Motorcycle on tailgate

Hi all. I have a 2020 Tundra crewmax with the short bed. I bent my Tacoma tailgate putting my motorcycle with the rear tire on the tailgate. Has anyone put their bike in their Tunda and if so did it bend?

 

Welcome from SoCal. I believe there is a motorcycle/bikes hauling thread on here somewhere, check the search function. Throw up a post in the newmembers section when you can, and post some pics of your tundie.

 

Size of the bike will be a big factor here. I do remember a thread where somebody did the same thing with a 4 wheeler and bent/dented their tailgate. A piece of plywood spanning the gap to share the load with the bed would likely fix it for a quad, but if you've got a 600-800 pound bike... that's a lot of weight in a small area.

 

Good reason to not get a crew cab. These are trucks and need to do truck stuff. Not carry passengers around. If your passengers are your family they are not full size people. I have had my 2020 Tundra for 8mo and have not even put the rear seats down, even thinking of taking them out and making use of the space. The current configuration of the quad cab could be smaller to make the bed longer. I haul my dirt bikes and all I can fit with the gate up is 2. I would like to get 3, but no room for the bike but room for the rider. I do love my Tundra but It could be more truck and less fragile.
This is the truck I drive almost everyday. 66 F250 stroked 390 (410ci) 4sp mostly all original. That's my rant for a truck that will look like crap in 20 yrs.

 

Welcome from LA (Lower Alabama)! It seems modern tailgates aren't quite as strong as they used to be.

 

If you are worried about the weight on the tailgate because the bike's rear tire sits on tailgate, you can always get a 2" x 12" that is full length from front to rear tire to help spread out any weight centered on tailgate. I had hauled my heavy cruiser type bike, hundreds of miles like that in my short bed Chevy before getting a trailer. Used an additional 2" x 12" to facilitate the loading and sit is beside the bike as it was hauled. Just my two cents here

 

It depends on how much weight is on the rear wheel of the particular motorcycle and how many bumps you drive over. My son-in-law frequently carries his quad with the rear wheels on the tailgate of his Tundra with no problem, but the quad spreads the weight out to both sides of the tailgate. I never though about the tailgate itself bending but I always wonder about how much those two cables that hold the tailgate up can handle. I have had the cables fail from age and rust on my old Chevy crew cab.

 

Welcome

 

I have put numerous utility ATVs in the bed of my old Tacoma’s. Luckily I have not bent a tailgate but I broke the straps a few times. And this leads me to my point…either build yourself a bed carrier that bears the majority of the weight so the weight isn’t solely on the tailgate/straps. Or if feasible buy a quality trailer. Too many points of failure for my comfort level in all honesty especially for long or rougher roads to let that heavy of an item sit on the tailgate. Like I said OP I did when I was much younger but I got the same advice I gave you from my family. I have a DC but I still own a aluminum 5x8 trailer. Rarely use it with the DC but nonetheless it’s great to have especially with the smaller bed. By 2012 Tacoma had the midget bed and the trailer was priceless…

 

Thanks. I used a 2 x 12 on my Tacoma and from the responses I will be doing that here to be safe.

 

Now thats a REAL ford truck.

 

The tailgate is pretty light and will probably bend under the weight of the motorcycle. I've been running a Black Widow hitch rack rated to 600lbs for transporting my motorcycles and have been happy with it's performance.

 

Layed over several 55 gal drums of water by pushing them over onto the tailgate, kinda concerned the first time but it didn't bend. That was a significant impact too. Pretty stout. Lay a 2x12 strip from side to side to distribute the load if you want to be more cautious, that will certainly help.