Swagman Paramount Tailgate Pad for Mid-Size Trucks - Up to 5 Bikes - 54" Wide

Video Transcript for Swagman Paramount Full-Size Trucks Tailgate Pad Review - 2022 Ram 2500

Hey, it's Ethan here at etrailer. Today we're going to be taking a look at the Swagman Paramount Tailgate Pad on the back of our 2022 Ram 2500. If you have a multitude of bikes and you're looking to transport them to a location but you don't wanna keep them in the bed where they'll roll around, scratch themselves in the bed and you maybe are already towing something or you just don't feel like the added length of a bike rack that can support that many bikes, a pad like this might be a good option for you. This Swagman Paramount Pad is actually capable of supporting up to seven bikes along the way, held in place by these hook and loop straps. To get our bike loaded up, first thing we need to do is open one of these straps up and have it ready. I will say for the Ram 2500, it is definitely a taller vehicle, so getting the bike on and off might be a challenge for you.

I'm coming in at just over six foot and I still have to reach a pretty good amount to get the bike on and just a little bit clunky to do. The tire's gonna move around, but once you have it on, all you need to do is tighten this strap back up. (Velcro scrapes) With the bike loaded up, there is only that one point of contact and it is just a hook and loop strap. So there is gonna be some side to side movement that you wanna keep in mind if you're loading multiple bikes. But coming to the front, we see that these pads that are here do work to hold the forks of the bike pretty well in place.

With the bike loaded up you can see how much space it does take up. This is a decent sized mountain bike in our case. So I would say if you want to get seven bikes loaded up, you're gonna have to get pretty creative with how to do it. Maybe if you have a couple kids bikes mixed in, you could make it happen, but this is just an idea of the scale. Now we'll get the bike off so we can talk a little bit more about the features that the pad has without the bike in the way.

Starting again, just by taking that hook and the strap off. Again, the bed does sit pretty high, so finding the leverage to get around it might be tough but once you do, you can just get the bike up and away. With the bike out of the way, it's always a good idea to get the straps closed back up. Otherwise, they can just slide right out of the sewn in straps. But now we can see if you come to the front, you unbuckle the flap here, fold it back, it will give you full access to your backup camera as well as the opening for the tailgate, which we can do and we can also show you how the pad will clip in on the backside here.

Not every pad has this as a feature and it is a really nice one. Also, we can see what the pad itself is made of. This inside is a felt material that's going to protect the paint and it won't be scratching or rubbing around anything like that. Additionally, you can see that there are these two mesh bags on the back that expand pretty good. So you'll be able to store maybe some items in there like sunscreen, sunglasses, water bottles, things like that. I will say they are pretty much directly in the way of the bikes when they're loaded up so that's definitely something you consider. I wouldn't put anything fragile in there and you might have to move them around once you have bikes loaded up to make it work. The installations of these pads is usually pretty straightforward. All you need to do is slide the straps from the front through the back of the tailgate. You might have to lift it up just a little bit to slide them through. I will say on some pads the ends of the straps have some sort of like rubberized molding. Something on them to make it easier to feed them through. These don't, it's not a huge thing but something I wouldn't mind seeing. The material of the pad is a durable tarpaulin material which should do pretty well to hold up against the elements, rain and sun. The padding is pretty thick throughout and especially at the front here with these multiple pads. And the overall, I think that the Swagman Paramount is probably my best value option as far as tailgate pads go if you're looking to get up to seven bikes where you need them. So that is a solid pad choice, but this was just a look at how it fits in general on our 2022 Ram 2500.