Quote:
Originally Posted by DanGlo52
Folks, if anyone has done this please let me know if it is easily done and how well you like it. I have 2004 winnebago Vectra That we flat tow a Jeep Wrangler behind it. Problem is that I have a Harley that stays home all the time. I am thinking of selling the Jeep, getting a Ram 1500 and putting the Harley in the bed of the truck. Has anyone done this does it work well, tow well. Kwife insists on crew Cab, 4 door truck. What size of bed do I need. I appreciate all responses. TIA.
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DanGlo52,
Well, first off, anyone who advises NOT to load a full dress bike, i.e. Harley, Honda Goldwing, BMW K1600, Yamaha, Indian or any other top of the line, full weighted bike into the back of a truck because the earth will cease to rotate, is just not informed. And NO, YOU DON'T NEED A LONG BED!!!!!!!!!!!
Our truck is an '11 GMC Sierra 1500 Extended Cab SHORT BED. Well, to be honest, it's a 6' bed, not a 5.5'. Annnnnywaaaay, we use the Rampage lift/carrier to haul our '08 Goldwing. The Wing hovers real close to 900 lbs. That's *very* close to a full dress Harley. I used to have a Hydralift that I installed on the back of our '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with the CAT C-7 330HP and it hauled the Wing with absolutely ZERO issues in over 2 years and over 8,000 miles.
No wandering, not tire issues, the coach handled the additional weight of the Hydralift and the Wing without even hesitating. Some thought the world was gonna end if I put a Hydralift on anything less than a tandem axled coach. Well, something's wrong because, the world is still turning AND rotating, I think!
But, for various reasons, we opted out of carrying the Wing on the back of the coach and opted FOR using the truck and a Rampage lift/carrier. We've carried that Wing in the back of the truck for well over about 8+ years now and, contrary to some popular belief, the truck handles it just fine.
Heck, there used to be a gent on here that hauled a full dress Harley in the back of a FORD RANGER! He did have to install some additional air bags to compensate for the droop of the truck with that kind of weight in it. But, that worked really well for him. He'd pop that Harley into the truck, zip some air into the bags and, the truck would ride completely level. How about that!!!!
Anyway, I designed that Rampage install system in such a way that, it's not carried in the truck at all, unless we need it. I built a cart for it. And, I built the cart so it holds the Rampage at one inch above the height of the bed floor of the truck. I installed a mount plate on the underside of the bed of the truck and welded nuts on it, so that when the Rampage was loaded, I'd screw (2) 1/2" x 3.5" x 13 bolts down through the front of the Rampage, and into the welded nuts on the bottom side of the bed. Then, in the rear (the tail end of the Rampage) I installed (3) 3/8" nutserts in the bed.
Now, when it comes time to load the Rampage, I park the truck on my flat, level concrete side yard. Off comes the tail gate because, It's totally useless when the Rampage is going to be used. Then, I roll the Rampage up to the rear edge of the bed. Since the Rampage is 1" higher than the bed floor, the cart continues to roll right up to the point the cart bumps up against the rear bumper. At that point, I lift the rear of the Rampage and, the wife wheels the cart out of the way.
I then slide that Rampage forward (it comes with phenolic type plastic blocks attached to the bottom side so it does not scratch the bed) and into position to screw the front bolts into position. I then align the rear section so the three 3/8 x 1.5" x 16 bolts screw through the Rampage frame and into the bed. DONE! Then, I plug in the 12V winch to a 50 amp Anderson plug that sits in the front left corner of the bed. Done.
Now, when it comes time to load the bike, I attach the Winch control to the winch and, pull a couple of pins and, the sections of the Rampage begin to move backwards and tilt down to accept the bike. Ever seen a *Roll back* wrecker that picks up cars at accidents? Well, the Rampage is the SAME EXACT CONCEPT.
NO, YOU DON'T NEED 4 GUYS to load your Harley!! You need only ONE, YOU!!!!! The bike is rode right up to the wheel dolly that is now positioned at the pavement/concrete. The front wheel is entered into the wheel dolly. The bike is parked and kick stand placed down. Then, you apply two tie downs to the front (where you'd normally apply them for transport) and attach them to the cross bar that is attached to the wheel dolly.
That is primarily it, in prep for lifting the bike into the back of the truck. You then stand back and PUSH A BUTTON, to lift a 900 lb. bike into the back of your truck. Does it look precarious, hell yeah it does. Does it look *Scary*? hell yeah it does!! Has there EVER BEEN AN ISSUE doing it this way, he....... ,no there hasn't!!!! It's worked every single time I've used it. And that's around oh, maybe a hundred or more times. Yes, I've used it that much because, when we travel, then find a place to stay for more than a day, I off load that Wing and, we're off and riding some place.
People are often amazed at watching it off and on load off and onto that Rampage and into and out of, the back of the truck.
Now, when we get back home, within a 20 minute period, the Wing is off-loaded and, the Rampage is unbolted and, remounted on it's cart and wheeled away from the truck. The tail gate is re-installed, DONE!
Can the truck be driven with the 900 lb. Wing in the back? Yep, without any issues what so ever. There's been many, many times when we were not going to unload the Wing due to a short stay in a campground/RV park and after setting up the RV, would run to dinner etc. with the Wing in the back of the truck. No issues at all.
So, that's the story. Will the Rampage lift/carrier work in anything less than a full length bed, WITHOUT A DOUBT! I and many others have proved it time and time again. The payload of our '11 GMC is 1,500 lbs. The Wing and the lift hover real close to 1,200-1,300 lbs. How much does our truck sag when the lift and Wing are in it? About 2"-2.5" or so. No big deal. If you have any questions about it, surely PM me and I'd be glad to help.
Scott