I am getting a “deal” on a Toyota Tacoma with a 5’ short bed.
Any difficulties laying a road bike (or 2) with shorty aero bars in the back? I am assuming I will need to remove the front tire.
I wanted to get a locking tonneau cover for the bed to lock things up nice and keep the elements out.
Does the bed have enough length & depth?
Any opinions will be appreciated. Thanks!
I am getting a “deal” on a Toyota Tacoma with a 5’ short bed.
Any difficulties laying a road bike (or 2) with shorty aero bars in the back? I am assuming I will need to remove the front tire.
I wanted to get a locking tonneau cover for the bed to lock things up nice and keep the elements out.
Does the bed have enough length & depth?
Any opinions will be appreciated. Thanks!
My opinion would be to not buy it and get a Ram. Toyota has (a bit tarnished right now) a reputation for making good cars, not good trucks.
The Tacoma is a fantastic vehicle…you should have no problem fitting your bike in (with front wheel off). I can get mine in just fine.
You could just hang it over the tail gate, no? I do this in my Wrangler (~3 foot bed) sometimes when I don’t feel like installing the hitch rack.
http://www.cambriabike.com/Images/product/dakine_pickup_pad.jpg
Unfortunately I just sold mine but it works really well with three fork mounts mounted just below the rear window. The top of the truck bed has a sliding bar space that you can easily mount them too. I was able to put four bikes in mine and loved it. Now I have a jeep wrangler and while I like my jeep the four door tacoma was by far the best!
Yup, you can get the integrated fork mounts that work with the bad rail system of the Tacoma. The are like $80.00 a piece and they lock you bike into the truck, which is nice if you need to leave it unattended for a while. Best truck I have ever owned.
Love my '05 Tacoma! Can’t help w/ the tonneau cover question, but if it’s got the extended cab, you can very easily fit a bike behind the seats w/ the front wheel off. Of course, the bed rail system works pretty well, too. I run a heavy cable through any bikes/wheels back there and lock it to the tie-downs - of course, I realize any dumbass w/ a heavy duty cable cutter can get them out, so I don’t leave 'em unattended/out of sight for long.
Thanks all for the advice/opinions. “idlersrest” answered my question. I do not think the fork mounts will be viable for me since i want a lockable cover i can use for my bike, golf clubs, skiis, beer, etc. I need room up front for the wife, the dog, and any other random stragglers. Northern NJ isn’t exactly a low crime area so I want things out of sight. 
What year is it? I had an older Tacoma ('98), that had frame perforations. Apparently there some model years that had this
issue. FWIW, Toyota was very fair and gave 1.5X book value for the truck. Just a heads up.
Cheers,
Darren
My opinion would be to not buy it and get a Ram. Toyota has (a bit tarnished right now) a reputation for making good cars, not good trucks.
Haha, thats very far off. They use Toyotas all over the world and they are extremely tough and reliable. I wouldnt mind a Taco but the resale values are ridiculously high (and the mpg is not) because they are great trucks.
5’ bed, get a fork mount sort of deal and if the bed is too short, you can get one of those bed extender deals that cages off the tailgate.
I have an '09 Taco with the long bed, but I got a full-on camper shell cover (ARE MX) with the high roof. I can put my bike in without removing wheels standing upright. I bungee it to the bed rail clamps that came with the truck. I can lock everything and anything inside that camper shell (also called a “topper” in some parts of the country).
My opinion would be to not buy it and get a Ram. Toyota has (a bit tarnished right now) a reputation for making good cars, not good trucks.
Haha, thats very far off. They use Toyotas all over the world and they are extremely tough and reliable. I wouldnt mind a Taco but the resale values are ridiculously high (and the mpg is not) because they are great trucks.
5’ bed, get a fork mount sort of deal and if the bed is too short, you can get one of those bed extender deals that cages off the tailgate.
Seriously???
Max payload is about 1500 pounds on the Tundra. Max payload on the Ram 2500 is over 3,000 pounds. Ram also has the 3500 if you really need something tough.
Max towing is 10k for the Tundra, MAx for the Heavy Duty Ram is over 15k.
Toyota doesn’t even offer a diesel, RAM 2500 & 3500 do.
Not sure how you could use Toyota as tough in the same definition as a truck. I think the comparison would be better comparing the Toyota’s to SUV’s. Good for light duty work and carrying people. Not good for people that need a truck that can be used as a truck.
I’m sure the Ford and Chevy would be comparable to the Dodge if your looking for a truck.
Be careful. I have a 2002 single cab and I didn’t get the frame replaced…they put some kind of coating on it instead and refused to give me the 1.5x value, said if need be they would replace the frame…yeah seriously replace the whole freakn frame.
On the bike side…mine works well. I got a plastic bedliner that has a slot to wedge a board about a foot before the cab. put two bike rack holder things in a 2x6 pressure treated wood which was wedged into the bed. It only cost me like 35 bucks to make and it fits fine (15 or so for the bike holders and 3-4 for the 2x6).
If your looking at getting a cap…no go, I don’t think it will fit, or it would be a pain in the ass to get the bikes in there unless you just lay them down on their sides.
As for locking them up…i just put a regular bike chain and wrap it through the bike rack holder thing. Someone can still walk off with the bikes but they would have to haul the 2x6 chained to it as well…so it would be obvious if someone was stealing it (unless they had heavy duty cable cutter).
Max payload is about 1500 pounds on the Tundra. Max payload on the Ram 2500 is over 3,000 pounds. Ram also has the 3500 if you really need something tough.
Max towing is 10k for the Tundra, MAx for the Heavy Duty Ram is over 15k.
Toyota doesn’t even offer a diesel, RAM 2500 & 3500 do.
Not sure how you could use Toyota as tough in the same definition as a truck. I think the comparison would be better comparing the Toyota’s to SUV’s. Good for light duty work and carrying people. Not good for people that need a truck that can be used as a truck.
I’m sure the Ford and Chevy would be comparable to the Dodge if your looking for a truck.
Your comparing apples to oranges… You cannot compare a 3/4 ton 2500 Ram against a Tundra(which is more a 1/2 ton truck) or any other 1/2 ton truck for that matter. Compare the Ram 1500/ Ford 150/ Chevy 1500. etc… agaisnt a Tundra and the numbers will look better…
That being said, I owned all 3 brands, Ford, Dodge and Toyota. 1 Ram 1500, 1 - 3/4 ton Ram 2500, a Ford F250(3/4t) and the Tundra.
Sorry, for the OT… I use a lot of trucks in my business…
You can mount a bike rack on top of the tonneau cover, which I see a lot of people do around here. Just weather proof the part where you drill into the cover and it’ll be fine.
Great truck enjoy it!
Mike
Max payload is about 1500 pounds on the Tundra. Max payload on the Ram 2500 is over 3,000 pounds. Ram also has the 3500 if you really need something tough.
Max towing is 10k for the Tundra, MAx for the Heavy Duty Ram is over 15k.
Toyota doesn’t even offer a diesel, RAM 2500 & 3500 do.
Not sure how you could use Toyota as tough in the same definition as a truck. I think the comparison would be better comparing the Toyota’s to SUV’s. Good for light duty work and carrying people. Not good for people that need a truck that can be used as a truck.
I’m sure the Ford and Chevy would be comparable to the Dodge if your looking for a truck.
Your comparing apples to oranges… You cannot compare a 3/4 ton 2500 Ram against a Tundra(which is more a 1/2 ton truck) or any other 1/2 ton truck for that matter. Compare the Ram 1500/ Ford 150/ Chevy 1500. etc… agaisnt a Tundra and the numbers will look better…
That being said, I owned all 3 brands, Ford, Dodge and Toyota. 1 Ram 1500, 1 - 3/4 ton Ram 2500, a Ford F250(3/4t) and the Tundra.
Sorry, for the OT… I use a lot of trucks in my business…
EXACTLY. I’d call a 2500/3500 a truck. That is what you see on farms, construction sites etc. The 1500 is a light duty vehicle. To call a toyota , which only makes a 1550, a “tough truck” is ridiculous. As for the Ford, can’t comment, but the Ram’s we’ve owned - well you can guess my opinion.
I have a tundra with a Pace Edwards retractable tonneau that locks and is made of powder coated aluminum. Super Strong and relatively waterproof. I bought the rails that can mount a Thule Rack on it. Best investment I made on my Tundra.
BTW, I had a taco with a Bakflip tonneau, don’t get it. POS. Pace Edwards and Retrax make retractable locking tonneaus. I also had a foldacover which was nice but don’t see a way to mount a bike on top of that.