Kuat Huk Half Tailgate Bike Pad for Trucks - 2 Bikes - 25" Wide

Video Transcript for Kuat Huk Half Truck Tailgate Pad Review - 2016 Toyota Tundra

Hi, everyone. Aiden here with etrailer. Today, we're gonna be taking a look at the Kuat Huk half tailgate pad and seeing how it fits on the back of our 2016 Toyota Tundra. Now, tailgate pad is a great way to carry a bike with your truck because you've got a truck bed, you might as well use it. And a tailgate pad is a great way of keeping your bikes upright and organized so they're not just piled on top of each other in the bed, protecting both the bed and your bikes. Now, the reason I like the half tailgate pad is because if you only need to carry one or two bikes, this is great.

It can carry up to two, space 'em apart perfectly, and it leaves the rest of your bed open for other stuff. Not to mention things like your backup camera and your handle are accessible. Your license plate is going to be more visible and you can offset it to one side so that you, in the driver's seat, can see back behind you a lot clearer. Now, they do make tailgate pads that are full length that can carry up to six bikes, and if you have a need for that, great, but again, if you only need to carry one or two, I like this option a lot better than a hitch-mounted bike rack. And as far as fitment goes, you should be good in most cases.

We have the short bed tundra with us today and we have a canister style tonneau cover, which takes up about 13 inches of room at the front of the bed. And even with our large frame mountain bike over there, we've got at least six inches of space. So, even with a larger frame or a larger bike with a longer wheel base, I think we'd be in great shape, not to mention if you had a longer bed Tundra, you'd be even better off with more space. So, in most cases, I don't think you'll have any issues with fitment, especially on this half pad. The bike is held in place really with just one strap.

It'll cinch down around the frame, and one thing you'll notice is that there's a bunch of other loops to choose from. So, you can move this strap side to side. So, if you do have it loaded up with two bikes, you can space them further apart if you needed to, or cluster them together, again to just give you more room with things like your backup camera. And one of the things that helps hold the bike in a little bit more stable is the fact that it really wedges itself down over the tailgate. You've got inch thick padding on the top, back and front, and you can see how it's compressed around the frame and our fork here, and that's part of what holds it in so steadily.

With the strap undone, you can just lift the bike out of the bed, and that brings up a good point of that might be one of the things that leads people away from a tailgate pad because you do have to lift your bikes up quite high to get it in and out of your Tundra. That's one space where a hitch mounted bike rack might be nice because you're not lifting the bike up as high to get it loaded, but the downside there is you're adding a lot more length to your truck. So, it just comes down to you and your comfort level. If you've got a heavy e-bike, you might not wanna lift it up that high, but if it's just a basic mountain bike, then this is probably just fine for you. Now, the outer material with the bike unloaded, you can see it's gonna be a pretty smooth material. It's TPU, so it's going to be pretty water resistant and easy to clean. If you peel this back, you can see that the whole inner liner is this felt material, really soft to the touch, and it's gonna help keep your paint protected so it doesn't scratch up. And the two straps that hold this onto your tailgate, they'll just wrap under the gap between the tailgate and the bed. And you've got these metal G hooks that go to reinforced, stitched loops that actually hold it in place and keep it from shifting side to side. On the back, you can probably a little bit easier see now the different locations where you can get your bikes hooked up and feed that strap around so that you can get your bike secured safely. And like we mentioned, one of the big benefits with that half pad is our backup camera and our handle are fully exposed, so you never have to worry about being unable to access it. The one thing about your Tundra is that the lock here is just a little out of the way, but again, you can just fold that tailgate pad back a bit and access it perfectly fine. So, it's really not a loss in my book. So, when it comes down to it, if you're just looking for a way to carry one or two bikes, I think this half pad from Kuat is a great way to do it. It's gonna be really convenient to set up and it doesn't take up much room on your truck. Some things to consider if you're biking a lot, though. This doesn't really have a solid way to lock up your bikes. You could get a cable lock and feed it through a tie-down loop on your truck bed, but it's gonna be hard to reach, and a lot of hitch mounted bike racks come with integrated cable locks or just included cable locks that are gonna be easier to reach, keeping your bikes a bit safer. Plus, if you're loading and unloading your bike every day or close to it, it's a lot less lifting you have to worry about, especially after your ride. But this might be the perfect fit for you because it doesn't add much length to your truck at all. It's not really gonna block your backup camera. So for me, it leaves the truck more usable in that way, but it just comes down to you and your needs and how you're using your bike. But that was just our look at the Kuat Huk half pad on our 2016 Toyota Tundra. Thanks for watching.