[Tacologist]

If any of you went past your warranty period and are in need of a means to strengthen your tailgate before it bends, I am resurrecting a thread I posted way back when before Tonka came up with its strengthened tailgate from the factory.

I don't know just how much you can weigh it down using this mod but I can say I loaded a Honda VFR (550 LBS.) up a cycle ramp that hooked over the leading edge of the gate with no problems. I was on the sister ramp walking the bike up and that added another 150 LBS. to the mix.

Here is the link from the past post. http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=170754&highlight=tailgate

You could use a square box beam in lieu of the 3/4" inch angle piece I used for even more strength.

 

[the.phantom]

i don't have a bike, but the one thing that will do in the tailgate is to have the weight in the center of the gate.
you can use plywood on the tailgate to spread the weight out over the full tsilgate