Trukin' the RX3, light enough for your trucks tailgate?
 

I'm not sure we have enough people that transport their RX3's on a pickup but if you do, can you list your truck's model and year? Do you load with the tailgate on? Do both wheels fit in the bed? If not where have you driven with the rear wheel resting on the tailgate?

I've heard of tailgates snapping cables or "taco"ing in but some of these people tried loading up heavy cruisers. I can't take my tailgate off without messing around with wiring from a backup camera.

My brother and I hauled a pair of RX3's from the Oregon coast to the Sacramento area in a shortbed Ford F150. If I remember correctly, we tied the tailgate up against the rear tires (about a 45' angle I think). No problems at all.
I had a pic here somewhere but it got deleted when I dumped my folder.
I wouldn't have thought twice about having both rear tires sitting on the tailgate though.

I haven't carried my RX-3 in the bed of my RAM 1500, but I did buy a $120 hitch carrier from Cycle gear and have many hundreds of miles of problem free travel. You may want to check with your truck manufacturer as to the weight limits they allow on your tailgate.

03 Ford Ranger with RX3 in back , tailgate down. 4 tie downs. Round trips From Walla Walla, Wa to Yosemite and another trip WW to CSC in Asuza for the Baja ride. Works like they are made for one another, usually need help pushing the RX3 up into the back though since it's 2x my weight. rj

Supposedly truck manufacturers (some at least) purposely don't rate their tailgates for liability reasons. Unfortunately mine is one of em :(

What about putting in U-shaped rail the length that the bike will be in the tailgate with a condor wheel chock up front. Firstly that will help hold the bike up while you strap it but the u-rail would take the load off the tailgate. It would be like my motorcycle trailer which is a thin single rail unit but with just the rail and wheel chock in the back of the truck. I'd think getting that put together wouldn't cost much money. There is even an inexpensive wheel chock available at Harbor Freight. Here is my trailer for a visual: https://www.stingertrailer.com/produ...lding-trailer/

Other option is do you get the back wheel off the tailgate if you put the bike in the back diagonally?

Just a couple of crazy ideas!

Joe

I have done it with numerous bigger bikes with the rear wheel on the dropped tailgate.
You would be nowhere near the load limit.

I was just thinking about that. The RX3 weighs 385. Just say the weight is evenly distributed between both wheels. That's 190 lbs per wheel.

My buddy Big Dave is 435 and sits on my Chevy tailgate all the time because he crushes our lawn chairs.

My 2000 Chevy was the one with the defective gate cables which they replaced. Had a cousin sit on one and pow, fat ass jokes all around:lmao:

Those cables were rusting inside the cable braid.

I was thinking about cobbling something together out of some solid quality 2x4's. That way it's unappealing to steal and I don't have to drill through my truck bed.

I'd be gone from the truck for many hours at a time. If they steal my wooden contraption I'd be flattered ^_^

Rachet straps. One hook around lock pin and the other on the locking mechanism on tailgate.

I've loaded several 5-600lbs bikes using ramps. Never been an issue with the tail gate (04 ram 2500). I use one to walk up, and one to 'ride' the bike up (using the engine to drive it up). Two motorcycle tie downs from the cleats to the handle bars is all that's needed, but I like one in the rear wheel to keep it from hopping around. Also, I use long folding ramps that I lock in the truck when away.

Is so danger!
 

Finally got brave enough to run it up a ramp. Aside from a motorcycle ramp I bought a nice 1 foot(ish) wide plank and dropped some grip tape on it. So glad I went with a wide walk up ramp. The stock PreRunner Tacoma is too high and I literally need to get a running start otherwise the bike would die half way. No way I could've done this with a step stool. I ran a ratcheting strap along the bottom of the tailgate during load up to help prevent a tacoed tailgate Tacoma.

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