I am considering getting a Yamaha Grizzly 660 four wheeler. The bed in my 1999 F150 4x4 Ex. Cab is about 6 inches to short to be able to close the tailgate with the four-wheeler loaded. Are there any devices that can be attached to the open tailgate that would prevent the four wheeler from falling out, or would I have to chain it in the bed. Thanks.

 

You should strap it down in the bed even if you can close the tailgate IMO........

You can get what they call a "Bed Extender". The SuperCrews have them. They are a U shaped cage that will filp over on itself and provide a 'wall' on the back of an open tailgate.

Or you have to get a longbed truck.........

 

Like Mitch said - tie it down even if you can close the tailgate. You would be amazed at what can bounce around!

Other than the bed extender, you should look into a product called the Lousiana Guard Dog. It does exactly what you need, and you can still tow a trailer if need be.

 

I'm gonna agree with everyone else here. Plus I can speak from experiance. EVen with the long bed you still need to tie it down. And I would NOT recommend using the tie-downs in the bed. My Polaris 500 bent the tie-downs in my truck and broke the back window. And I loaded it against the tail gate. Just food for thought.

 

I haven't had any problems with the factory tie downs in the bed - of course I just have a puny 250.

 

That Lousiana Guard Dog thing is kinda neat. If I owned a ATV I definately get one of those.

I just wanted to defend the tie downs in the bed of an F-150. I have tied down my motorcycle (800 lb. Harley) completely compressing the front forks & not had a problem.

 

Get tie-downs and strap that baby down front and rear! I also had a buddy of mine who didn't tie-down his banshee on his Toy p/up and it broke his back window.

 

I use a 5000# rated strap to hook the drawbar on the quad and run the strap between the bed and tailgate. Then I hook it to the reciever and tighten. I make sure I can still close the tailgate before tightening. No more movement from the quad.

But I no longer haul the quad in the truck. I went out and bught a 6x12 full enclosed trailer. Much easier to load/unload and strap down.

 

Hey, that guard dog thing looks familiar. We made a setup almost just like that for the sport trac-honda rubicon set up for going to colorado. It worked great. Instead of a hitch on top, we just used a bolt and plate on top and bottom of where the ball would go on the 4 wheeler. Bolted it with bolt and nut, then placed one of the nuts with the rubber on top so it wont back out. then locked the bar at the hitch, and no one could take the 4 wheeler.

 

I ditched the tie down cleats on my '99 ext and replaced them with ½ inch dia. eye bolts. No drilling was necessery. The holes were already there just behind the cleats. The eye bolts work great, won't bend, and will hold down just about anything .............Cleats are for sailboats.