The Hawk up front......

[closedquestion]

So I'm heading to the Oregon coast for 4 days on Monday. I had been scratching my head on how I could take my boat and the Hawk. I love my Tundra, but with the big back doors, a truck box, and I have a tiny bed. I could load it fine with the tailgate down, but then I'd smack my tailgate with every turn on the boat trailer. Since I have the boat, my hitch mount carrier was not an option either. I kind of dropped the idea of taking the Hawk. While thinking about my boat, I remembered I was going to get a front mounted hitch, to make putting my boat in and out of the water and storage space a lot easier. I found the hitch online and ordered it. Once it arrived I installed it in literally 15 minutes, 2 bolts on each side for tow hooks dropped down, hitch went up, bottles and tow hooks went back on. As I was looking at my handy work, I remembered my hitch mount carrier should work on the front just as well as the back. So I put it on, then tries a couple driveways and what not to check clearance. No issues. I'm going to load the Hawk on it tomorrow and drive around a bit to see how it acts loaded. I will have to take my trunk off, but don't think it will block my tun signals, my lights, a little. I won't be driving at night anyway though.

[Johnp]

I'm curious to see how that works out for you! The only drawback I suppose is that rocks and road debris might hit the bike. But another way to look at it is that your cheap bike will protect your expensive truck! :-)

[pcspecialist]

This is what I went with for my motorhome:
http://www.versahaul.com/vh55.php

[kohburn]

may interfere with headlights a bit, but I had a front hitch on my last truck and it came in handy

[BARLOW]

put it in the boat

[david3921]

Your carrier is probably rated up to 500 lbs. but what is your new hitch/receiver rated at?

[closedquestion]

Yeah, it will probably eat some bugs for the Tundra that's for sure. I have a trailerable cover for the Hawk, but I'm afraid that would make my cooling system work too hard with limited airflow. As for the hitch, It's rated at 500lbs. on the tongue and 5,000 for push/pull(9,000 in a straight line). The rest of the trip weight will be distributed through the cab, bed, and boat. I'm a failure y light camper as it is. Staying in a yurt this trip. Hoping we limit each day on crab. Woohoo!!

[closedquestion]

Haha! With my back, trying to get it in the bed was going to be a challenge, don't even want to think what I would have to do to swing the Hawk up and into the boat, much less get it out once I got there.

[closedquestion]

All loaded and ready to go! I've been driving around with the bike loaded the last couple days, haven't found a steep driveway that I can't get in or out of, so should be good to go!

[closedquestion]

The "locomotive"! Haha!

[kohburn]

i wouldn't drive like that at night though. otherwise looks like a good setup.

[BlackBike]

Easy enough to unscrew those annoying mirrors from your line of vision. Other than that, good to go

[Weldangrind]

That's an excellent idea. If you wanted to prepare for night driving, you could add aux lights on stand that mount to the motorcycle carrier, much like snowplow pickups use.


How long is the box in your Tundra? If it's a clear 6', you can just remove the tailgate and carry the bike in the box. The back half of the rear tire will hang over by about a foot, but that shouldn't be an issue with your trailer. Measure very carefully to confirm, as this is all theory.

[Darkrider]

Originally Posted by Weldangrind

That's an excellent idea. If you wanted to prepare for night driving, you could add aux lights on stand that mount to the motorcycle carrier, much like snowplow pickups use.


How long is the box in your Tundra? If it's a clear 6', you can just remove the tailgate and carry the bike in the box. The back half of the rear tire will hang over by about a foot, but that shouldn't be an issue with your trailer. Measure very carefully to confirm, as this is all theory.

Great minds think alike. I was thinking the same thing when it comes to the snow plow lighting! Just wondering if the bike wouldn't fit in the bed if it was loaded diagonally? But then again i am not sure how much longer a Hawk may be vs say my XL185. I have about 6 ft or less usable space in the back of the C10 with the sleeper in place and ended up loading both the DT and the XL diagonally across the bed which allowed me to close the gate.