Pickup Truck bike carrying options

So i’ve ditched the merc and gone for a Ford Ranger twin cab. Great for company car tax, rubbish for economy.

But, aside from buying a tailgate pad for short journeys, is there an easy and secure option to transport a bike. It’s an open back with no cover and the bikes a lecy specialized levo xl, so the chances of lifting it on a roof rack are non existant.

Could you fit a flat lid to the pickup bit and fit a roofrack to that or would that still be too high.

Or could you bolt something like this to the inside of the tailgate, wheel the bike on backwards then put the front axle in with the tailgate down (i’m assuming the bike won’t fit in with the tailgate up).

Lots of locks and a lid, a cover will make it less visible utah not more secure. Some of waterproof duffle bags will help too

I’ve tried the bike on its side with the front wheel facing up but the bike is still past the tailgate. I work south and live north so I do tend to transport my bikes a lot and I thought there may be an option so I can leave the bike in the truck with it being safe(ish).

I don’t use the rear seats so I might have a look at taking them out temporarily.

Also its leased no drilling of holes

 I thought there may be an option so I can leave the bike in the truck with it being safe(ish).

Next post will be about nicked bikes then…

Fit some cleats and strap it down and lock it to the bed. Or fit a lockable canopy. A cheaper option to a canopy would be a  lockable hard tonneau cover with the bike strapped down in the bed.

edit: started reply before others replied. Perhaps you’ll need to remove the wheels to fit the bike in.

Even here in the spiritual home of the pick-up (North America prairies…) people regularly take off the wheels to fit the bike in where the rear seats go for security.

Welcome to the club.

I have an Amarok with a canopy, I use either an Altera Strada on the towball or a piece of 3/4 ply cut to size with a Kuat Dirtbag 15mm fork mount bolted to it.

I have a Bedrug in the back which with the ply being cut to size stops the whole thing moving, I also fitted two handles to the ply meaning the whole thing can be pulled halfway out onto the tailgate to make loading the bike easier. I found having the mount at the tailgate end the easiest way of loading.

I had a Ranger before my Amarok which had the ‘sports bar’ with side rails over the bed. I had a pair of roof bars over the bed and used Thule 591s to carry bikes over the bed. It took some mauling to get the longer bikes on where they wouldn’t catch the rear window but it was worth it. I could carry 5 bikes above the bed and two on the roof with a roofbox.

Ive had a double cab pick-up for ten years, and it is without doubt the most CRAP vehicle for transporting bikes, totally impractical unless your filming for some jazzy shredding the gnar video.

As post above, tho mine does easily fit in the cab with front wheel off, but depends on your rear seat set up (mine fold up like cinema seats leaving a big area for a bike). Two bikes or more, then they’re in the tray and you can’t leave it unattended.

Great for company car tax, rubbish for economy.

Should have gone for Merc or BMW hybrid very cheap on company tax and reasonable mpg too

A mate of mine has a navara, we use the tailgate pad when there are a few of us but he wants a different solution as he is always worried about the tailgate pad getting nicked.

He has now fitted an axle mount on the top of the bed roller shutter so he can mount to that with no worries.

If its leased and doesn’t have a bed cover maybe that is a solution, also handy for covering kit when you are out on the bike.

The only secure way to transport it is wheels off and in the cab. Tailgate pads look great, but if you leave it out of sight for a minute it’ll be gone I’m afraid. I ran a navara for 8 years, swapping it for a van was the best thing I ever did!

Well for short trips I ordered a Dakine pickup pad from Biketart (great service and quick delivery) which works fantastic aside from covering the reversing sensors/camera. I think in the short term i’ll have to resort to stripping the bike down to get it in the rear cab. Cheers for all the help and ideas folks.

I like my Thule “insta-gater”. It’s not fancy, it’s not expensive, but holds the bike good and doesn’t let anything get beat up… The security aspect is lacking though.