Home made racks for truck bed

[garbanzo]

Hello everyone ! I’m new to singletracks.com and I am looking for your photos/ sugestions/ ideas for a home made rack for the bed of my full size pick up, for down hill bikes. It’s not for long hauls, just a 10 k ride to the hill.
Thank You !

[Jeff Barber]

How many bikes are you looking to haul? Are you going to use the truck to shuttle to the top of a downhill run or just to get to the trailhead? If you’re using the truck as a shuttle vehicle this is an efficient way to go 😀

[abegold]

2 suggestions: You can take a thick blanket and cover the tailgate and just hang the front wheel of maybe 6-8 bikes over the tailgate.
Another way would be 2×4 with fork mounts screwed into it. Put angle brackets at the end of the wood with padding on the metal, soft foam insulation around a door. 1/4"x1" insulation to prevent scratching the bed. If you want to get fancy you can even put a bolt into the end to shorten or lengthen the board but if just used on your truck just measure to length.

[GoldenGoose]

My buddy and I use something along the lines of what Abegold was talking about. It works great for QR 9mm axles like the ones on our XC bikes but I haven’t been able to find fork mounts that fit the 20mm axle on my AM bike. (If anyone has a link to a 20mm version I’d love to have it.) We could easily fit at least 2 more bikes on the board with a little quick rearranging. The bed of his truck is only about 4’x 6′ so you may be able to fit a lot more bikes in yours. His bed liner even has built in shelf mounts to slide the 2×4 into and keep it from sliding around; chances are, yours probably does too. He’s out of town right now but I have the setup at my house in my bike garage so here’s a pic without the truck bed. Use your imagination and you can figure it out. Good luck.

[cjm]

JG, use a fork up

http://www.hurricanecomponents.com/forkups.php

I have owned one and they work well. But, dumping a front wheel with a through axle is a pain in the ass for shuttling.

The hanging the front wheel over the tailgate is best way to go, especially when shuttling. I actually transport my bikes like this all the time. Although, I use tie-downs to hold them in place. You can also put them in your bed like you would a moto bike.

[GoldenGoose]

"cjm" wrote

JG, use a fork up

http://www.hurricanecomponents.com/forkups.php

I have owned one and they work well. But, dumping a front wheel with a through axle is a pain in the ass for shuttling.

The hanging the front wheel over the tailgate is best way to go, especially when shuttling. I actually transport my bikes like this all the time. Although, I use tie-downs to hold them in place. You can also put them in your bed like you would a moto bike.

SWEET! Been looking for something like this forever. Too bad none of their dealers or distributors are in GA where I live. Guess I’ll be making a trip to NC or FL to hit up one of the closest dealers. Thanks again though.

(edited 10 minutes after writing…)

Guess I should have spent some extra time reading the website. I can order it over the phone. 😃 😃

[GoldenGoose]

[quote="Mongoose"]Dang JG, ya got enough bikes their bro?? I counted six with possibilities for another.

Actually there’s 7 in the house at the moment but not all are mine. You just can’t see the entire "man room" in that pic. The tools and other rides are behind me. 😉

1 rigid
3 hard tails
2 full suspensions
1 road bike

People find out you know how to fix bikes AND have the tools and stuff starts showing up at your door all the sudden. 😮

[garbanzo]

Wow, this site is looking very promising. First off, trek7k, That is way too big of a possy. 😆 Ya, taking the wheel off every time is not really ideal. I’m thinking of a set up made out of wood, ya i’m cheap, 2 kids will do that to you. And to have 2-3 dh bikes standing up strait in the bed of the truck. Mostly for hiway travel.

Thanks for the reply’s
keep it going, looking to do this tomorrow at work. 😎

[IATyler]

I just came up with this so its not a complete plan but a start, my GMC has spots about mid way up the bed side for a 2×4 or 2×6 not sure(never used them). Get what ever size fits, if you have those notches, and will go all way across get a 2×12 that fits on top of it across the box support the rear of it with a pair af legs, brace them with another 2×4 across the bed, cut out spaces for the tires to slide into, get the ruber stuff they put on the side of docks to protcet the side of the wheel, cut holes for a 2×4 on each side of the tire slots and make some kind of hook type thing to go over the handle bars them you could drill holes in the 2x4s under the 2×12 and get a chain to run through all the 2x4s holding the handle bars and lock them in so if you want to go in and eat they are secured to the truck and you wont be 3 bikes poorer after you come out of a restaraunt, then run 2x4s standing up wide enough for a tire, drill some more holes for a chain to secure the rear tires(also for transportation) and the bike will stand up and possibly be locked into the truck. I can draw an idea and scan it if that would help. Like I said I just thought of it and typed as I went.

[garbanzo]

Hey thanks for the reply’s. I through something together today out of some left over wood. I figured that I would paint it black to blend into the back of my truck better, But of course the stupid can was empty with not even getting half of it painted. It’s a bit overkill but that happens. The down fall to using wood, it weighs about 100 lbs .

[nickrm]

i use got a rec rac [url:2oeaxbt2]http://www.recrac.com[/url:2oeaxbt2] and have to say that it works very well, even at interstate speeds and faster. you even get to leave the front tire on. im sure after looking at it you can could make something similar for far cheaper. only downside so far is that the new tacoma’s version is about $40 more than it is for other trucks. 😢

[garbanzo]

I want to post pics of the rack but for some reason I can’t post any pics.

[garbanzo]

thanks

[garbanzo]

So this is what I ended up with with, works well, and the only cost was $11 for spray paint

[/img]

[Jeff Barber]

That’s awesome! It’s cost effective plus this thing is so big (and prolly heavy) you don’t really have to worry about anyone stealing your rack 😀 Nice work.

[garbanzo]

"Mongoose" wrote

Wow, that looks like a spitting image of my buddies rack set up in his truck bed, but he has a three bike set up and the rack is a tad bit smaller, but same set up as yours. Great work bro! 😃

Ya I tried to get three to fit but it was gonna be too tight.
There’s alway the tail gate if there’s more bikes

[Author]

Posts