of probability and you will conclude you are at higher risk than me using a step up.
On its face perhaps, given a superficial analysis, but what can not be figured in is the ability to assume 10X the risk of the norm.