Has anyone ever tried to haul a mini truck in the bed of a full size 8 foot bed pickup truck?? It looks like from the measurements it would be close to fitting inside the bed, but it would be awful tight on the wheel wells and it would probably sit on the talegate at the back or at least on the crack between the bed and talegate. I am not worried about the weight I would be putting it on an F-350 dually, I am just worried about the size. Anyone ever done it or think it is possible??
I wouldn't want to be the guy driving it up. That would be a crazy tumble if it slipped. With some nice ramps and a spotter, it should work though. I have seen pictures of them.
So these trucks will fit between the fender wells on the full size pickup beds with not too much problem. That is what I am worried about is hitting the fender wells. I agree, I think it will work, I just want to hear from someone that has done it before I decide to try it and fall off the ramps
I actually put one in the back of a pickup with an 8' bed (a '94 Mitsu), just to see if I could, and the front tires did not quite fit between the fender wells. So I ended up putting some blocking in the bed to match the height of the fender wells. I think if it were something that I were going to do a lot, I would make some kind of custom ramp for the front tires to sit on. To actually load the mini, I had the pickup backed up to a bank, so I wasn't using ramps to get up into the bed. -Hiram
I agree with okeitrucker. I thought about that with my 06 Silverado. I also think about what truck you are putting it in. Do you care if the tailgate straps fail and it takes out your tailgate and bumper and possible damage to the mini?
Shep Va, my B-inlaw has hauled two (one at a time of course) in the back of his full size chevy. But, here's what you could check first. (I'll use my 94 mits as an example): Distance from a vertical line at front bumper to vertical line of center of rear tire. That is where your rear tire will sit on your truck (on mine 8'2") which means you're barely sitting on the front edge of your tailgate and therefore not much weight on your tailgate supports). Measure distance from outer edges of your tires to determine if you clear your wheel wells. As for load/unload - highly recommend if possible do as in the photo in the post above and back into a ditch and try to drive on level (or have some strong and long ramps). Place a buffer (2x4 or whatever) between front of your kei and front of bed to prevent accidental shift forward in unexpected braking (I split the cost on the rear glass in B-inlaw's truck)......Secure your load and drive on. And you are correct weight not a prob on your f-350. My mits at 725kg/1598lb (acc to manual) was no prob for standard full size chevy. Good luck and later......slim
Just don't try it in a Toyota Tundra. The straps will hold up fine, the tailgate won't. There have been numerous complaints of tailgate failures on the Tundra from just putting a couple of hundred pounds on the tailgate. It is apparently made out of aluminum foil.
I've seen pic of a friends '90 carry in the back of his F250. He suggests you put it in backwards. The back or the mini truck can be lifted by one person (as long as the fuel tank isn't full) over the wheel wells or the full sized truck. WARNING: have someone in the mini truck on the brakes. You could get pinched between the mini truck and the front of the box of the full size when the mini truck crests the wheel wells and comes down the other side. I'll see if I can get the pics posted. G
I was gonna say... putting it in backwards is definitely how I'd do it. No point in putting your rear tires on the tailgate when you have a foot of space being eaten up by the overhanging cab in the front. Colin
Colin, just wondering unless you've modified your Sambar, where will the front tires be resting if you put the truck in backwards? On my 94 mits centerline of front tire to front of truck is 28" - centerline of rear tire to rear of truck is 28". Overhang is overhang. However in the case of your vehicle (rear engine) you might want it in backwards for weight distro toward the front and off the edge of the tailgate. I guess either way front/back end first. Another option if you have one available is a small single axle trailer (most of them are rated at 1700-2000lb) which would be more than adequate for all kei's. mine has a drop down tail gate and i drive it up on the trailer (just like a riding lawnmower)....later, slim
That is what I was thinking Slimbad, if you put the truck in backwards isnt the heavy end of the truck then sitting on the talegate?? I understand it would be easier to get the back wheels over the fenderwells than to drive the front ones over, but I am not sure I want all the weight on the talegate either. Am I missing something??? Pictures would be nice Thanks
Ya know, I guess the overhang is similar in the rear. I was thinking the rear wheels were just about at the very rear of the bed. Whoops. Colin
Looks like 4 inches different on the overhang, little more overhang in the front Colin, but only a little bit. I think the tires are still going to be on the talegate of the pickup no matter which way you park it. 8 foot 6 inches from the bumper to the center of the tire backed on and 8 foot 10 with it pulled on. I am not sure the difference in the distance is worth the difference in the weight Any other thoughts??
Easy now!....I'm a Chevy guy!.... But, I would have found a drier ditch to use to load a 1200 truck into the bed of my Chevy....(just in case!)..
I'll hook the bumper of my "junk" Cummins to your Ford any day.And I will give you 2 extra cylinders to boot just to make it a bit more fair.
Ditto that!!! I had a 98 Dodge Cummins. Hands down THE best truck I ever owned. Still had the OEM tires on it when I sold it with 108k on the odometer. Probably should have kept that truck, but wasn't using it much anymore, and hated the idea of it just sitting in the driveway unused. Back when I had that truck, a friend of mine and I were working out in my yard. We heard the sound of somebody's differential failing, so we went over to check it out. It was another Dodge truck with a Cummins with over 300k on its odometer. They were pulling a large ditch witch on a very large trailer. We hopped into my truck, and pulled both the truck and trailer over to my place. Once we got the trailer unhooked, we pulled the truck forward far enough to get it out of the way, and then pulled the trailer back to where he worked. One of my most common things to haul around in that truck, was dead cars on trailers. If I could keep my foot out of it, It would tap on 18 mpg TOWING. 23 to 24 mpg was possible empty. The F150 has to be babied to the extreme to tap 23, and will only get 10 towing, and I have to run 10 mph slower in the F150 to do those numbers, than I did in the Dodge. The Duramax and the Powerstroke cannot hold a candle to a Cummins powered Dodge - I don't care if they post higher hp/torque figures or not.