Do you haul dirt bikes in your 5.5' bed?

[GoFast33]

If so, do you use the bed extender? I tried to this weekend but it wouldn't work because, as you know, in order to mount the bed extender in place, you must have it in the vertical orientation - this is because there are flats in the plastic lugs on the extender that slip into the utilitrac mount and can only go in that way. Well, this is impossible to do with two dirt bike wheels and fenders sitting on the tailgate.

Anyone else run into this problem?

I'm trying to think of how I can make it work. Here are a few of my ideas to allow the bed extender to clear the bikes when inserting into the mounting slots:
1. Remove the stops in the track so that I can slide the mounting brackets out past the end of the track
2. Fabricate a new mounting bracket with the slots angles towards the rear (as opposed to straight up and down)
3. Fabricate new mounts so I can use the bed extender from my F-150, which clicks in the horizontal orientation

Please tell me if I'm missing something.

[CoachBoone]

I haul 3 bikes, XR350, XR200 & a XR80 when we tow the TT. If you slide the brackets all the way out to the furthest point, you should be able to clear the bike fenders when dropping the lugs into the grooves of the trac. We've had to finaggle the bed extender up in between the bike tires and fenders to get it into position, but never had a real problem. What size are your bikes?

[GoFast33]

So, you're doing my idea #1. Not the easiest way to mount the extender, but better that using tie downs or bungee cords, I guess. I haul two CRF450's. Thanks for the response. Anyone else do anything differently?

[BIGGIE]

Just make it so you can slide them out all the way it works great. Juat remeber to lock your tail gate.

[GoFast33]

Originally Posted by BIGGIE

Just make it so you can slide them out all the way it works great. Juat remeber to lock your tail gate.

Yeah, I guess that's the easiest way to use it. It doesn't slide in as smooth as I would like, though...I suppose I will get the hang of it eventually. Thanks for the advise, guys!

[TOK]

I load two bikes in the back with the extender and don't have the utility track.
Just like you said, it's tough to get the extender straight up and down to drop into the receiver, but once I had loaded and unloaded a few times, I figured out how to position the bikes so the extender would clear. Have to move the rear of the bikes in toward the center to clear the bend of the extender. Once you drop it in, you can slide the rears back over if you want.

I wouldn't want to load up without it since all the muddy gear and stuff gets thrown in the bed.

[techie94]

I picked up a ready ramp last summer for my dirt bikes. It folds in and makes a bed extender after loading the bikes with it. I dont have a factory bed extender so this served 2 purposes for me. http://www.readyramp.com/