How To Use The Yakima LongArm Truck Bed Load Extender In The Upright Position With Tailgate Down

Question:

2012 Tundra. Because of raft width, I need to transport it above the wheel wells. This put my load level about 26inch above my hitch receiver. The Long Arm at tonneau height has a minimum raised height of 29.5inch and Im wondering whether it will bang into my extended tailgate. The four basic settings seem pretty restrictive. Is there any way to work this out for a level load? Or am I missing something entirely about how this product works?

asked by: Charlie T

Expert Reply:

When the Yakima LongArm Truck Bed Load Extender # Y01149 is in the fully extended position then it can be used with the tailgate down on your 2012 Toyota Tundra. This extender is not designed to be used in the upright position with the tailgate down as it would definitely hit your tailgate. To get around this issue, you could install a hitch extender which would allow the Yakima LongArm Exender to be in the upright position with your tailgate down, which seems to be your overall goal here as you could then level your kayak.

To determine which extender you need, we can look at the measurements on the product page of the Yakima LongArm Extender and compare them to your truck. In the upright position, the distance from the Yakima extender to the hitch pin hole is 9". For reference, I measured the distance from the hitch pin hole to the edge of my dropped tailgate on my Nissan Titan truck and the distance was about 20". On MY truck, I could add any extender over 11" to clear the tailgate, but I would go with a few extra inches to be on the safe side. You will need to measure the distance from the hitch pin hole to the edge of your tailgate (in dropped position) and subtract 9" from that measurement; the number that you come up with is the minimum length for a hitch extender that you can go with.

It is very likely that you could use Curt Hitch Extender for 2" Trailer Hitches - 14" Long # C45795 which would extend the Yakima LongArm Truck Bed Extender out 14" from your hitch pin hole. Or you could use Curt Extender for 2" Receivers -18" Long # C45796 for 18". One thing to be aware of is that when using a hitch extender you will be reducing your hitch's overall capacity by 50%. This shouldn't be an issue since the kayak will not be much weight on your truck hitch. I attached demonstration videos for you to check out.

expert reply by: Andrew N