Hey guys, I'd appreciate your input here! I'm about to move from NC to MN and I've been planning on driving my 99 Dakota Sport 4x4 5.2 with auto trans back there with my Harley Electra Glide in the bed. It's pretty heavy at around 850 lbs plus I'll be carrying about 400 lbs of extra stuff. Do you guys think my truck can handle all that? Especially driving through the Appalachians? And what about the weight on the tailgate when loading it? Thanks!

 

It depends on how long your bed is. The truck will handle the weight just fine. If the rear wheel of the bike is solely on the tailgate, I don;t think I would do it. The cables MAY hold it but I've seen tailgates bend in the middle and then after unloading, you can't shut them. My biggest concern would be getting the bike in the truck to begin with. Unless you're loading at a dock and rolling it in by HAND, you're asking to get on "Funniest Home Videos". If it gets away while driving it up, you can bend the front of the bed, back of the cab and knock the rear glass out.

Personally, I'd load the bike on a trailer and haul it that way. Get a U-Haul and drop it when you're done. They have trailers that are just long enough to haul the bike with the tail gate up and you have the bed for other stuff you want to haul.

 

Yeah, I think renting a trailer to put the bike on would be a better plan.

 

One caveat of you rent a trailer, they usually don't have brakes on the small ones that Uhaul rent. Down grade you'll need to remember to down shift to let the engine braking take some strain off the brakes. When I first started driving, I forgot diesels don't engine brake without an engine brake system and cooked the brakes. If the OP decides to buy a trailer, I'd suggest getting one with brakes. The controller will have a hand control over ride to help with braking.

 

One caveat of you rent a trailer, they usually don't have brakes on the small ones that Uhaul rent. Down grade you'll need to remember to down shift to let the engine braking take some strain off the brakes. When I first started driving, I forgot diesels don't engine brake without an engine brake system and cooked the brakes. If the OP decides to buy a trailer, I'd suggest getting one with brakes. The controller will have a hand control over ride to help with braking.

 

Doesn't the truck need a trailer brake set up installed to work with trailer brakes? I'm definitely considering a trailer

 

Most uHaul trailers use a hydraulic trailer brake, known as a "hydraulic surge trailer brake" system. It's touchy but works.

agree with the others. If you don't have a 100% stable way to get ti in the bed, and/or the tailgate will be a load bearing element, I wouldn't do it.

I've had two 55 gallon drums of fuel in the back of my dakota. I've also had over 1800 pounds of scrap metal in the bed.

Just because you can doesn't mean you should. But the drums were much more manageable than the scrap metal.

 

If the trailer has electric brakes, yes. You can add the controller for $100-200. Surge brakes work by a master cylinder on the tongue. The U-haul car haulers have it but the smaller open trailers usually don't.

 

I am not sure about the 1999 Dakota, but my 92 and 98 both had the trailer package with the 7 pin plug wired out back and wiring harness under the dash for a brake controller. Literally just plug and play. Since we usually have a few controllers laying around between us, it was no problem to get a Dakota specific cable from the harness to controller on Amazon.

The truck will handle the load with no problem, if you can get the bike in the bed. I agree with the others that if it doesn't fit with the tailgate closed, a trailer will be the better option.

Two summers ago I moved my daughter across Washington State. Only 250 miles, but 5 mountain passes. Two of them were 5500 feet and the lowest pass was over 4000. My Dakota with 1200lbs. in the bed and an old horse trailer weighing about 3500 lbs. had no problems going over. That did not include the grandson, granddaughter and grandcorgi that rode with me. My son-in-law had his truck and trailer loaded about like mine and we had to slow down below 60MPH to let my daughter catch up in her Subaru Outback. This was all two lane country highway. I pulled onto WA SR-20 in Concrete and turned off of WA SR-20 into her driveway.

My gas mileage dropped from 15 down to about 10/11MPG, but the old girl performed beautifully.

Best of luck
Steve

 

Thanks! I guess I'll measure the bike length and the bed again. I'm really leaning towards just a uhaul flat trailer now.