Loading a Harley into a Sport-Trac- made a bed carrier

[Fred Timmons 2]

As you know, the bed on the Sport-Trac is short, and is entirely composite. I wanted to load my 800lb Harley into the back. It's a little too long, I was worried about putting that much weight on the bed, and I was worried about the 200lb limit on the tie-down hooks.



So we built a heavy metal rail to put the weight on. It has cross-bracing for tie-down straps. It weighs about 83lbs.



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The bolt you see in the rail goes through the center drain hole near the front cargo bin under the bed. It goes down to a reinforced plate- so no drilling was necessary! (it isn't designed to hold the weight of the bike, just to keep it from moving)



Fred

 

[Todd Z]

COOL man,



Looks great...



Reminds me of the rails that the tailgate motorcycle lifts come with...



Todd Z

 

[Ron N]

Great goin, Fred. Looks like it will handle the job well. Also, Welcome to the websight._Ron

 

[Dave S 2]

Looks like the other shorter beam hinges off the longer one? How does that work?



Looks like you'd need a crane to lift the bike in. Once in though, looks to be a very good design.

 

[Fred Timmons 2]

Yep, your right Dave, the small piece in the back hinges on the main piece. I can back up to a small rise and use the extension to take up the height difference. Will be loading the bike in the back next week for a trip we are going on. We will double tie the bike down just for peace of mind. 2 straps to the truck and 2 to the ramp.

 

[Ron N]

Fred, something I used to do too,is after you use the ratchet tie down put a rubber tie down between the two tie down belts. That way if you have to make a quick move to the side, if the tie down had slack for a second, the rubber tie down would hold it to the hooks._Ron

 

[Fred Timmons 2]

great idea Ron.

 

[Jim B]

Good old Ameican ingenuity! Nice mod!

I wish you were around here when i gave up trying loading my Yamaha V-Max into my ST.:wacko: I finally gave up and bot a trailer!

 

[Paul McDevitt]

Fred,



I have a Sport Trac, and I have a 500 lb Honda motorcycle. I'd be very leery of doing what you're doing.

Even with the rail distributing the weight, it looks like there will still be a lot of weight on the tailgate. Take a look at the construction of the cables, and how they are anchored to the truck. While supporting the weight of the tailgate with your hand, unhook the cables on the tailgate. Now let the tailgate settle. See what happens? That is what would happen if the cables failed with your bike on there. The rail would probably prevent the bike from tumbling out of the truck, but your tailgate would be trashed. It's not the straight down the highway cruising that causes problems, it's hitting the big pothole at speed, or veering or braking hard to avoid a collison.

You can rent a flatbed U Haul trailer, and put your own tiedowns on it for very little $, less than the cost of a new tailgate. Low to the ground, easy on and off.

I wish you a safe and happy trip, I just wouldn't be comfortable doing what you propose to do.

 

[Gary DiPietroSr]

Maybe two more rails from the outer tip, on each side, braced along the way to the inside corners would help too.

 

[Les]

I would have the same concerns as PMcD. Personally, I would build a frame around it, add some wheels, and tow it...

 

[Joe B 4]

That is what I am thinking about for hauling my Honda CBR next year. The C-Channel should have more than enought strength to distribute the wieght to the main part of the bed and keep most of the wieght ofF the tail gate. With this said, I was planning on having an angled 2" bar come out of my hitch to the end of the ramps overhang to carry the balance of the wieght. I do not think it is necessary, but more of a precaution since my trip will be about 1200 miles to home. If you have a hitch you may want to try this.



Ramp ________________

/

Hitch Recvr____________/

 

[Jacob Dryer]

I've hauled my SVS in the bed multiple times without any issues at all. I know that isn't an 800 lbs harley, but it's still a 400+ lbs sportbike. Joe you shouldn't have any problem at all with a CBR.

 

[Doctor CAD]

What gauge is the bottom channel?



One other thing to think about is blocking up to the bottom of the frame rails. That way when you crank the straps down, the weight of the bike will be on the blocks (in the bed) and less on the wheels. Kinda like a bike lift.



Put a strap around the front wheel to the front channel as a safety. You don't want the bike coming out of the truck.

 

[Doctor CAD]

What gauge is the bottom channel?



One other thing to think about is blocking up to the bottom of the frame rails. That way when you crank the straps down, the weight of the bike will be on the blocks (in the bed) and less on the wheels. Kinda like a bike lift.



Put a strap around the front wheel to the front channel as a safety. You don't want the bike coming out of the truck.

 

[Paul McDevitt]

A CBR1100 weighs 439 pounds, and has a 55.4" wheelbase. (CBR600 is 410 pound and 54")

That's not the bike I was commenting to Fred about.

An HD ElectraGlide Classic weighs 791 pounds dry, 828 pounds ready to ride. That is a lot of weight, sitting up high on a short wheelbase truck, tied down not to steel, but to composite materials.

The wheel base is 63.5 inches. That means the whole rear wheel is going to be past the tailgate hinge, with the center of the rear tire about 72" from the front wall of the bed, or 4" from the rear end of the tailgate. The rail will distribute some weight, but the bulk of the weight is where the tires contact the rail.

Look at the tailgate cables, consider the construction and materials, and think about what they anchor to. I doubt you weigh close to 400 pounds, but would you jump up and down on your tailgate, with just the balls of your feet on the gate, your heels hanging off in space?

It is not the 500 miles of smooth driving that would concern me, it is the 100 yards covered during the emergency maneuver. I would not do this with my heavy cruising bike.

 

[Jeff C]

Since when did the ST have a short wheel base?



I know for a fact that the first gen STs will support 500lbs on the tailgate alone.

 

[Paul McDevitt]

Jeff,

OK, relatively short wheel base with a relatively high center of gravity

I'm not going to get into a debate about this, but there are the rollover concerns. Putting an 800 pound bike with the center of gravity a foot or so off the bed can only accentuate the likelihood.

You know for a fact that the tailgate can support 500 pounds, whatever that means. I know for a fact that I would not do what the original poster is proposing to do, and I wouldn't follow behind him on the road, either.



Paul

 

[Les]

With a little luck, a short distance, and a very smooth road you could make it. BUT, with a rough road you will probably experience catastrophic failure of the bed, tailgate, or both...

 

[Paul McDevitt]

Les - I agree. An 800 pound bike is a lot different than 800 pounds of gravel or lumber.