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How much weight can the my lift gate handle?

LakeSpeed

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LakeSpeed Enthusiast

LakeSpeed

Posted
Posted

I bought a RZR, as of now I do not have a trailer. The weight of it is just under 1,000lbs. I read on some of RZR forums some concerns about ability of the lift gate to handle to weight of the rear wheels. I will won't be carrying it often in the bed, but when I do, I will be driving nearly 3 hrs. I would put 2X's under the wheels, but the last thing I want to happen is have the lift gate to break under the load.

 

I saw this video using an LA Guard dog to secure the vehicle. It looks like it will keep the vehicle secure, but the lift gate looks to be taking a beating.

 

 

 

Completely new to this, so I am not sure if this is a real concern of if some are being hyper cautious. Thoughts?

 

Thanks

high country Enthusiast

high country

Posted
Posted

I know your asking about the tailgate but do you have the extra total capacity to carry 1000 lbs? Personally I wouldn't do it,that is a lot weight on the gate while moving and a failure will be real bad. You can get a trailer for under 1000 bucks.

Not sure which model you bought but the plain jane trail 900 is close to 1200 lbs. dry without any accessories.

tstehle Enthusiast

tstehle

Posted
Posted

I bought a RZR, as of now I do not have a trailer. The weight of it is just under 1,000lbs. I read on some of RZR forums some concerns about ability of the lift gate to handle to weight of the rear wheels. I will won't be carrying it often in the bed, but when I do, I will be driving nearly 3 hrs. I would put 2X's under the wheels, but the last thing I want to happen is have the lift gate to break under the load.

 

I saw this video using an LA Guard dog to secure the vehicle. It looks like it will keep the vehicle secure, but the lift gate looks to be taking a beating.

 

 

 

Completely new to this, so I am not sure if this is a real concern of if some are being hyper cautious. Thoughts?

 

Thanks

 

Get yourself some tailgate support bars from D.G. manufacturing. www.dgmtailgatesupport.com

LakeSpeed Enthusiast

LakeSpeed

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I know your asking about the tailgate but do you have the extra total capacity to carry 1000 lbs? Personally I wouldn't do it,that is a lot weight on the gate while moving and a failure will be real bad. You can get a trailer for under 1000 bucks.

Not sure which model you bought but the plain jane trail 900 is close to 1200 lbs. dry without any accessories.

Thanks High Country. I have a 2500 so I am not worried about the overall weight in the bed. Just focused on the lift gate. I have a Rzr 570 which is just under 1,000. As I said I am new to this and I see pictures everywhere with ATV/UTVs in beds but all that bouncing around on the lift gate makes me nervous

irish4life8911 Enthusiast

irish4life8911

Posted
Posted

Not all the weight will ever be on the tailgate at one time. So you should be fine. I used to haul my motorcycle in the bed of my truck. The rear wheel would always be on the tailgate.

 

If you are really worried about the tailgate, you can invest in stronger support cables and you can also put a sheet of ply wood in the bed, under your 4 wheeler. This will distribute more of the weight evenly

ember1205 Senior Enthusiast

ember1205

Posted
Posted

Get a 4'x8' sheet of 3/4" PT plywood and call it a day!

 

How does this help? Putting a flexible piece of wood underneath the load won't carry any appreciable amount of that load back into the bed. The only way to accomplish what you're alluding to would be to create a slide-out type of platform that mounts inside the bed and "hovers" completely above the tailgate.

 

When you're loading a vehicle like this, the front wheels will carry a portion of the load, transfer it directly to the tailgate (you don't have a Lift Gate - those are on commercial delivery trucks), then transfer into the bed. When the rear wheels land on the tailgate, THAT portion of the load is resting on it.

 

If you're able to, you could get weight readings for the front axle and the rear axle separately from each other to know how much weight each of them carries. The higher one should definitely be -inside- the bed during transport, and a portion of the total load carried will include your weight.

high country Enthusiast

high country

Posted
Posted

Not all the weight will ever be on the tailgate at one time. So you should be fine. I used to haul my motorcycle in the bed of my truck. The rear wheel would always be on the tailgate.

 

If you are really worried about the tailgate, you can invest in stronger support cables and you can also put a sheet of ply wood in the bed, under your 4 wheeler. This will distribute more of the weight evenly

Except when your driving it up the ramp, then all the weight is on the end of the gate, loading and unloading will be the most stressful part of the deal and then you need to add yourself into the total weight.

ember1205 Senior Enthusiast

ember1205

Posted
Posted

Except when your driving it up the ramp, then all the weight is on the end of the gate, loading and unloading will be the most stressful part of the deal and then you need to add yourself into the total weight.

 

Not really true, but this is an important thing to think about.

 

While the ACTUAL weight is never entirely on the gate (a portion is transmitted directly to the ground through the ramp), the fact that the weight is actually applied in a way that LEVERAGE comes into play is important. So, the tailgate -could- end up having to support more weight than the vehicle/driver in the first place.

SouthernSilveradoGuy85 Senior Enthusiast

SouthernSilveradoGuy85

Posted
Posted

I don't think there's anything to worry about. From what I understand, they're just steel braided cables with a coating to protect from the weather.

 

If you really that worried then just buy the tailgate support that was mentioned above. It looks like they're just simple flat bars that have ends made to latch into each end where the tailgate latches when up.

high country Enthusiast

high country

Posted
Posted

This about sums up what most have said, well maybe one or two of us.

 

Q. I have a side-by-side (UTV) that is too long to fit in the back of my truck without leaving the back tires on the tailgate. Can my tailgate handle the weight when transporting it?

A. We think you would be taking a big risk since the dynamic tension in the tailgate cables caused by uneven road surfaces could easily be several times the static tension. If transporting with a load on your tailgate is your only option then drive as if you were hauling a tub of nitroglycerin. We would have liked to have measured the dynamic tailgate cable tensions generated when trucks were driven down bumpy roads with various loads resting on the tailgate, but I could not find anyone willing to monitor the tension gauge while I drove. All of our tension measurements were taken with the vehicle being loaded in various positions, either partially or fully on the loading ramps and/or pickup bed/tailgate.

TJay74 Senior Enthusiast

TJay74

Posted
Posted

Wouldn't take much to build a thin platform to drive the UV on in the bed. Maybe 4 - 2x4's turned on their side screwed to the plywood, would be like an I-beam setup. Should hold the weight just fine.

LakeSpeed Enthusiast

LakeSpeed

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Get yourself some tailgate support bars from D.G. manufacturing. www.dgmtailgatesupport.com

 

Thanks for pointing these out. I am going to go with these.

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