2021 Toyota Limited Tail Gate Loading

Hello everyone!!! I test loaded my 2013 Honda Foreman (650lbs) today and noticed I slightly dented the bottom of the tailgate toward the bottom where the rear wheels sat. Kind of shocked, this is a relatively small ATV. Any suggestions? I actually lifted the rear wheels off the tailgate so it cant be more than 150lbs on the tailgate. Is this a known issue? Any solutions? Not happy about it but for a first screw up its not bad. At least I didn't bust out the rear window. Thanks for all the help.

On a side note I was playing around and pressed the tow mode. It turned into a beast, I thought only shift points changed but it appeared I had a ton more power. So snappy it would be difficult to drive moderately with tow button pressed and a trailer behind it.

 

Woah you are saying the weight on the tailgate bent the panel?! Will be interested to see what others say

 

Exactly what I am saying. Just at the bottom of tailgate where wheels were sitting, right before hinge. My current pathforward is take 1/2" plywood and cover tailgate and 6" into bed. Notch so it gets hung up on corners at back of bed ( i don't want plywood falling out on freeway driving home). I not happy but thank goodness i caught before "very noticeable" Right now only I know its there unless i point it out. Kinda a BS to have to fabricate plywood, tailgate should be stronger. It is what it is. Total drive time 10 minutes i just drove around neighborhood as test.

I will say this exponentially easier loading into Tundra vs 39.5" tailgate on F250 I sold, that tailgate didn't bend with 1000 CC Polaris highlighter weighing 980lbs.

 

Wow.. by that logic people shouldn’t even be standing on the tailgate then? That seems a little odd

 

A bed liner of some sort may help. Supposedly Line X would make the tailgate itself stronger. Maybe look into that. You may be able to remove the access panel and pop out the dent then get Line X.

 

Has Toyota installed bedliner. Looks to be excellent job. I am positive a door ding person can get it out, i may be able to. no creases just bowed down. put level across probably 1/8" softball size on both side where rear tires sitting. The tailgate a joke looks like 20 gauge metal with some sparcely laid vertical supports to outer shell. Thankfully I didn't have impressions to outer skin.

I wouldn't go jumping on the wrong spot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

That’s wild man. Should I be careful about standing on my tailgate?! Haha that’s crazy! I am back there all the time and don’t even think about it

 

The weakest part is the area next to the hinge. press on it with your hands. My deformed symetrical, looks like it factory to help with bed drainiege, lol. Interesting didn't bed across entire length just where the atv was sitting stationary. you can walk but don't stand....

 

I took off the plate. Tailgate weak. Once past middle spine towards hindge zero internal support. Completely hollow. Good news is easy to straighten out deformation bad news is only structure is geometry if 24 gauge steel. Truth be told suorised it don’t bend under my weight. I cut a piece of 1/2 “ plywood spans from end of tailgate to 6”in bed. Now bed floor takes load and top of tailgate. I 99.9% I won’t have any deformation. Toyota failed us on tailgate ridiculous you have to compensate for100 pound pout load

 

Welcome from NY.

 

Can you take a picture of what you did with the ply?

 

Sure, problem is i covered it in copper green (wood preservative) it smells so bad I have to let it air out a couple days. If I touch it the smell gets in my skin lol!!! Really worked out nice. I bought sanded plywood which is smooth and straight and light. If I had to do again i got 3/4" since it doesn't weigh much vs treated or sheathing and is perfectly flat. The 3/4" wouldn't even deform. again at least half load is transferred to bed floor which is huge, other half is on reinforced area at top of tailgate. (the raised 1/4" section) Pretty cool wood doesn't even touch plastic trim so that is protected also. I think what got me was more of the atv bouncing as i hit dips in road vs a static load. I know i weigh more than one wheel on atv pushing on tailgate and i only deflect not deform.

 

Please see pics. As you can see tailgate has zero support toward bottom. I made the board so it cant slide out going down the freeway. obviously my atv will be sitting on it.

 

As you can see from sideview shot zero load on weakest section. The board rest in the bed and top edge of tailgate away from bed. as load is applied board deflects, by the time it touches bottom whole edge of tailgate is supporting. BS we have to do this but it what it is. In addition truck bed takes at least 50% of load (when stationary) with plywood. bottom line i would do much more than walk on tailgate or maybe load a two stroke dirtbike, i bet an 800lb harley would crease it where you loaded without plywood.

 

How atv loaded when tailgate got bent. Right where rear tires are located is concave in, no creases. no doubt ventless paint guy can get out, holes right where deformation is. Strongest part of tailgate is the elliptical raised area around perimeter, it close to the sides of the tailgate, that is where you want load focused and the plywood does that, it doesn't allow load to touch delicate area inside the raised area. Delicate and tailgate lol!!!

 

Shit i just bought a new tundra im coming from a 2018 f150 and i also have a honda foreman 2018 and i was going to load it on to the bed but now im scared haha. I cant beileve it bent it like that what ramps did you use to load the atv on there

 

I have some 9 foot ramps, used to load Foremen on 2017 F250 39.5" high tailgate. On Tundra you can get away with 7-8' ramps all day. Mine are foldable so i can close tail gate when leaving the parking lot. You should be scared you load without wood you deform. PERIOD. Mine was loaded for 20 minutes and two minute drive, if I would have gone all way to mud park I imagine the deformation would have been much worse. As you can see F250 tailgate had zero issues with 1,000lb highlighter. Highlifter turned out to be POS. 20 hours and electric power steering crapped out $2200 repair. Well i wrong it didn't crap out it took over steering, meaning with no driver input it turned the atv, i bench 200 lbs 8 times took everything i had to keep it straight, had to pull fuse to get back to parking lot. That POS was sold shortly thereafter and back to the TANK Foreman which is all but impossible to kill. I would never load the highlifter into a Tundra, even with wood to heavy. I did a beam calculator since the wheels on foreman are only 8" from bed and 28" from edge of tailgate, bed takes 220 of 300lbs load (assuming 650 forman weight is spread equally its not) and 80lbs on tailgate. Again i could pick up foreman rear tires pushing up on luggage rack so rear wheel cant have more than 200lbs?

In the end the Highlifter fit completely in the bed. but it took a 4 hour drive sitting on tailgate to get it home.

 

I loaded ATV using plywood, 1/2" You do not need to notch plywood like i did. The plywood ain't coming out when atv is sitting on it!!!!!. In addition without the notch it so much easier to get plywood in and out. Great news is zero further tailgate deformation, makes sense I guarantee the load on my tailgate is less than 150lbs, i picked up back end of atv today with neighbor watching. What causes deformation is concentrated loads, use the plywood or maybe even a stainless plate permanently attached to tailgate. Hopefully this will prevent someone from damaging theirs, if you read this and you damage it joke on you. I WOULD NOT LOAD A FULL SIZE MOTORCYCLE, i fear you may bow the whole tailgate. I checked gap under plywood to tailgate when loaded. The plywood first made contact midway up the tailgate which is perfect a lot of reinforcement there.

 

Bingo. Driving with an unsecured/improperly secured load will do this. It doesn’t matter if you drove for 2 minutes or 2 hours. If your load is constantly banging on parts of the bed it will bend....not just the tailgate.

 

I been hauling ATV's in back of trucks for 5 years, Foremans, Highlighters... Load was perfectly secured. What doesn't look secure in my pictures?? BINGO problem is tailgate has wall thickness of soup can without internal supports. I reviewed more than one post where people were almost seriously hurt when the tailgate buckled. Toyota better place an orange sticker on it saying do not use to support more than 50lbs equally distributed on tailgate. My previous post concerning tailgate issues show lack of commitment in finding the cause, lol. Toyota failed on tailgate design. PERIOD. Load how you want than get on youtube to see how people try to straighten them after you bend yours.

 

How much weight would it take to damage the tailgate hinge? I had to move some heavy long treadmill boxes and only way to fit em was with the tailgate down. Probably a couple hundred pounds

 

If weight distributed shouldn’t be problem. Tailgate bend long before hinge bends

 

Yeah the boxes were like 2 feet wide so that shouldn’t be an issue right?