Has anyone used this ramp to load their bike to their pick-up bed?motorcycleramps.com/dresser_ramp.htm I'm concerned that the weight of my RK could put a permanent bow in my Tundra's tailgate. The ramp itself is strong enough to handle the weight but the tailgate seems to be the weak link. Any advice?

 

How about bolting a sheet of 3/4" plywood to the bed and let it overlap the tailgate. 2 bolts to hold it on place and it would take some of the strain off the tailgate. Easy enough to remove when finished.

 

Your tailgate straps (cables) are not designed to support that kind of weight.

 

I've routinely loaded my BMW bikes in the bed of my Tacoma 4x4, which is considerably smaller than your Tundra. My K1200RS weighs about 600 pounds and has never been a problem.

I've not yet had occasion to load my Road King in my truck, but I can't imagine your Tundra - a very strongly-built truck - wouldn't easily handle it. Hell, the picture on the web site shows the fellow riding his dresser into a full-size pickup.

 

No way your tailgate is going to bend and the only way your tailgate cables will break is if they are bad. If the bike is to big for your truck bed be careful of leaving the rear tire on the tailgate as this can bend the tailgate do to small surface area (tire) on one spot applying pressure.

 

BTW, if you do any amount of carrying your bike in your pickup, give a thought to this wheel chock - makes riding into the bed of the pickup and stowing the bike by yourself a breeze. A little pricey, but highly recommended.

http://www.baxleycompanies.com/LAChock.html

 

I haven't been able to convince myself that loading a 800lb, $20,000+ motorcycle that is nearly 8' long into a 6'6" pickup bed that's 3' off the ground is a good idea. I know guys that do it, and I know a couple of guys that regret doing it.

I bought a jetski trailer off Ebay and reworked it to haul 2 dressers with ease. We ride them most everywhere, but have occasion to trailer them to service. Did so just yesterday - they went to be dyno'd about 100 miles up the road. I had other things to do in the area, so we trailered them up and left the trailer at the shop, drove around in the truck, finished our errands and returned to the dyno guy's shop. Hitched up, loaded and came home.

I own a ramp like you are looking at, and the arch in mine wasn't sufficient to avoid dragging the jiffy stand when I had the trailer set up about 2' high. After breaking two jiffy stand springs, I flipped the trailer axle and lowered the trailer. Now it works great.

If you use that style ramp, be prepared to set up where you can put the truck in a low spot. My advice is to buy, borrow or rent a trailer - but that's just me.

 

If you bought it and it failed I know some lawyers who would love to take your case.

 

I have the same ramp and I used it to load my dresser into my '07 dodge ram 4X4. I did like others suggest and mounted a auto-chock from harbor freight onto a sheet of plywood cut off the length of the bed plus the tail gate. I made some steel straps to replace my cables on the tailgate. There is no way I would trust the cables. I also backed up to a driveway or slope to load it and it really wasn't bad. I hauled mine from Michigan to Florida and back. With the 4 tie-down straps and wheel chock on it, it never moved.

Roy

 

I have a Honda Ridgeline. I load heavy bikes in it all the time. With the Harley's they are too long for the short bed, so I use a sheet of 3/4" plywood cut 6" longer.

Either way, no issue with the tailgate.

I would think Tundra would be as strong as a Honda?