My real truck can haul my motorcycles w/ help of custom metal tailgate support and level struts

[mrchips0401]

Today I figured I would do a test and see what it would be like to haul one of my bikes. Granted my bikes are not as big as others have hauled but about as long.

I removed the Gator tri fold soft cover but left the bedrug mat in place. Next thing was to place metal struts that I had made to support the tailgate LEVEL (cables won't do that) because the short bed requires my motorcycle's rear wheel to sit on the tailgate. I had a 2002 Ford Sport Trac that also required that because it had a short bed too.

My Hybrid XLT Maverick payload it 1553 pounds including people and cargo. I use 2 long folding ramps, one to power the bike up into the bed and one for me to walk on to balance it at it goes up the other ramp. Getting a bike off does not require the bike running but I still use 2 ramps.

I tested my lightest (400 pounds) first, was a 1988 Honda Hawk GT650 (I also have an 89)that I have towed on a trailer and in my old Sport Trac. After loading and tying it down, I drove around the area for about 10 miles. The Maverick ran like nothing was in the back which I truly expected out of it.

When I got back home and unloaded the Hawk, I wanted to test my new (Last June) Honda 1100 Rebel DCT. It runs 502 pounds. I had never loaded it on a trailer or in a truck since I bought it. So, this was a FIRST. I parked it in the bed with at a little more angle because the wheelbase was about an inch longer. The rear tire rested close to center of the tailgate and closer to the right side. I did not tie it down and drive with it in the back. I can say that now I know that my little hybrid IS A TRUCK and can haul any of my 3 bikes.

Following writeup on tailgate support for hauling motorcycles (or loads) with tailgate level is copied from my other thread:

https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/forum/threads/tailgate-support-for-hauling-motorcycles-or-loads-with-tailgate-level.8510/

I had made a set for my Sport Trac because the short bed required my motorcycles to rest the bike's rear tire on the tailgate. These supports firmed that up and removed the weight on the cables. Commercial ones are available for some trucks but cost typically 99.00 a pair.

Today I build a set for my Maverick which I have not hauled a bike in yet but plan to do that soon. I will post a picture once I have a bike loaded.

I started with the same scrap 1/8-inch thick aluminum angle pieces from an Army Surplus store south of town that I had used before. I needed more so found more and paid 2.00 for each length of aluminum. I used 2 in this project.

Picture of support with bottom not attached gives you an idea that the tailgate will have to come up some for the bolt to line up. Once the bolt is out it is easy to align the holes. Yes, I made them so the tailgate will be level when in use. The factory straps will not be supporting any weight but still attached for safety.

These pictures show how I made the top attachment. They slide on then down prior to bolting the bottom in place. The bent over tang keeps the top part from moving toward the large end.

The bottom end has the top cut to clear the bed and duct tape on the inside to protect the paint when bolted in place by the one of the tailgate bolts that holds the tailgate latch in place. At star Allen head tool is required to remove the bolt and tighten it back down. The material was already narrowed at this end by the bolt but should still be plenty strong.

thanks! I like the idea of tailgate support bars (kudos for DIY)….curious if you used a front wheel chock up front?

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[BILLNOROVILLE]

thanks! I like the idea of tailgate support bars (kudos for DIY)….curious if you used a front wheel chock up front?

Thanks.

No chock up front. I did put a small piece of plywood between the front tire and the front of the bed. Some chocks I have had take up a lot of room when you have to put a bike in at an angle. Early on I used to have the kickstand down but now I let the tie downs hold the bike upright. Less impact to the bike over rough roads.

 

[nathan.wright]

If you do a search on Amazon for "Tailgate Support Bar". Many are advertised and list reasons for their usage. Mine only cost me 4.00 and some time not 99.00.

I don't know of any replacement cables available for the Maverick and if I were going to replace them, I would at least get a pair that holds the tailgate level with the bed as being a notable defect mentioned on the forum. My supports make the tailgate LEVEL with the bed, and I like that.

I think the factory supports would be strong enough and have no concerns there. The ability of the tailgate to pivot upward when hitting unseen potholes is not possible with my supports.

Apparently, you did not see the motorcycles resting on the tailgate loaded int the bed of the truck. My supports are not for loading or unloading but for a more solid support of the motorcycle. The tailgate sees the weight until the bike is unloaded.

The tailgate sees "SOME" of the weight when the bike is loaded, but not much, and will see the most loading when you are unloading and loading the bike dues to your ramp setup. Looking at your pictures I doubt the tailgate is going to bounce around when your bikes are loaded since your rear tire is over it. There may not be replacement cables, but if you can make this you could make custom cables, but like you said, I doubt the stock ones are not strong enough.

Reading the amazon description for these just makes me believe they are not needed like I thought. I could very well be wrong and this was in no way trying to say you are wrong, I was just trying to understand the reasoning as I have never seen anyone do this before, and I've been loading and unloading bikes, while maybe much less than you, all my life.

 

[BILLNOROVILLE]

I can appreciate your work making the supports. But what is the issue with slight downward tilt of tailgate?
My thought was they did this to compensate for for vehicle stance. That way peoples crockpots are level when plugged into the outlet.

Many on this forum (including me) do not like that the tailgate is not level with the bed and have shown the error (with pcitrues). It is real. What Ford does about it may be nothing.

As you know, Motorcycles want to roll on any non-level surface because they have round tires and will roll downhill. If my rear tire is 100% sitting on a downhill slop (like the non-level slanted down tailgate) and my front tire is on the level bed, then the rear wheel will want to roll backwards. I made it level with my supports because I think Ford should have made it level and I don't want extra force in the wrong direction.

Also, I don't think if I parked on level concrete that the truck's stance makes the tailgate level. Have you tried it? Until I actually do that, I think your idea about people's crockpots is a CROCK.

 

[Area51BS]

Many on this forum (including me) do not like that the tailgate is not level with the bed and have shown the error (with pcitrues). It is real. What Ford does about it may be nothing.

As you know, Motorcycles want to roll on any non-level surface because they have round tires and will roll downhill. If my rear tire is 100% sitting on a downhill slop (like the non-level slanted down tailgate) and my front tire is on the level bed, then the rear wheel will want to roll backwards. I made it level with my supports because I think Ford should have made it level and I don't want extra force in the wrong direction.

Also, I don't think if I parked on level concrete that the truck's stance makes the tailgate level. Have you tried it? Until I actually do that, I think your idea about people's crockpots is a CROCK.

One owner did post a crock pot plugged into the inverter.

 

[BILLNOROVILLE]

The tailgate sees "SOME" of the weight when the bike is loaded, but not much, and will see the most loading when you are unloading and loading the bike dues to your ramp setup. Looking at your pictures I doubt the tailgate is going to bounce around when your bikes are loaded since your rear tire is over it. There may not be replacement cables, but if you can make this you could make custom cables, but like you said, I doubt the stock ones are not strong enough.

Reading the amazon description for these just makes me believe they are not needed like I thought. I could very well be wrong and this was in no way trying to say you are wrong, I was just trying to understand the reasoning as I have never seen anyone do this before, and I've been loading and unloading bikes, while maybe much less than you, all my life.

I'm not sure why you say, "The tailgate sees "SOME" of the weight when the bike is loaded, but not much". Unless my Math is wacko, it says differently.

My Hawk has a 47.1%/52.9% distribution on weight (front tire/rear tire). That equals 194.05 pounds front/217.95 rear. The blue bike in the picture has the front tire 100% on the bed (194.5 pounds). The rear tire is 100% on the tailgate (217.95 pounds). Kickstand is up.

I can not find what the Rebel 1100 distribution is. But l will use 48%/52% somewhat like my Hawk. That puts 244.8 pounds on the front tire and 265.2 on the rear tire. If the rear tire is 100% sitting on the tailgate. You say, "not much", I say quite a bit.

Making a cable is far more involved that making what I made. I don't have the special ends needed to match the bed and tailgate attaching locations and I don't have the crimping tool to attach them. My supports were $4.00 and 2 hours of my time. Very cost effective.

Yes, I did say," I think the factory supports would be strong enough and have no concerns there". I did have a choice. I could have made my supports to be like the Ford cables (too long) and have a tilted tailgate or I could make the tailgate level. I chose to make it level.

Now you can say you actually have seen a pair in use. Doesn't mean you need a pair.

 

[More w/Les]

For those who wish to carry a motorcycle in the bed if their Maverick, you might want to check out this Forum thread:

motorcycle rear tire helper <https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/f...cycle-rear-tire-helper.1904/#convMessage-8804>

Procedure was developed for a 2017 Honda Ridgeline, and during the period of ownership, successfully carried a bike weighing about 500 pounds for over 10K miles. You might find some of the hardware shown, addresses a lot of bed/bike carry questions.

Loading the bike at a diagonal in the bed is an option, but not without some problems:

1. Loading/unloading the bike will take more time.
2. Once on the truck, bikes weighing between 400-500 pounds will require a lot of effort to get it in/out of that position.
3. You will effectively lose all visibility through the rear window and rear camera, thus needing to rely only on the side mirrors to see what is behind you. Not fun if you need to back into a tight spot.

 

[mrchips0401]

Thanks.

No chock up front. I did put a small piece of plywood between the front tire and the front of the bed. Some chocks I have had take up a lot of room when you have to put a bike in at an angle. Early on I used to have the kickstand down but now I let the tie downs hold the bike upright. Less impact to the bike over rough roads.

thanks

 

[BILLNOROVILLE]

For those who wish to carry a motorcycle in the bed if their Maverick, you might want to check out this Forum thread:

motorcycle rear tire helper <https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/f...cycle-rear-tire-helper.1904/#convMessage-8804>

Procedure was developed for a 2017 Honda Ridgeline, and during the period of ownership, successfully carried a bike weighing about 500 pounds for over 10K miles. You might find some of the hardware shown, addresses a lot of bed/bike carry questions.

Loading the bike at a diagonal in the bed is an option, but not without some problems:

1. Loading/unloading the bike will take more time.
2. Once on the truck, bikes weighing between 400-500 pounds will require a lot of effort to get it in/out of that position.
3. You will effectively lose all visibility through the rear window and rear camera, thus needing to rely only on the side mirrors to see what is behind you. Not fun if you need to back into a tight spot.

Link does not work and I tried to search and it says something is wrong. Can you provide more information?

You mentioned loading diagonal as an option but then listed some problems? To some, these could be problems but for most bikers I think not.
1. More time is not a problem. Putting on the struts, getting the ramps in place and loading the bike and tying it down for me is about 20-30 minutes. Not sure what your device above takes but I bet it's over 10 minutes.
2. Effort on level ground (or level bed) is quite easy to roll a bike and line it up with the ramps. Sure a 400 pound bike is a little easier than a 500 pound bike but I roll them around the garage all the time.
3. Most truck owners have had experience using just mirrors if they haul things in their trucks that block the back window's view. Actually, with my setup there is some visibility using the rearview mirror that shows traffic in the lane to my right near the back of my truck. As far as loosing that Backup camera, my first car with one was a 2016 Prius which makes it 52 years driving without one.

Disclaimer: Everyone is different. Experiences and budget's are different. What works for one may not work for another. You can only solve problems by time or money which in my case, I have more time.

 

[More w/Les]

Link does not work and I tried to search and it says something is wrong. Can you provide more information?

You mentioned loading diagonal as an option but then listed some problems? To some, these could be problems but for most bikers I think not.
1. More time is not a problem. Putting on the struts, getting the ramps in place and loading the bike and tying it down for me is about 20-30 minutes. Not sure what your device above takes but I bet it's over 10 minutes.
2. Effort on level ground (or level bed) is quite easy to roll a bike and line it up with the ramps. Sure a 400 pound bike is a little easier than a 500 pound bike but I roll them around the garage all the time.
3. Most truck owners have had experience using just mirrors if they haul things in their trucks that block the back window's view. Actually, with my setup there is some visibility using the rearview mirror that shows traffic in the lane to my right near the back of my truck. As far as loosing that Backup camera, my first car with one was a 2016 Prius which makes it 52 years driving without one.

Disclaimer: Everyone is different. Experiences and budget's are different. What works for one may not work for another. You can only solve problems by time or money which in my case, I have more time.

Clicking on the link works for me. You can also search the ‘Forums’ for ‘motorcycle rear tire helper’ thread.

At my age putting 500 pound bike on/off the truck by myself is hard enough. Don’t want to have to reposition it as well. Take a look at the info on the link, you might get some ideas you could use.

 

[BILLNOROVILLE]

Clicking on the link works for me. You can also search the ‘Forums’ for ‘motorcycle rear tire helper’ thread.

At my age putting 500 pound bike on/off the truck by myself is hard enough. Don’t want to have to reposition it as well. Take a look at the info on the link, you might get some ideas you could use.

Again, The link does not work when I click on it. When I search for "rear tire helper" it does not find anything but my thread. Is this a link to Facebook or another forum site? What is the thread title you are talking about? Maybe send it to me so I can search for by title.

I am 73 so I need loading my motorcycles to be pretty easy. I load my bikes the very same way I loaded them in my Ford Sport Trac I had for 12 years.

I walk up one ramp and balance the motorcycle as it's running engine with me at the controls powering it up the ramp. No pushing. Just little pauses so I can position myself up the ramp. When I get about 1-1/2 from front I turn the forks left. No repositioning. When I take it off, my truck is level or back end is slighly downhill. I turn the forks straight after backing the bike to the ramp and let gravity pull the bike as I balance it walking on the other ramp. I use the front brake to pace the bike rolling down the ramp and to reposition my footing going down.

 

[More w/Les]

Again, The link does not work when I click on it. When I search for "rear tire helper" it does not find anything but my thread. Is this a link to Facebook or another forum site? What is the thread title you are talking about? Maybe send it to me so I can search for by title.

I am 73 so I need loading my motorcycles to be pretty easy. I load my bikes the very same way I loaded them in my Ford Sport Trac I had for 12 years.

I walk up one ramp and balance the motorcycle as it's running engine with me at the controls powering it up the ramp. No pushing. Just little pauses so I can position myself up the ramp. When I get about 1-1/2 from front I turn the forks left. No repositioning. When I take it off, my truck is level or back end is slighly downhill. I turn the forks straight after backing the bike to the ramp and let gravity pull the bike as I balance it walking on the other ramp. I use the front brake to pace the bike rolling down the ramp and to reposition my footing going down.

Search the FORUMS page on this site for the thread, use exact wording as shown below.

motorcycle tire helper

You can also search for my content by clicking on my photo space. I’m 77, and have been licensed to ride since 1959, so this ain’t my first rodeo loading/unloading bikes.

 

[FakeCowboy]

Search the FORUMS page on this site for the thread, use exact wording as shown below.

motorcycle tire helper

You can also search for my content by clicking on my photo space. I’m 77, and have been licensed to ride since 1959, so this ain’t my first rodeo loading/unloading bikes.

I want you to know that your thread was nuked or something because it no longer exists on the forums. I have searched your posts, I have gone through and read them and you did post a link to the thread you're referencing and it says the content is no longer available.

 

[BILLNOROVILLE]

Search the FORUMS page on this site for the thread, use exact wording as shown below.

motorcycle tire helper

You can also search for my content by clicking on my photo space. I’m 77, and have been licensed to ride since 1959, so this ain’t my first rodeo loading/unloading bikes.

I think I found in the thread "Spacer lift VS spring lift" your post #10 where you talk about a hitch attachment that goes up to the bead removing weight from the tailgate. Is this the Motorcycle tire helper you are talking about?

The
problem with it is it is more expensive to make and my hybrid XLT truck's hitch has I think a 200 pound tongue weight which is far less than the tailgate but I understand how your hitch could help if hitch had a greater rating than mine.

 

[More w/Les]

My bad, what can I say other than it was too late for me to be trying to do anything, especially anything that involved using my brain and an electronic device at the same time.

The thread name should be: motorcycle rear tire helper
Participants: Sleepyalero & More w/Les Start date: Tuesday at 5:21 PM

Think you should be able to find it using the thread name or looking for posts, or by either of the participants names.

Know it's early so hope my brain is functioning more coherently.

After several requests for more information from various sites, I’ve complied and updated all of my postings into a PDF file, which is attached. {hope it shows up}

Powered motorcycle loading/unloading system for a pickup truck. Originally designed for a 2017 Honda Ridgeline, being converted for use on a 2022 Ford Maverick.

Project is about 95% complete, but still working out the final details. Taking it slow, measuring twice and cutting once.

My location near upstate SC, if you plan on being in the area, would be glad to let you see how it's put together. Ping me direct to set up a contact time.

Please realize my postings are not intended as a ‘Government Style’ edict to do it this way, rather they are just to give folks some different ideas of other ways to do things, or imparting information that could be helpful.

I’m sure any positive comments and/or ideas anyone would like to express would be appreciated by all. However if you only wish to criticize and/or belittle please keep your comments to yourself. We all get too much of that in the public arena as it is. Many put great effort into gaining knowledge, and freely pass it on for others to use. A civil response is the least that we can do when responding. Please remember the information you may glean from other folks postings is worth exactly what you paid.

In my case, age, two total knee replacements, six heart stents and numerous other physical, and some say mental, maladies necessitate making things safe and simple. Considering my limitations, I can still setup/takedown and load/unload my motorcycle in 30 min or less. Being able to do this allows me to continue riding in more distant locations. Also have a trailer, but only have one bike now, however this system is much more convenient if you just need to carry one bike. It also allows you to carry at least 3 bikes if you use a trailer.

Don’t have a family to provide for, or spend a lot money on other activities. May be a shade tree engineer/mechanic, but don’t like doing things halfassed, that and riding are what keeps me going.

Guess you have heard the old saying {PC version}:

“The smart person learns from their mistakes. . . . .
. . . . . .The wise person learns from the mistakes of others.”

Well, at at this stage of my life, I’m as smart as I want to be!

Les / aka: lesmeister & hpdl (herr professor doktor lesmeister)

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