Brent Huntley – Page 19

Let's be real. Riding ATVs is an expensive hobby to get into. Not only do you need to shell out thousands for an ATV, you also need a vehicle capable of hauling the ATV and potentially a trailer to put the ATV on. If you are starting from scratch, that set up could easily run you twenty to fifty thousand dollars. If you already have a truck, that saves most of the cost, but you may also be able to avoid the need to buy a trailer as well. If you only have one ATV, you may not have to buy a trailer by loading your ATV in a truck bed unless you have a really large ATV and/or small truck bed. Will an ATV fit in a truck bed? In general, a full size truck with a long bed will fit any ATV, a short bed truck is going to be hit or miss, and compact trucks are only going to fit youth ATVs. For more specificity, we have done the research to determine what ATVs will fit in pretty much every model of truck you might be driving. The first step to determining whether your ATV will fit in the truck bed is determining the dimensions of the ATV and the dimensions of your truck bed. We have already published the most complete guide to ATV dimensions I have seen that will be very helpful in your efforts to determine the dimensions of different ATVs. Below, we will look at almost every popular truck make and model to determine what size ATV you can expect to fit in the bed of the truck. For the measurements, we are mostly looking at fitting an ATV in the bed of the truck with the tailgate up. While you may be able to fit a larger ATV in your truck bed with the tailgate down, you want to be careful you aren’t setting too much weight on your tailgate or you risk snapping the cables, ruining your tailgate and causing other damage to your truck and ATV. Now, having the tailgate down isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you don’t have the space to close it, just make sure the weight of the ATV isn’t resting on the tailgate by ensuring most of the tires on the actual truck bed. If you are comfortable with the tailgate down as you haul an ATV, you can probably safely haul an ATV one or two class sizes larger than those listed below. One other consideration that I am not going to dwell on here, but would like to in the future if I gain more experience with them, is that there are some pretty awesome looking products you can buy to help fit more ATV in a truck bed. One of the coolest I have seen is a cover that goes over the top of your bed that is strong enough to support an ATV or two. This is great because you can load two ATVs sideways on top and still have the whole truck bed open to fit all your gear. I am personally super intrigued by this product and hope to try one out, but I have seen other products that can be helpful as well by extending your truck bed beyond your tailgate while providing adequate support so you do not have to worry about breaking your tailgate. One other thing to keep in mind is loading the ATV. While there are alternative ways to load an ATV in a truck bed, you will most likely need some good ramps. For a great value on a solid pair of ramps, check out our Recommended Gear. Chevy Silverado/GMC Sierra The Silverado and Sierra are pretty much the same truck so I am doing them together here. With a long bed (8 ft.), you should have no problem with any ATV. With the standard bed (6.5 ft.), you should be fine with anything up to a 350cc, with about a 50% chance, depending what model you have, of fitting a 500cc ATV. For the short bed (5.8 ft.), you are going to be okay with most smaller, 50 or 90cc, youth models and potentially up to 250cc, depending on the specific ATV dimensions. Chevy S10/GMC Sonoma These midsize trucks come with a long bed so you can generally fit anything up through a 450cc ATV. Most 500cc machines will also fit, along with a small percentage of 650cc ATVs. If you have the small bed version, you are going to be okay most likely up to 250cc, with a few possibilities as high as 450cc. If you happen to have the 4-door S10, you are pretty much out of luck. Chevy Colorado With the Crew Cab model, you are likely not putting an ATV in the bed. On the standard size, you are okay up until 250cc, where you are going to have about half the models that will fit. Dodge Ram With a long bed Ram, you can fit pretty much any ATV. With the short bed, you are likely okay up through a 300cc ATV, and may get lucky with a few of the 350cc models. For a few years, Dodge offered a smaller 5’7” truck bed as well. With that bed, you are pretty much stuck at 90cc or lower with the exception of a few 200cc models. Note this is not talking about the compact Ram 50 that was made in the late 80’s and 90’s. You are not getting an ATV in that truck bed. Dodge Dakota With the Quad Cab, you are going to be limited to a 90cc or smaller ATV. With the long bed, you are likely okay with almost any ATV. With the short bed, you are going to be okay likely up to 300cc, but can potentially reach 500cc depending on the model ATV you have. Ford Light Duty (F150, etc.) In the regular or extended cab models with a long bed (8 ft.), you will be fine with pretty much any ATV. With the Heritage Edition and short bed models (6.5 ft.), you are going to be fine up through the 450cc machines and potentially be okay with about half the 500cc ATVs. On the Flareside Ford truck, it is going to be pretty similar in size to the short bed, but you lose a couple inches of length, which may rule out a few ATVs, in the models from 2004-2011. In all other years, you will gain a couple inches over the short bed, and potentially have room for a few of the bigger 500cc ATVs. Ford also offers some models with shorter 5.5 foot beds. These are the Super Crew and Lincoln Mark LT vehicles. With these trucks, you are really limited to the smallest youth ATVs, potentially getting up to a 250cc ATV, if it is a one of the smaller model ATVs. Ford Super Duty (F250, F350, etc.) These are going to be very similar to the long bed and short bed options above with the Ford Light Duty trucks, but the Super Duty trucks generally give you an extra two inches so you might be able to fit more of the 500cc ATVs in the Super Duty short-bed models. On the long bed trucks, you will be fine with almost any ATV. Ford Explorer Sport Apparently Ford put out a version of the Explorer that has a truck bed. Who knew? The interior of the truck bed is only 50 inches long, so don’t plan on fitting an ATV in there except for a few of the smallest 50cc or 70cc ATVs like the Polaris Predator 50, Polaris Outlaw 50, Yamaha YFZ50 or Can-Am DS70. Ford Ranger The Ranger comes in three versions. The long bed, short bed and Splash (another truck I had never heard of). The long bed Ford Ranger will fit most 450cc ATVs and a handful of 500cc ATVS. The Ranger short bed version is right at a length where you are really going to have to check the dimensions of your ATVs (although we recommend doing this for any truck of course). The short bed Ranger is going to fit some, but not all, ATVs at 350cc, 400cc and 450cc. The Splash is going to be similar to the short bed version, with just an extra inch of length. Nissan Titan The Titan comes with four different size beds. The 8 foot bed should fit just about any ATV. The 7 foot bed is going to get you most of the 450cc ATVs, as well as some of the 500cc ATVs. The 6.5 foot bed is going to fit most, but not all, of the 450cc ATVs. Finally, the 5.5 foot bed is not going to fit anything other than a 50cc or 70cc ATV. Nissan Frontier Like the Titan, the Frontier also comes in four different sizes. The standard short bed changed their bed size pretty drastically in 2005, by removing four inches from the bed length. If you have a 2004 or older Frontier short bed, you are going to be able to get most of the 300cc machines, and a select few at 350cc or 400cc. If you have the short bed that is 2005 or newer, you are going to be limited to 250cc or smaller, and will need to be careful at 250cc because the larger 250cc ATVs are going to be too big even. The Frontier Crew Cab short bed has an even smaller bed that won’t fit many ATVs bigger than 50cc. The Crew Cab long bed is going to give you a few more options, being able to fit all but the biggest 250cc ATVs. Finally, the Frontier King Cab is going to be similar to the Crew Cab long bed, fitting most, but not all, the 250cc ATVs. Toyota Tundra The Tundra originally came with a long bed or short bed option, but in 2006, they dropped the standard short bed for two different sized short beds, one slightly longer and one slightly shorter. With the long bed, you will likely be fine with any ATV. With the older, pre-2006, short bed, you will be limited to 250cc ATVs for the most part. With the newer 6.5 foot short-bed Tundra, you will be able to get most ATVs up through 300cc, with a few options at 350cc that will fit as well. With the newer 5.5 foot short bed, you are going to be limited to 90cc or smaller ATVs. Toyota Tacoma The normal Tacoma model will allow you to fit most ATVs up to 250cc. The Tacoma Double Cab has a smaller bed that will only fit ATVs up to 90cc.