Bike Rack Ideas

rigger4343 · 05-13-2019, 07:31 PM

Hey Guys,

Have 4 bikes that I want to be able to bring with us on trips.
I have a Double Cab Tacoma short bed and a 174BH TT. I have a bed cover on the truck that can be removed but my goal is not to have to do that. What I have done in the past is remove the bed cover and I had made a low cost bike rack that carried all 4 bikes in the bed with the front wheels removed. It works but is a bit of a pain and takes up all of the truck bed.

I know they make some racks that are made to bolt on to the front of the trailer and carry a couple of bikes. But I can probably make or modify something for about a 1/3 or less of the cost.

I would prefer not to have to remove the front wheels. I would also prefer not to have to remove my bed cover and would like to save the bed for firewood and other camping items.

I was thinking of making something to carry two bikes above the propane tanks on the front. Then also making or maybe getting a spare tire bike rack for the back. Two up front, two in the back. On the back of my trailer is a mounted box that holds all of my back tank goodies so my rack needs to work around that.

I can make just about anything so I am looking for low cost ideas that can be made at home. The end goal is quick and easy loading and unloading of 2 to 4 bikes without taking up the entire truck bed.

So what are you using for bikes?

dewey02 · 05-13-2019, 08:13 PM

I bought a Stromberg-Carlson trailer tray and attached a bike rack to it. But you could probably fabricate something on your own. Specs here: https://www.etrailer.com/RV-Cargo/St...on/CC-255.html

distracto · 05-14-2019, 05:54 PM

I had a hitch shop install a 2" receiving hitch onto the rear of the trailer. I have the same one as you. He added a 4" square tube between the bumper and the frame for extra support and welded the hitch to the new steel and the frame, leaving the bumper alone.

This way I can put the rack into my tow vehicle to bring the bikes to trailheads

rigger4343 · 05-14-2019, 07:50 PM

Both of you have good ideas there.

I found a really cheap bike rack on Ebay and I may order one to experiment with. It looks like I could use about 90% of it. I was thinking of maybe making a stand off of the the front of the trailer that holds a two bike rack above the tanks.

Could also use this same one to see if it would work on the rear of the trailer with a receiver.

Here is a link to the one I found. It looks pretty cheap but it may be decent enough to experiment with.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Bike-Bicy...V/322861707523

Lake Huron · 05-14-2019, 08:15 PM

My trailer has a hitch style "carrier" already in it. So I made a removable bumper hitch insert. I bought a Swagman 4 bike pedestal style bike rack. The 4" square tube is 11ga steel, thin enough to keep it one person removable yet thick enough to easily support the bike racks being mounted to it. I'm 220lbs and can stand on the end of the bike rack with no issues. I made a storage post to put it in while at the house. Theres just not enough room with the 5th wheel stored along side the house.

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Lake Huron · 05-14-2019, 08:16 PM

Sorry about the pics. The first one is upside down, and the next 2 are sideways and I have no idea why or how to fix it.
Ugh!

Parcany · 05-14-2019, 08:24 PM

Hey Lake it sure looks like the bike rack sticks out behind the rv a long way. Might want to put a set of lites so people will know where the rack starts. Other than that it looks good

Lake Huron · 05-14-2019, 08:42 PM

Thanks! Anything 48" and longer has to have a red flag. So I made it 46". I really have to be careful and remember it adds to the tail swing of the trailer when I'm turning corners. I have to modify it, again, due to the wife getting a new bike last year. The bike tires fit in between a pair of "rails" I'll call them. Last year the daughter got a new bike and the tires are a little wider than the gap between the rails. So I had to cut them off and widen the gap. Perfect fit. Sent it out for powdercoat and worked great, until the wife got her new bike. Same issue. So I have to do the same thing as before. When it comes back from powdercoat I was thinking of putting some reflective tape on the ends of both pedestals. I did think about some small LED marker lights but getting access to wires from the trailer looks to be a real chore. I may come up with something on that yet though.

wanderlust · 05-15-2019, 03:44 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX1m...JjgiZ&index=17

distracto · 05-15-2019, 07:05 PM

Here are some pictures of my set up

sciencenerd · 05-18-2019, 05:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rigger4343

Hey Guys,

Have 4 bikes that I want to be able to bring with us on trips.
I have a Double Cab Tacoma short bed and a 174BH TT. I have a bed cover on the truck that can be removed but my goal is not to have to do that. What I have done in the past is remove the bed cover and I had made a low cost bike rack that carried all 4 bikes in the bed with the front wheels removed. It works but is a bit of a pain and takes up all of the truck bed.

I know they make some racks that are made to bolt on to the front of the trailer and carry a couple of bikes. But I can probably make or modify something for about a 1/3 or less of the cost.

I would prefer not to have to remove the front wheels. I would also prefer not to have to remove my bed cover and would like to save the bed for firewood and other camping items.

I was thinking of making something to carry two bikes above the propane tanks on the front. Then also making or maybe getting a spare tire bike rack for the back. Two up front, two in the back. On the back of my trailer is a mounted box that holds all of my back tank goodies so my rack needs to work around that.

I can make just about anything so I am looking for low cost ideas that can be made at home. The end goal is quick and easy loading and unloading of 2 to 4 bikes without taking up the entire truck bed.

So what are you using for bikes?

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That's where I put my bikes. You need a solid bed cover, though, mine is a Bakflip. I mounted four bike fork mounts to an angle iron, which is attached to the bed cover. Has been solid for 1000s of miles. I strap the bikes down with a ratchet strap, for extra security, although I don't think it is necessary, the fork mounts, once tightened, are really solid. This is, btw, not my idea, there are other setups like this floating around on the innerwebs.

Bstreetr · 05-26-2019, 09:53 AM

There is a company in Edmonton Alberta Canada that sells a rack for up to 4 bikes which attaches over the propane tanks. WWW.RACKSFORCARS.COM and the company name is Arvica. They ship to US and Canada. This is the bike rack I plan to buy for our TT.

rigger4343 · 08-11-2019, 03:53 PM

Using a little combination of ideas, I finally completed my bike hauling system.

Put two quick release mounts in the bed. This was easy and worked out well for two bikes. Keeps me from having to remove the bed cover and still leaves 1/2 the bed for camping stuff.

As for the trailer, I picked up some shallow strut from Lowes and welded up a simple frame. Just used bolts and L brackets for the rest so that I could adjust and move as needed or even transfer to another trailer if I wanted to. It's not that pretty but it did not cost much and I think it will do the job.

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