Recommendations for Towing a Trailer and Carrying Bikes with a Toyota Tacoma

Question:

We have a 15 foot Coleman Pop up tent trailer and a 4 door Tacoma truck. We would like to find an option for carrying two adult bikes one womans bike and towing our trailer. We have a camper shell on the truck - but the womans bike is too heavy to lift on top. I was wondering if a dual mount hitch with a tray style carrier would work and still give us good turning radius. We also sometimes have the dog in the bed of the truck, so is there an option for tilt down to get the dog out without taking the bikes off? Thanks!

asked by: Heidi

Expert Reply:

The easiest solution would be to use a tailgate bike rack like the # SR26461. Your bikes will basically just set on the top of your tailgate with this rack. Your turning radius won't be affected, but it would make opening and closing the tailgate a bit harder for letting your dog out.

So another option would be the Swagman Pick-Up Truck-Bed-Mounted 2 Bike Carrier # S64702. This will also allow you to carry your bikes in the bed of your truck, but since the rack doesn't attach to the tailgate you can easily open and close it. I attached review videos for both racks.

Running a dual ball mount like the # D210 would make it hard to fold down the tailgate and I couldn't make any guarantees on how it would affect your turning radius.

expert reply by: Jameson C