Motorcycle against the midgate

[husam]

I am thinking about grabbing an '04 Av, but have read quite a bit about leaking midgates. It seems to be hit or miss with each Av, but in chevy's defense i have not read of any leaks in '03 or '04 model years. has the problem been fixed?

more importantly though, i want to haul my bike in the bed. as any of you who have ever strapped a bike into the back of a truck are well aware, when you are done cranking down the tiedown straps and compressd the front shocks of the bike to secure it, there is probly a couple of hundred pounds of pressure trying to pull the bike's front tire through the cabin wall. considering how sensitive the midgate seems to be, isn't this just begging for the thing to leak? thank you all in advance for your advice.

 

[KingVolcano]

I have an 04 without any leaking issue. When I put my motorcycles in the back, I compress the forks with more down force than pressure on the midgate. If you compress the forks and rear shock, the bike isn't going to move forward much. You can always wrap a strap to apply your front brake. I haul two motorcycles around this way....so far so good. If you have one of those overweight bikes, maybe a 2x4 across the midgate would help distribute the pressure

 

[Rahn]

midgate is made of a composite material, should retain it's shape better than steel

 

[FirstChevyForMe]

I haul two motorcycles around this way....so far so good.

KingVolcano, what size bikes do you haul? I have a Yamaha R6 and have yet to put it in the back of the Av because of all the snapping tailgate cable stories. Like husam, this is a major reason why I bought the Av and now I have to find a way to strenghten the tailgate cables so I will feel comfortable loading it in the back. My bike only weighs 370lbs, but with me and the bike together loading it up the tailgate equals almost 600lbs. I read where someone was looking into getting the folding rods like on the older pickups.

 

[Guy]

Why not get a small trailer

I did it and tow a ATV. It's great. As long as you have a place to put it.

Alot of guys, even with pickups not AV's were smashing the back windows out with the bumbers fom the ATV's.

 

[Mdz66]

Husam, I took a 04 for a 10 mile drive in the rain stopped and looked behind the seats and it was wet I checked both latches drivers side was not latched opened mid-gate gave her a good slam 10 miles back and no more leak. The #3 cover was sagging about an inch enough to puddle water. The covers on my 02 still has a nice crown so even the water just runs off. Matt

 

[smigdiggler]

i hauled my new duck from Vegas to San Fran in the pouring rain. had front end mashed against the midgate.

No worries at all.

One thing that is Really cool about the avalanche when hauling a bike at night.

I can flip on the bed lights from the cockpit and you can show off your cool bike while ripping up hiway 5.

pretty cool!!!

anyway, midgate is leak free and proud to be.

 

[mikek]

Husam,

I have been hauling my KTM all the over the place since I picked up the AV in July and so far I have not had any issues with the midgate. My older Dodge Ram 1500 bed was caved in slightly from tying the bikes down constantly but it seems like the AV material on the midgate is holding up well. I have never used it haul my street or trackbike (have a trailer for that) but I would assume it will handle one bike no problem. The tailgate cables snapping is a tough call, the KTMs back tire sits well on to the tailgate but I never really give it much thought while hauling. Just make sure you have four quality tie downs and load the bike up, if you keep worrying about that type of stuff it will ruin all your fun!