Can I load a Harley in Tacoma bed?

I think that a Coke machine or even a quad are going to distribute the weight over a larger area when loading, as opposed to an 800# motorcycle which will be pressing down on the tailgate the width of one wheel. That's what is likely to cause it to bend. I would personally not want to load a heavy bike without removing the tailgate first.

As far as the plastic bed is concerned, no issues with it so far, seems durable and rugged and scratch-resistant. I have a friend with a '03 F150 that he's used extensively, steel bed, no liner, and it looks like rusty crap.

 

Back when I had my truck I used to load my VFR in the bed quite regularly. The VFR weighs just south of 500# and I never did have any problems with it and my fat ass on the tailgate at the same time.

I would do the d-ring mod in the front as the rails are too high and not strong enough to hold the weight of any bike.

 

Thanks Dcrooks84... Am I right in assuming you loaded it diagonally, and then put the gate back on and closed it? I've measured and it seems like it will fit diagonally but will be fairly tight.
Was just curious if you had a little more info (or even a pic), since our bikes are very close in both length and weight (you're probably a little heavier).
I'm OK with the idea of removing the tailgate. Did you get the TSB for the (4) rear leaf springs, or are you still running the stock 3 leaf setup?

 

Thats true...If I were you Id put a piece of steel diamond plate or 3/4 plywood on the gate, the weight of the bike will hold it

 

Yeah, it was loaded diagonally, wasn't able to get the gate to close. Just a little bit of the tire was beyond where the gate was. We were only transporting it for a short distance so it wasn't that big of a deal. I would honestly suggest getting a trailer for it, just because it is a pain to load and unload a cruiser with that much weight. You could get a nice one for around $1000 brand new. Or you could look at the rampage lifts pricey but they are nice.

 

I haul my quad wit hmine regularly and it weights close to 700lbs, I load it on the tailgate with ramps and I still havent had a problem, except that one time I got lazy and didnt tie the ramps down and they slid out on me, of course I was alone too.

 

Happened to me backing a ride on mower off my dodge......Not fun.

 

I am a little disappointed i was told when i bought my 08 Access cab reg bed. that it was a bed liner not that the whole bed is plastic! i am goin to have to poke around tomo.

Has anyone ever put a refrigerator in their Tacoma? like a reg house fridge its prob a few years old 3 years max. I have to move and was told I should remove the tailgate but I have no idea on how to do that. I am really scared that i am going to bend the tailgate. if i do a 2X4 ramp for each wheel of the Hand truck.

 

im not trying to be a smart-a$$ here but all of the gas tanks these days are made from formed plastic/composite material. and I havent heard any complaints with the bed rotting/warping in the sun or anything like that.

 

If you can't get the bed to close all the way with the bike in couldn't you just get a bed extender? And if you bend the tailgate putting your bike in have toyota replace it with the tsb. After the the tailgate is replaced with the tsb shouldn't it be able to support the weight of the bike too?

 

I suppose those would be options for you. I only hauled the bike once, so can't really justify the cost of the bed extender. And as far as the tailgate, my Taco is an '05 and is out of warranty so Toyota will not cover any TSB at this point, I've tried.

 

I created this thread when I was shopping for a Tacoma that I needed to be able to use to haul a full-size Harley... halfway across the country.

Last Fall I finally convinced the dealer to let me take another test drive (this time an '09). I drove 2 miles home, parked it, removed the tailgate (and the back-up camera cable), and began to load my bike.
I have an excellent set of ramps. They are 2 pieces that lock together, each is 18-20". It is difficult to get them setup in the back of a truck with no tailgate. I had a 2x6 down at the rear edge of the bed to ensure I wouldn't break it with the stress of the ramps.
As soon as I got the front wheel of the bike into the middle of the bed I heard a "crack, pop, crack" that was fairly loud. Scared the crap out of me. I really thought the bed was going to give way and I was going to have to figure out how to lift a Harley out of the rear chassis of a new Tacoma that I didn't own. So, I immediately backed the bike down.
Worried that I had damaged a brand new truck, I looked. I placed my weight (only ~175) carefully all around the bed. Nothing. I jumped up and down in a few places to see if I could cause it to bend and any new cracks to appear. Nothing. I decided that either one of the mounting locations had some plastic not visible from above that cracked, or else it was just a surprisingly loud "settling" of the new bed.
I was ticked. Here I am with THE truck that I'd researched to death, and had truly geared myself up to purchase. Decent mileage, pretty good ride, not too large to park easily, and a reputation for being fairly rugged.
And it couldn't perform the task I needed of it most.
I did a few more measurements, and realized there was no way I could have loaded the bike with the tailgate off, it's just too long of a bike (extended cab v6 with the regular bed...not the super short one that comes on the crew cab). So how am I ever going to get the tailgate back on after I load it?
After considering that I would have to get the TSB on the rear leafs/bump stop/whatever... and the TSB on the tailgate (ok, it was an '09 which should have already been fixed, but when I removed it... that thing still felt incredibly flimsy)... and I was going to have to rig up some sort of wood/metal contraption to distribute the weight of the bike evenly across the bed, and allow me to load it, on a tailgate that doesn't quite get parallel to the floor of the bed (slight up angle)...
I said screw it. This is too much trouble. I'm not buying a bike with a plastic bed. I then started shopping for and purchased an '08 GMC Sierra 4x4 NFL Edition (20's) and the convenience pkg for ~$24.3 after all discounts. I know I've probably lost ~3-4 mpg on the highway, when empty but I don't care. I figure the lower price and peace of mind from a real steel bed are well worth it. Hopefully GM doesn't go out of business or get out of the truck market.

I liked the Tacoma, but it just wasn't right for my application.

I have no problem with a plastic gas tank, I think probably >95% of new vehicles have them... but a gas tank doesn't have that much of a structural load to deal with. A tailgate and bed, the very things that make a truck a truck, just shouldn't be entirely plastic. One very serious potential customer lost.

Thanks for allowing me on your forum. If I hadn't done the research on here, I may very well have made a really bad financial decision.
Enjoy your forum and trucks, they are both very good.

 

OK.

 

+1 Chris knows!

 

Hope the Gm works out well for you. I know that if I had to get a full size that is the truck I would get (cant go wrong for the $$).

 

^Tundra?

 

Tundra is too much $$

 

"you learn something everyday"


-i just did...

 

I see that the original author went the gm way, but for others that have a similar question..
I loaded my new 2008 Fat bob in the back of my 2006 4 door long box tacoma (6ft) bed 4x4 TRD. I did place a marine grade sheet of plywood with tie downs mounted on the floor just for the fact that I did not have any tie downs on the floor in the front of my bed. I used 2 cleats on the front rail and the 2 tie downs at the back.
The harley was about 2 to 3 inches to long so could not close the tailgate. I did however learn the hard way about the recall on the tailgate and it folded quite nicely. I didnt think that I would have had a problem with the tailgate as in the past I loaded 2 sport bikes side by side.
Loaded the bike in Michigan and drove 6 hrs to my house in Ontario Canada. The rear of the truck sagged alittle but not huge. Gas mileage was resonable I would have no problem with loading it again and going farther. The only thing I would add was the additional 2 front floor tie downs I could never figure out why they didnt come from the factory.

 

Metal beds either need a plastic liner (which warps in the heat and scuffs the paint, eventually the bed will rust) or a spray-in bed liner (which you have to pay extra $$$ for).

Plastic bed is lighter and doesn't need any extra 'finishing'. As for how they hold up in the sun, I'm happy they'll be ok, if not - I'm sure Toyota will step up and look after us.