Here's a review of a product we can assure you we have personally spent many hours, and miles, testing -

We've been testing the Ultimate Rack ATV carrier system for over three months now. We have carried all kinds of test quads and our own personal ATV's on it over several states. I must admit that when I first picked it up I was a little worried. I was on the trek with the American Frontiers when another staff member picked up the rack and loaded our new 2003 Kawasaki Prairie 650 on it. I arrived to pick up the truck and quad. With the Prairie 650 sitting way up there on top of the bed by itself I wondered if I would make it back to Las Vegas.

Will the new Prairie fall off? Will the truck tip over?

It took a few miles to get used to but I soon discovered that the Prairie was just fine up there. It never budged when cornering and even with one quad it does not feel like you have an unbalanced load.

Slip the clutch a little and a Suzuki Z400 drives right up the ramp.

The 10 foot ramps fold for storage under the quads and leave the bed empty.

So why do the quads or even one quad ride so well up there? The Ultimate Rack is designed so that all of the weight is transferred to the bottom of the pickup bed. It is not like other systems where the weight is carried up on the bed rails. When assembled, the rack is a one-piece system that sits in the bed of the truck and is held in place with four turnbuckles. The Ultimate Racks are fabricated out of 2-inch tubular steel. The stationary joints are welded. The other joints requiring assembly are connected with 1/2-inch, grade-5 bolts and ny-lock nuts. The tire pans are built with 1/8-inch diamond-plated aluminum. The 10 foot ramps are constructed of 1x3-inch tubular steel, with rungs of 1x1x1/8-inch angle iron. Assembled the short bed system weighs approximately 197 lbs while the long bed model weighs 222 lbs.

Preparation

Getting ready for your Ultimate Rack is a very easy process but slightly more complicated if you have a bed liner. Installation with a bed liner is not recommended, but can be done.

A hole saw was used to create access to the mounting spots in the bed.

Temporarily remove any bedliner to get access to the bed

Attach the swivel D-ring mounting brackets to the bed.

Reinstall liner, attach turnbuckles and you are ready for the Ultimate Rack.

Using the Ultimate Rack

The Ultimate Rack comes with two heavy-duty 10 foor ramps that attach to the back of the rack system when loading. With an average height pickup the ramps are at an angle of approximately 30 degrees. The ramps are somewhat heavy to move around - they weigh about 47 lbs each, but they are built to handle the heaviest of ATV's and I don't think I would feel comfortable riding up a light duty ramp.

A slightly raised unloading area lowers the loading angle and makes it easy for anyone.

With your quads facing forward you do not have to worry about the wind catching the fenders or seat since they were designed for airflow in that direction.

Sitting on level ground it can look somewhat intimidating, but after loading an ATV a few times you quickly become accustomed to it. 4x4 utility quads can creep up the ramps very slowly; 2wd sport quads need a little more speed but I found that they were very easy to load also, if you used plenty of clutch slippage to control your ascent. If you want to make it even easier, find a loading spot where the back of the pickup sits lower or the unloading area is raised. The only quads that were somewhat of a problem to load were small underpowered 2wd quads. It took quite a bit of momentum to carry them up the ramp. Since these tend to be lighter quads you are better to just push them up the ramp with a couple people.

Racks stored on bed and ATV secured in place.

Another benefit! Some states like California require a slower speed when towing a trailer.

We have found many uses for the Ultimate Rack over the last three months. When you need to haul two quads it is much easier than hooking up a trailer. Just secure the rack with the four turnbuckles and load the quads. Need to tow a camp trailer? No problem - load two quads on the bed and tow your trailer. Have lots of toys that you need to get to your play area? We had two quads on our Ultimate Rack and three more stowed inside a Weekend Warrior.

Two quads and still room to tow a Starcraft tent trailer.

Just put the Prairie in low range and it creeps right up the ramp.

Summary

The only two issues we found was that some quads had a low enough ride height that the racks would not store in their mounting spot without hitting the skid plate. In this case we had to stow the ramp in the pickup bed. The other issue is that even though you have lots of room left in the bed we found it somewhat difficult to use the space since it is hard to reach up under the ramps and get to gear towards the front of the bed. We have a longbed rack but it may have been a better use of our longbed space with a shortbed rack and a toolbox in the front.

The construction is solid and the finish is very nice with the powdercoat and aluminum tires pans. The shortbed rack is $1,199 and the longbed ramp is $1,299 - about the price of a small trailer, but in many situations, much more useful.

Ultimate Racks
www.atvracks.com
Toll Free 1-866-4-ATV-RACK