Hi, I have a 2006 polaris sportsman that I regularly load into the bed of my Toyota Tundra with ramps. Always seems like a sketchy affair throughout the process. I found that winching it on works best, but a few other issues always seem to pop up.

1. First, it seems that no matter how I strap / tie it down, it seems to move,
2. It seems that the winch fairlead was perfectly designed to penetrate the rear window of the truck. I tried putting a piece of plywood inbetween, but there must be a better way.
3. The tail gate wont close. I have used a ratchet strap to help with this, but seems to scratch up the pain as i need to keep it very tight.

Looking for your experiences that may help with the above

 

My brutes front bumper stuck out so far I had to put a couple blocks of wood to chock the front tires. I just hauled it with tailgate down in my ex cab Silverado. I have a trailer now so I use that. I set the parking brake and tie down both front and rear and it didn't move either in truck bed or trailer

 

Very common to get something like a 6x6 block of wood or empty milk crates and put that against the truck bed near the cab so your quad can't contact your back cab window.

Ramps. The are much better ramps that won't feel so sketchy. Take a look at something like the RevArc series arched ramps. They have higher sides and are connected in the middle. There is a built in strap. I have the 90" version of this ramp and it does not move/shift around. It will cost you a bit more than the cheap ramps though but well worth it. Most likely my truck sits higher than your Tundra, it's a newer 1-ton 4x4 and I load and off-load my Grizzly with me on it, never used my winch for that.

RevArc Arched Tri-Fold ATV Ramps - 6' and 7'6" Long | Discount Ramps

 

My suggestion, get a small utility trailer. I had a 5' x 8' with fold down ramp that I bought from Tractor Supply for $599. Worked like a charm, then I swapped it even for a much nicer 7' x 12' that holds both of my Arctic Cats, barely. When I carried my AC 400 in the back of my Ram, I put a 6" x 6" against the front of the bed, ran ratchet strap from front corner pad eye, back under to the tow hitch on the Cat, back to the other corner pad eye. Never moved. The small utility trailer is also handy to tow behind the ATV. Here's a pic of mine behind my old AC 500 hauling firewood.

 

Agree with the utility trailer. Hauled mine on a 4x7. Took it 2000 mile round trip to Utah and back and never had an issue. I did upgrade the tires from 4.12" to 5.10". If I knew Lowes offered a 4x6 I would have bought it as that would have fit mine snug.

 

Some Good suggestions. I already have a trailer - But I need to load 2 ATV's.

 

First thing that comes to mind is install a headach rack to keep the machine from hitting your window. Its cheaper than a replacement window. Technically the safest way to load your machine is winch it into the bed. The longer ramp you have the less of a incline you will have. When strapping it down go rear of atv front of bed and front of atv to rear of bed. This will keep your machine from moving

 

Have you tried loading it backward? One guy I ride with did that before he bought a trailer. It was the only way he could get the tailgate closed and the winch was hanging out over the edge of the tailgate. It also solved the problem of the winch wanting to go through the truck window.

 

The only problem with that is that it is quite awkward and much more dangerous to back something up a ramp than it is to drive it up a ramp. Backing into a ditch or embankmant can make for a much less steep incline but unless your truck is 4x4, you can get stuck. Sometimes you can still get a 4x4 truck stuck backing into a muddy and relatively shallow ditch. I actually did that once about 5 years and 2 trucks ago. The front tires couldn't dig the truck out even though the 4x4 was working properly and they were spinning. The truck didn't quite have enough ground clearance and the rear tires weren't getting any traction. I ended up having to get winched out by a tow truck.