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Hauling bike in back of pickup.

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paulb5

Member
Anybody haul their Road King in the back of a Ford \ Chev with a 5' 6" box? Any concerns about the tire riding on the tailgate? Looking to upgrade my truck and am worried I won't be able to haul my bike in the shorter box.
 
I had a Toyota 1982 longbed 4 cylinder which I used to haul around my 86 FXR. The back wheel had to ride on the tailgate because I had a toolbox on the rails up by the cab. Never had a problem.

My next pickup was also a Toyota 4 cylinder, but a 1998. The first time I loaded the FXR into the truck, I could see the metal panel on the tailgate flexing, and after hitting one small bump, I found a large dent in the tailgate.

Found out later that the newer tailgates were made much thinner and simply couldn't hold much weight.

Moral of the story: it's not just the cables you have to worry about.
 
Just be sure your front fender clears the front of the box. I pulled my old Deluxe into a pickup and did not think about this and just cleared it, by less than a inch. LUCKY. In my short box Chevy, my tire sat right on the box / tailgate seam. I had zero problem.
 
I use a Rampage bike lift. It extends my bed lenght and power pulls the bike in with a winch
 
I could build a some sort of support or rail that the bike rides on top of allowing the weight to be evenly distributed along the trucks box. I still would like to hear if anybody uses the shorter box on a full size ford or chev and if they have any problems.

thanks for all the replies.
 
I hauled my '08 Ultra in the bed of a '95 dodge dakota, rear wheel on the taigate (with only 1 lanyard) about 20 miles. No problem
 
Put an 8ft. 2x10 plank under the wheels then you don't have to worry
 
I have a Chevy 6' pick up and just replaced the cables on the tailgate for this reason.Check the cables carefuly before loading your pride and joy.All the weight will land on the gate first.Throw a 4 bye 8 piece of plywood down to help with the weight on the tailgate.
 
Here is a great write-up of loading in a pickup from Mocc over on the Roadking delphi boards. His truck is longer but if you use the plywood plank it should help distribute the weight on your tailgate.

Truckin
 
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