Can i safely transport a 11.5 foot kayak in the back of my short bed truck without a bed extender? Could anything happen to the kayak from the extra length hanging off warp the hull or anything? 

How long is the bed with the gate down?  I transport a 14' kayak in my half ton GMC with a standard bed, no problem.   My boats pretty much live in the bed all summer. 

Its a tacoma, so i think a 5.5ft bed, with the gate down might bet another foot and a half. 

2 minutes ago, euroshowoff said:

Its a tacoma, so i think a 5.5ft bed, with the gate down might bet another foot and a half. 

You should be fine so long as you tie it down well, and make sure

you tie on a red or bright orange flag/material on the end to draw

driver attention. I believe if it extends 4' out the back of a vehicle

in VA it requires a flag. I do it with all my kayaks when transporting.

11.5 - 7 is 4.5' hanging over.  It's probably fine, but the bed extender is relatively inexpensive, and might make launching and loading a lot easier.

4 minutes ago, Darren. said:

You should be fine so long as you tie it down well, and make sure

you tie on a red or bright orange flag/material on the end to draw

driver attention. I believe if it extends 4' out the back of a vehicle

in VA it requires a flag. I do it with all my kayaks when transporting.

thanks - yes i picked one up. 

2 minutes ago, J Francho said:

11.5 - 7 is 4.5' hanging over.  It's probably fine, but the bed extender is relatively inexpensive, and might make launching and loading a lot easier.

Great. Thanks for the input. 

you will be fine

I have a standard size bed on my ram. I just throw my 12’ kayak in the back with the tailgate up and strap it down and use bungies inside the bed just to make sure if doesnt budge. Ive havent noticed any damage to the yak. ive only had the truck for about 2 months but have traveled 3 hours on the highway with no issues

I transport a 12' kayak in my extended cab Silverado just fine. If not going far, I just put a strap across the kayak thru the side handles and hooked to the two eyes in the rear of the truck bed. If going far, I'll use another strap across the front thru the front handle, hooked to the front eyes. I've even transported a 14' jon boat in the bed of my truck. Just tie a red rag (flag) on the end that's hanging off the tailgate. My kayak is bright red so it's not really necessary.

I have a 12' kayak with a 6 foot bed, as long as you don't leave it out in the extreme heat for days at a time in your truck, it should be fine. 

I feel better on a long haul using a bed extender.

I have a 2002 Tacoma extended cab with a short bed and i've hauled my 11 footer hundreds of times with no issues.

You’ll be fine without a bed extender.  Put the kayak in diagonally and it’ll stick out a little less.

 

Good luck with your choice.