Lock ATV's in Truck Bed

[TurboT]

Hi Guys,

Looking for some opinions here.

My wife will be taking the truck to Calgary, with an overnight stop with the kids in a hotel. She wants to take the Quads, but I'm concerned about leaving them in the back of a truck overnight unattended.

Does anyone have suggestions on how to secure the quads in the back of the truck?

My truck does not have full loop tie downs, they are open at each end. Any reasonable chain will not go through the small opening in the middle of the hooks. I had thought of perhaps bike cable, but these are usually only in 6ft lengths.

Any suggestions barring a 2000 canopy are appreciated. :)

[Cal25]

Make it more difficult for any potential thief. Chain the quads together if there is more than one. That way they have to be moved as a unit that is heavier, un rollable and such.

Cover them up.

[TeamCheap]

So i'm guessing you dont want to drill holes in your truck anywhere and put a big solid loop on it.

Do like Cal said and chain them together and cover them up so they are not on display for all to see.

Try to get a room on the ground floor where you can park backed right up to the hotel room.

An empty gun rack in the back window might also be a deterent :lol: .

I always hated leaving the toys exposed in the truck thats why we got that plain jane enclosed trailer.
(it could be full of toys or it could be full of toilet paper--they never really know :lol: :lol: )

[TurboT]

I like that gun rack idea! :)

I'm not real happy with her doing this, I would prefer her to drive straight there, but a lot to ask of her with two little kids.. it is an 11 hour drive.

I don't really want to be drilling into the truck as you mentioned.

I think what I am going to do is use chain AND the thick bike cable. Will wrap chain around the quads, then loop the bike cable through the links and through the small space on the tie down hooks on the truck. That way they'll have to fight the chain and the cable. Make it as noisy and tough as possible to get them out of there.

[katoranger]

Make it difficult and they will pass.

[Weldangrind]

I like that gun rack idea! :)

I'm not real happy with her doing this, I would prefer her to drive straight there, but a lot to ask of her with two little kids.. it is an 11 hour drive.

I don't really want to be drilling into the truck as you mentioned.

I think what I am going to do is use chain AND the thick bike cable. Will wrap chain around the quads, then loop the bike cable through the links and through the small space on the tie down hooks on the truck. That way they'll have to fight the chain and the cable. Make it as noisy and tough as possible to get them out of there.

That was my thought. Another option is a cheap canopy on Craigslist; they're very often free.

[katoranger]

I see alot of cheap ones or sometimes free. Just put it on when you need it and then take it off.

Allen

[TurboT]

I did take a look through CL for canopies yesterday. The only one I found was a direct match in color and length, and was $600 bucks. I was tempted since it was a Leer and probably a 2000 new sticker, and I called but it was sold already.

...I also missed out on a $75 running 110cc quad, but that's another story.

[AZ200cc]

Take the wheels off.

[phil]

harbor freight sells cables of several sizes i use one and pad lock it to the 5th wheel safety chain loops. you could maybe run it through the crack in the tailgate and go to the frame and bumper, or maybe a long shank pad lock through the holes for the bedrail if you have them.

[TurboT]

Well I wrapped what seemed like 100 ft of chain around them, and then padlocked the chain into the truck bed through the middle of the tie down hooks. (These look like boat ties with two open ends) It'll certainly be noisy as all heck to undo.

My wife tells me in the parking lot of the hotel she is at it is full of trailers with atvs, dirt bikes and boats... so hopefully if any upright rats are around they will go for the Honda's and Yamaha's first!

Thanks all for your suggestions...

[katoranger]

They may just go for the truck.

[TurboT]

They may just go for the truck.

You know through all of this that occured to me too. "well, we won't get these out of here now, so let's just break the window and take the hole thing.."

At least the truck would be insured however the quads not so much.

Anyhow, it survived the night and she's back on the road again. Now I don't have to worry about it until she comes back in 1.5 weeks.

[katoranger]

Halfway there.

[Weldangrind]

I presume your truck has A/C, otherwise your wife will be cursing your name. This is an awesome time of year for a drive to Calgary. Did she make it as far as Revelstoke last night?

[TurboT]

Haha yes it has A/C thank goodness. She made it to Golden which was her plan, pretty long day but an easier one to Calgary today, although she said there was a lot of construction delays today.

She made it safely and bought shares in the oil companies. :)

[katoranger]

The working AC was a big plus in when I bought the ranger. You use it here in GA from about March to November.

Allen

[TurboT]

I don't know if I could live down there and survive without A/C everywhere. :) I don't care for the heat much.

It's been pushing 40 celcius here before humidity factor and it's too hot for me. I can't imagine how that would be with no a/c, for 8 hours in the car with two whiney rhinos in the back seat!

[katoranger]

It is hot for me. I am from the midwest so more use to cold.

Allen

[TurboT]

Yeah I hear you! We've had some strange weather the past year.

The winter was quite cold. Hit -20 C and lots of snow, which is rare for us. I know you're thinking, "what, Canada?" but I'm on the wet coast so it normally just rains like Seattle.

So we go from -20 and tons of snow to +40 in the matter of 6 months it's a bit odd.

[katoranger]

converted to Fahrenheit -4 to 104 degrees. Quite an extreme. It has been about 90 (32 celcius) here for the past month and half. Humid too.

I don't mind the winter though. Usually stays above freezing.

Allen

[TurboT]

Yes, I just read our 'normal' temperature should be 22-23 C...and our winters are usually in the 0 - 12 range. Mother nature is kicking us this time around.

Now we're getting the bad air quality too, smog and stuff. Damn mountains. :)

I like the winter more too, you can always put more clothes on to get warm, but there is only so much you can take off to function in the summer. :)

Give me a cold night, a fireplace and a good hockey game anytime, EH! :) :)

[Weldangrind]

A cold beer and a lawn chair after a warm day of riding has it's merits.

We're so fickle in Western Canada. It's too hot! It's too cold! It's too windy! It's too humid! It's too rainy! It's too dry! We sound like a bunch of Saskatchewan farmers. :D Just kidding, my Saskatchewan friends; that's where my heritage comes from.

[TurboT]

A cold beer and a lawn chair after a warm day of riding has it's merits.

We're so fickle in Western Canada. It's too hot! It's too cold! It's too windy! It's too humid! It's too rainy! It's too dry! We sound like a bunch of Saskatchewan farmers. :D Just kidding, my Saskatchewan friends; that's where my heritage comes from.

Hey chap I'll be the first one to tell you I never bitch about the rain and the cold. :) I like riding and hard to do in the snow but this heat just knocks me down.

I think it's because I spent so much time in that damn engine shop. No A/C, jet clean machine and hot tanks running all day billowing out heat and steam, it's 40 damn degrees in there by 930am. It has completely ground out my love of summer.

[TeamCheap]

I feel blessed since the weather here has been mild .....well actually very pleasant.
Some warm days, a little rain but no scorchers yet but I am concerned about that extreme HOT weather making its way here as I have lots of work to do and the extreme heat just stops me in my tracks.

After working outside all day the last thing I'll do is sit around with no A/C.