Tailgate pad to carry bikes
Hi there, I am thinking of using a tailgate pad to transport bikes while towing my TT. I am interested in hearing from anyone that has had first hand experience doing this. Not interested in opinions...
Forum Discussion
Please ignore the peanut gallery. While I appreciate you wanting to limit the conversation, sometimes folks come up with some pretty clever ideas so I hope you are open minded.
I have personally never seen anyone using the tailgate pad. I seriously considered trying this but then didn't do it for the same reason you are concerned about. Backing up sharply is more of the issue that I thought about. I would have had to remove the bikes prior to pulling into a tight spot. I also read that the pad is not intended for long distance use.
If you do use a pad one thing you could consider is a longer receiver shank. I have a longer one so that I can open my tailgate with the trailer hooked up. Not sure if that would provide enough clearance though.
Below is the solution I finally settled on. It still leaves plenty of room to carry other things in the bed. But if you have more than 2 bikes I can see why you'd be looking at the tailgate pad.
I have personally never seen anyone using the tailgate pad. I seriously considered trying this but then didn't do it for the same reason you are concerned about. Backing up sharply is more of the issue that I thought about. I would have had to remove the bikes prior to pulling into a tight spot. I also read that the pad is not intended for long distance use.
If you do use a pad one thing you could consider is a longer receiver shank. I have a longer one so that I can open my tailgate with the trailer hooked up. Not sure if that would provide enough clearance though.
Below is the solution I finally settled on. It still leaves plenty of room to carry other things in the bed. But if you have more than 2 bikes I can see why you'd be looking at the tailgate pad.
