Softride Tailgate Pad Review
It happens to every truck owner – no matter how long your truck bed is, there’s always something you need to carry that is just a little bit too bulky to fit neatly inside with the tailgate up. Some people in this position resort to driving with the tailgate lowered and either tying down the cargo or hoping that their rubber bed liner is tacky enough to keep everything in place. Others purchase a bed extender that sticks out over the dropped tailgate and provides a few more feet of storage room.
The Softride Shuttle Pad Truck Tailgate Pad.
A further option for Tacoma owners faced with the need to haul bulky or awkward cargo is the Softride Shuttle Pad Tailgate Pad. This padded vinyl product is designed to be slung over the back of your truck’s tailgate in order to transform it into a sort of carrying rack. The Shuttle Pad protects the finish of your paint and allows you to hang the front wheel of a bike, the end of a canoe or any other bit of gear that is too long for your cargo bed over top your tailgate without worrying about nicks or scratches.
The Tailgate Pad is secured with tie-downs – six in all – that are meant to keep it in place while you are out on the road. The Softride product also comes with a tether system to help prevent bikes from moving around in your truck bed. The tailgate handle is concealed by a Velcro flap that lifts out of the way when it’s time to open the tailgate.
The Shuttle Pad definitely does the job it is designed to do – keep your tailgate looking good while improving the utility of your truck – but the aesthetics of the product leave something to be desired. The overall visual effect is one of a particularly ill-fitting “bra,” similar to the front-end covers that were popular in the early 90s. The Shuttle Pad just doesn’t fit very snug to the tailgate, which kind of gives it a home-made look.
The closer you look, the more ill-fitting the Softride product looks.
If you don’t care about how your truck looks, then the Softride tailgate protector will do the job it’s designed to do for a price of around $90. Then again, if you don’t care how your truck looks, why would you buy a tailgate protector in the first place? I know, I know – resale value, corrosion protection, etc. However, the fact remains that products that are designed to enhance or protect the appearance of a truck shouldn’t detract from it. A little more effort in creating a form-fitting design would have elevated the Softride Shuttle Pad in terms of its visual appeal.