Creating the Tail-Gator rack

 The Need

The Tail-Gator rack was developed early in 2008 by Bob Janashak and is just now in it's initial stages of production. Bob was looking for a solution to transport his bicycle(s) with his pick-up truck. Lying the bike on its side in the cargo area worked but posed other problems. They slid around, the chain would fall off and if more than one bike was transported the pedals of one bike often got caught in the spokes of the other making it difficult to unload them. They would get scratched, and someone had to lift the bikes over the sides of the truck to put them into the bed, often times resulted in scratching the truck paint itself. It had to be easily installed and removed when not in use. And preferably UNDER $100

Available Options

He looked at the different options currently on the market today for use with a pick-up truck. Most of the carrying racks that mount permanently or temporarily inside the truck bed require the user to remove the front wheel. Easy if bike that have quick release hubs. Even the racks that don't require you to remove the front wheel, the bike still has to be lifted into the bed of the truck. One more problem....his truck has a hard rear cover, so any rack that positioned the bike vertically could not be used without removing the cover. Not an easy task. Placing the bikes in the cargo area left little room for other items.

The most common solution was to use a hitch mounted rack. Most mini trucks and some full sized trucks don't come with a hitch receiver as standard equipment. The cost of installing a hitch ranged from $100-$200. The cost of hitch mounted carriers ranged from $125 to over $200. Total cost $225 to over $300.

The Solution

Every truck has a tailgate when it leaves the factory. By utilizing the tailgate, bikes did not have to be dismantled to be transported. The rear cargo cover or a shell did not have to be removed. It placed the bike outside the cargo area, allowing the full cargo area to used for other things. Eliminated the need to have a costly hitch receiver installed permanently on your truck.

The solution......The Tail-Gator rack.

Their solutions didn't work

 

No Room for Bike and Extras!

 

No Trailer Hitch Receiver Installed!

 

Can't Stand Bike Up with Cargo Lid!

 

The SOLUTION!!!!!!!!