Issues with Mountain Bikes and Tailgate Pads

Hey everyone, I recently got back into biking and want to start transporting my two mountain bikes to trails further away.

I don't want to scratch up the paint on the exterior of the tailgate, so I was leaning towards getting a bike pad from evoc or raceface. I've read that a common issues with the gen 1 tacos is that the bed is too shallow and doesn't secure the bikes for long distances. Is this true for most cases or more for larger bikes. If it's a common issue what are some good ways around it? I'm trying to stay away from any hitch mounted bike rack because I do tow a bit when camping.

Any advice would be great. Thank you

 

I have a fox pad and the biggest problem I have is that the part where the top of the pad where it is most cushy doesn’t always line up with the top of the tailgate. It makes it so that the loops to tie bikes down is lower then it should be. When I first put it on it lines up but as it stays on it gets firther and further down. But it’s not a problem to fix. But other then that I’ve never had a problem with keeping bikes on as long as they are velcroed on good

 

I never got comfy with the tailgate hanging method, even when using something pretty thick. My last truck had a tonneau cover so I'd just take off the front wheel and lay the bike down in the bed. Is that an option for you?

 

Why not do it like a motorcycle. Front wheel in the front corner of box and two tie downs.

 

yakima makes a mount you can fasten to your truck that the forks mount to.

 

Think about how a tailgate pad works. The bike should be resting on two points: the rear wheel on the bed floor and the down tube/fork junction on the top of the tailgate.

The first potential issue with low bed sides is that the chainring or down tube might contact the bed floor before the bike settles on top of the tailgate. This depends on the shape and size of the frame, so might not be a problem for everyone.

The second potential issue is that the fork or front wheel contacts the bumper before the bike settles on top of the tailgate. This can sometimes be avoided by putting the bike in the center of the truck so the fork fits into the recessed area around the license plate. An aftermarket bumper could also help, but that's a pretty extreme option.

Both of these issues will cause the bike to be unstable. It will flop to the side instead of staying firmly upright. You can test your own bikes for fit without buying a pad--just use an old towel or blanket to protect the paint.

I know of one 1st gen owner who used a 2x4 between the tailgate and pad to effectively make the tailgate taller.

For my bikes, I use a fork-mount rack inside the bed. The RockyMounts DropTop is the best fork mount available for thru-axle bikes at the moment (it works with both 12mm and 15mm thru axles without adapters, can be installed vertically or horizontally, and it's lockable). Some folks will attach a fork mount directly to the bed sides or a cross-bed tool box. My setup uses L-track on the bed floor so I can install a crossbar (I use RockyMounts VanTrack). It keeps things low enough to fit my bike under my cab-height topper and allows me to remove or reposition everything easily.

 

What I use is similar to this:

$38 Keeper - Ratcheting Cargo Bar - Black/Silver, Adjustable From 40"-70"

https://www.amazon.com/Keeper-05059...up+truck+load+bars&qid=1720876327&sr=8-5&th=1

Then, I attached one of these:

$18 MBP Alloy Quick Release Fork Mount Bike Block (9x100mm) Truck Bed/Rack/Storage

https://www.amazon.com/MBP-Alloy-Re...eywords=bike+fork+mount&qid=1720876667&sr=8-5

Now, mine is about 30 years old, so it is different. The load bar is threaded, not a ratchet and the fork mount clamps around a tube. The one shown could probably be attached with a couple of u-bolts that you could find at a hardware store.

 

Here are a couple of pics: