My Homemade Tailgate extender!

Got super bored the other day and though of an idea to fit my massive 2013 Outlander Max XT in the bed of my tacoma without putting the weight on the tailgate. Made some brackets and bought some 2x2 square tube to fit in the tailgate. Used a 3/4" piece of plywood and cut it out to match the bed mat. Took a large bolt with a bottom plate to even out the pull underneath the bed and bolted it in the middle drain hole. Made top and bottom plates on the plywood for the large bolt to go through and hold in place. Heres a few pics
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How it sits today with the new bracket for adding another hitch

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Few questions for anyone. Will this be too mucch weight on the hitch? The bike is about 780lbs and im 180 so 960 when Im driving it up. Not ALL on the hitch but a lot. I figure its more safe then the tailgate. That thing would probably bend in half

 

It's only half the weight of you + the wheeler at any given time because the other half of your ramp is on the ground, and I think the max tongue weight on class IV is 500 lbs? so I think you should be good. At least the hitch would be good, I don't know about that hitch extender thing.

 

Thank you lol, now I know what I'll do with my dirt bike so I don't have to take my toolbox out of my truck everytime I want to go ride!

 

Great idea!

 

Nice!
That quad is enormous.

 

^^^ That's what she said !

 

Haha ya its a two person beast.

 

The hitch can handle the weight, even with the extra leverage 15" away from the hitch.

 

Thats what I was thinking, but when I loaded her up it seemed a lot more weight then I first though. Worked fine though. Now Im trying to figure a way to be able to take the think off once the bike is loaded so I can use the hitch to tow the camper too

 

Great idea!
And you said you used the middle drain hole.. Is that at the front of the bed?
Lucky second gens.. I only have 2.

 

Looks good op +1

 

My friend just come back from his camping trip and called me the other night to complain about having a bent frame on his 2011 double cab long bed. What do you mind bent frame. When I left home the gap between the cab and camper shell was equal from top to the lower part of the cab. Now because I used the carrier inserted in my receiver he said, and I had it filled with firewood, when I've got to the camping spot, the gap in top of the cab is 1" larger then before. I had yet to see the truck, but is this possible?

 

This is an excellent idea! I haul my 4 wheeler like that and I am not real pleased with the rear wheels resting on my tailgate. This would also be useful to haul lumber! Tim

 

This is what I want... Just a thought. What kind of camper do you have?
We do a lot of 4wheeling and my plan is to build my own toy hauler.

 

We just have a small 8ft pop up. It's all we need though. Camping to me is not about having a massive second home-like camper lol. Good idea though I would love that. I'm thinking about making another one that's shorter that will still have some weight on the tailgate. That way if I drive it up i can then take it off and hook the camper up.

 

Here's a pic of the plates bolted to both sides of the plywood to hold it on the large bolt in the bed

 

nice

 

Don't mean to rain on your parade or critize your work, but is only my opinion that your setup would be more ideal for a permanent fix to your issue and not something to remove and put on often. If I needed something similar and still be able to use my hitch, I would have bolted a 1/4" steel plate the size of the tailgate, and beefier steel cable to handle the load of the wheeler. Rig some brackets to where the cables that hold the tailgate distribute some of the weight to the 1/4" plate so not all of the weight rests on the original tailgate brackets.

 

Well it takes less the 5 mins to put on and off. I thought about the tailgate thing but I find it twists the bed too much and you can see it tilting backwards. That's why I wanted the hitch involved

 

I see, it makes sense since I don't know exactly how heavy is your quad. Good job though I personally like your design, but like I said before, for a more permanent purpose. It would bother me to have to put on and off all the time.