Ducati Monster Forum

Just traded my 6' bed, 03 Tacoma for a 5' bed, 09 Dual Cab Tacoma.

I had ridden the Monster to the dealer before I handed over the cash and I could tell that the bike would fit in the truck but I could also tell that the rear tire would be on the tailgate. In my old truck it was on the bed. I could not close the tailgate but could lift it up some. No bike weight at all on it.

So I bought the truck and measured at home with a tape measure. It will fit but the rear wheel will be about mid point of the tailgate.

It seems Tacomas are notorious for having weak tailgates. (read this on a Tacoma forum).Some guys beef up their tailgates, other put the bike in sideways.

Any FHE on loading a monster sideways in a Tacoma? Any on loading it straight in with the rear tire on the tailgate?

My mechanic is nearly 300 miles from my home and I don't want to carry the bike with the rear tire on the tailgate if it is even a bit iffy...

Any FHE stories, info, suggestions appreciated.

Got a good deal on the truck and carry more passengers than bikes so that is why I am dealing with this question now...

If it's at all iffy, I'd put the bike in sideways, or "cattycorner". In my truck, I can load the bike straight in to one side of the bed, tie it down in front, and lift and slide the rear end over to the other side of the bed, and tie it down.
But I am an exceptionally strong, not to mention handsome and witty fellow.
Obviously, YMMV. ;D

There will not be enough weight from the bike to do any damage to the tailgate.

cant speak for the toyo..... but I'm sure it's not much different for my Nissan

(http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t180/bobspapa/003-3.jpg?t=1241401104)

No worries with the tailgate or fitting a bike in dbl cab Tacoma. I'm not a contractor, but I do use the bed of my truck to haul some heavy junk. No problems or even a hint that the tailgate would fail. I'd recommend drilling in some forward hooks rather than using the adjustable oem ones.

I drove the bike home 2 hours (backroads) with no problem.

Zam

(http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq165/caymanzam/DSCF4844.jpg)

(http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq165/caymanzam/DSCF4845.jpg)

Oh yeah, if you have a bed extender, leave it at home. It won't fit over the rear wheel and you'll have to squeeze it in the cab. No biggie by yourself, but your passengers won't be pleased.  [moto]

If you are worried about caving your tailgate, put a piece of plywood on the floor of the bed.   Cut it off even with the end of the tailgate. 

Unless you bolt it to the floor of the pickup it won't add any support.

You might get away with it for a while but they are known to fail.  I wouldn't trust my bike on it.

I belive you are wrong. I have done it numerous times. The weight of the bike is disrtibuted accross the bed, it's not all on the tailgate. If that was the case, it would fail on the way in.

Multiple street bike trips in my 2000 Tacoma with the wheel on the tailgate. Multiple trips with two bikes. Multiple trips with three dirt bikes and gear. Never an issue with the tailgate.

Not so much support he's looking for with this,  I'm thinking he's trying to spread out the load instead of it caving in the center of the tailgate where the wheel is making contact now you're spreading the weight of the bike over more of the area and it shouldn't fail.

This is a cheap and easy way to add insurance if you're still worried about damage, my bike spends a lot of time on the tailgate although I have a Dodge but from what I hear the Tacoma's are built better, I haven't had any problems.

I think he is worried about the cables failing and the tailgate falling down, my 95 S-10 had the same issue when I was getting ready to load the bike one day.  Thankfully I was standing on it when the cables failed and the bike was no where near it.  (hit my back a bit but no damage to the bike) 

I would suggest getting your own replacement cables made with ones that are a bit thicker.

1" plywood will add the necessary insurance if it is cut to the dimensions of the bed + tailgate.  As long as it is under the front wheel and the bike is tied down it is an excellent, cheap, easy, form of insurance.  Paint it and you will look like a genius  8)

The Chevy Avalanche I own had a recall because the cables would corrode inside the plastic shroud.  Many people were hurt (or worse) while loading bikes and atvs. 

I did some research and found a company that made replacement stainless steel arms to replace the cables.  The website was vrstraps.com at the time, not working for me now.

Now I ride my 650lb + Brute Force 750 up the ramp with piece of mind.  Rear wheels sit on the tailgate.  Ive driven over a dozen four hour trips plus miles of rutty logging roads.

Ill see if I can find the link.

Maybe you could get an extra ramp and park the bike on top of it  [thumbsup]

i have a doublecab/short-bed tacoma and i've had no tailgate issues with either of my bikes (monster and gsxr) loaded w/ the tailgate down.

what i will say, though, is that i don't completely trust the tiedown cleats by themselves for holding a bike in place during transport. i've seen pics of those things ripped out of the rails.

yeah, i transported by bikes with 'em for a year or so and didn't have any issues, but i was always a little concerned.

honestly, the main issue is the lack of forward tiedown points/d-rings on the floor of the bed. you can buy an additional set or just relocate your rear d-rings to the front.

i ended up buying a baxley sportchock to support the bike and then use tiedowns to the cleats to support the bike. someday i'll get around to adding the forward d-rings.

note that the sportchock actually puts the rear wheel more in the center of the tailgate and i still have no issues.

http://www.merchant-automotive.com/vrstainlesstailgatestraps.aspx (http://www.merchant-automotive.com/vrstainlesstailgatestraps.aspx)

very timely thread for me...   was thinking of getting an extended cab for this very reason, but i'd really prefer the full size crew cab.  if i can fit the bike in a short bed, done deal!

I don't own a Tacoma but when I was looking for info on putting motorcycles in my cousin's truck I found lots of horror stories on 2005+ Tacoma trucks and tailgate failures. 

They are very weak.  Toyota even acknowledged the problem but will only fix them after they fail.

Use the tailgate at your own risk.

i have 2 trucks and neither give me probs when i haul the bike. i have a 97 f150 reg cab with a tool box in the back and an 08 f150 super crew. neither truck has given me issues when i load up the bike to go visit friends in ok or to the dealer. yes the rear tire sits about mid way on the tailgate on the 97 but like i said no probs and i use it more often than the new one. amazingly people have a tendency not to leave door dings in it.

Rent/buy/borrow a trailer? Easiest way to go.
Not so scary to load/unload. I'm a wimp.

...but, depending on where you live, may take significantly longer to get to your destination.

california, for one, has a statewide 55mph limit for vehicles w/ trailers.

Yeah and sooooooooooooooooooooo many people follow that...

Thanx for the input but I'm still not sure what to do.

The trailer is out...One of the main reasons I have had pick-ups is to haul an occasional bike. Prior to my last Tacoma I had an '88' 4-Runner. Great vehicle but I had to rent a trailer when I wanted to haul a bike...Pain in the butt.

The plywood where the front wheel and rear wheels sit on it makes sense to me. As someone said, "spreads the load" I am not a degreed engineer but it makes sense.

A guy on a Toyota forum fabricated an aluminum diamond plate to replace the plastic cover on his tailgate. I PMed him for details but he never answered. I think 1/8" plate would really strengthen the tailgate and it didn't look bad either but I actually like the look of the plastic bed plus it is an expense and a job to layout, fabricate and install.

Nice to know that the stock tie downs can be weak. Shouldn't be a big deal to install 2 "D" rings in the front of the bed...should have come that way from the factory.

I've got to get about 1500 more miles on the Monster till it needs it's 18K service. So (as chilly & rainy as it has been around here lately) I'll have some time to decide.

I have an '08 Tacoma longbed.   I've transported 1 bike, 2 bikes, and 4 bikes(via 2 in the bed and 2 in a trailer).  I've had no problems at all, but I did make a few changes to the bed to add a bit of peace of mind when transporting.

I added 3 D-rings to the front of the bed to avoid using the cleat rails which are in my opinion not the best to strap a moto to.  The 3rd D-ring in the front lets me load 2 bikes with ease.  I'll probably add another D-ring to the rear of the bed to give more tie down options when loading. 

I use wheel chocks to aid in loading and securing the bike(s) while in transit.

I can't really comment on the tailgate issues since my 848 fits in the bed without sitting on the gate.  When I do have 2 bikes in the bed, the 2nd bike's rear wheel is right on the seam between the gate and the bed (I have my chocks offset to avoid clip-ons from clashing).

I have yet to have problems with the tailgate, but I'm not loading much on it.

(http://[url=https://lh5.ggpht.com/_om0JErZHvOU/SghmIGd0_1I/AAAAAAAAF-4/1HarwxtKW8w/s800/IMG_5148.JPG]https://lh5.ggpht.com/_om0JErZHvOU/SghmIGd0_1I/AAAAAAAAF-4/1HarwxtKW8w/s800/IMG_5148.JPG[/url])


One person loading is a beautiful thing.

LOL!  Come on now Will........if he paints it, it'll get extra slick, esp. if it gets wet.........he'll be fine with the wheel on the tailgate.  They plywood would be fine too, but there is no point in doing so.

yup... i can load and unload my tacoma solo w/ a step stool.

sorry for the delay.  had an issue and while i was at the dealer for it i talked to one of the guys there that happened to have same model type truck and uses it for bike loading and said no worries at all transporting one bike.  loaded mine up the day before and went from the ct shore to nh for a track day.  the 3/4 plywood gave me the opportunity to have a cheap wheel chock to make sure the front did not dance (heard of that happening to others). 
(http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q244/oldschoollion/truckduc2.jpg)
(http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q244/oldschoollion/truckduc.jpg)
(http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q244/oldschoollion/truckduc3.jpg)

overkill

Colin Hay - Overkill (Live Acoustic) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuXLElEDEKI&feature=related#lq-lq2-hq-vhq)

I realize this is an old post, but...

Keep an eye on that tailgate hinge. I had the tailgate of a Titan at my last job fall off due to a failed hinge. I don't remember the exact details, but I think some kind of pin fell out on one side, which allowed the whole tailgate to drop off.

when doing something, you can choose to work with a member of two families.  you can go with an O'Verkill, or an O'Shite.

then again, the same can be said of the engineering and maintenance schedule of our motorcycle of choice.

This is the first I've heard of any tailgate issues.  If it were my truck I'd take a long term permanent approach and fix the hinges, support or weld a 2" pipe to the top of the gate or whatever it is that is the cause of the problem.  That way you won't have to mess with plywood (the plywood is a good idea, it's just another complication and another thing to have to store somewhere).

I have an '86 Toyota pickup and I've used the tailgate for a ramp to load a mini-excavator on the truck, a very small mini-excavator but still...it's a shame that Toyota seems to be getting influenced by the "make it cheaper, not better and build it to sell, not to use" philosophy.

If Toyota finally relents and fixes the problem trucks when they fail, there is a factory bulletin on it somewhere.  Service Mgr. at a good dealership would know the fix or could find out. 

I would mimic their fix.

To just fit extra cables to the tailgate would keep a failure from being a failure and the front straps will stay taught if the tail gate falls a little.  I usually strap a bike at four points too.

Tailgate in my old Datsun or my old s10 is loaded the same way.  I always thought it was normal really.

Sounds like the OldMan is putting some miles on the bike, specially considering how close to the Arctic Circle he is.

LA