How far is comfortable, or too far, to have a kayak structurally unsupported, hanging beyond the tailgate?

New member with a new FF Moken 12.5 PDL on the way. I have a couple of sit-in 10' Pelican's but a Christmas bonus allowed me to upgrade. The Pelicans only stick about 1.5' beyond the lowered tailgate so I've never worried about them. The Moken will project about 4' beyond the lowered tailgate. My first thought is that 2/3s of the length is supported in the bed and the remaining third should be fine but, I thought I would put the question before the collective experience here.

I'm shying away from the HF bed extenders due to the decreased departure angle and will likely build a simple slide in bunk if needed. I know the lighting and flagging requirements and I'm going to steal Neumie's great light setup design (Thanks!).

Moken 12.5 PDL - 12' 7"
Bed length with tailgate down - 8' 8"

I've spent a lot of hours reading through the forum. I appreciate all the shared knowledge amassed here. I hope to be able to contribute.

You're golden, I carry same length in same bed all the time. Just hang a red flag on the rear

As snottynose said, you are good to go w/flag. My trk has a 8' box and one of my kayaks is 13'. I do run two straps to secure it to the bed. One is good enough but like having the piece of mind of two.

Thanks guys!

My cargo net of trust gives me peace of mind.
Of course, also double rubber bungeed and ratchet strapped also.

I modified the net so that it covers over and under the rear of the unsupported overhanging section of kayak…then secured proximally to the bed.

I have a Hobie Revolution 13 (13' 5") and a 5.5' truck bed. With the tailgate down I have 92" of support. For my yak, that is not enough support so I use an extender I bring this up as I saw a guy with my same set-up (he said he borrowed a friend's Revo 13) and the yak was flexing pretty seriously at the end of the tailgate. 12" might make a difference but for me, a 69" overhang was way too much. If your yak structure is more rigid than mine, it may be fine. I would test it to see if you see any flexure in the yak, especially if you are doing some long distance commuting. An extender is cheap insurance for spending that much on a new yak to ensure no haul issues. my three cents worth.

I used to carry a OK Trident 13 and a OK Torque on carpeted 1X4 bunks that rested in the bed and on a bed extender. Never an issue.

it should be ok

If you're concerned about the center of gravity or how much the kayak is sticking out the back you can always put some weight
in the front of the kayak and be sure and use a flag to warn those behind you.

Finally got some pictures of the lights. Three wire marker lights allowing for running, stop, and turn lights.

Nicely done. Also to the TFF!