My solution for carrying bikes & towing the ttt

Bicycles for campers, rvers, or just riding around where ever you are

Postby MegC » Sun Dec 18, 2011 12:36 pm

A friend uses a rack like that on the back of his suv. It's nice, but I'd plan on buying some kind of cable/chain/u-lock in addition to prevent theft.

We would love to find a solution that keeps the front wheel on but locks the bike up in the truck bed, and so far have been skunked. So we went with the Yakima Bedhead fork lock variety.

It seems like there's a huge market opportunity being lost here.

The only other idea I had was building a pvc rack like some shuttle monkeys use, then figuring out how to lash them down to the bed with a new York chain or something equally needy. Figuring out how to make that work without beating the bike up while bouncing along dirt roads was still an issue though.
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Postby mary and bob » Sun Dec 25, 2011 10:26 am

Meg, I've been experimenting with various rack setups, mostly with parts I bought used. I have two older Thule tray type that have an arm that flips up and clamps onto the lower part of the bike frame. I made a rectangular frame with four lengths of 2 X 4 lumber, two to go across the pickup bed, other two front to back to attach the cross pieces. Then I bolted the Thule trays to the cross pieces, just set it all in the pickup bed and clamp the bikes on and they ride there just fine. For cable locks I just use plastic coated cable that I cut to whatever length I need, make a loop on each end, and use a padlock. The bike rack I like the most came from an eBay store. It holds three bikes but is available as a two or four bike rack. It has adjustable loops for the wheels to set in, and an arm that clamps to the top frame of the bike. It had Velcro straps to go around the bike wheels and rack, but I just use the plastic cable ties instead, but they have to be cut off every time and discarded and then use a new one. This is a receiver type rack, but I have also modified it to bolt onto the tongue of our teardrop. The eBay seller was Discount Ramps. Bob
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Postby MegC » Sun Dec 25, 2011 9:57 pm

Unfortunately Ive already had one bike stolen while locked with a light cable, and it wasn't worth nearly as much as my current ride. :cry: Ain't gonna go there again.
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Postby mary and bob » Mon Dec 26, 2011 8:41 am

We just have vintage 60's and 70's bikes that aren't worth a lot and mostly are parked and locked in locations where any bike that may get stolen is unlocked and Can be grabbed and run with quick. I haven't seen anyone at the beach with bolt cutters! :lol:
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Postby MegC » Mon Dec 26, 2011 2:32 pm

If I was riding around town regularly, I'd seriously consider adding a garage sale beater to the collection. That way I could just leave it parked outside the store without worrying, and if it got stolen or beat up I'd just find another one the following weekend, lol.

Years ago at WSU Pullman I remember seeing a bike with this horrific glopped on 'camo' paint job- and I mean the kind some local fiend had done with his own three hands while drunk one night- parked regularly in the middle of campus. Don't even remember if he used a lock at all, and even with the massive bike theft problems there it never disappeared. So fugly nobody wanted it! But when I looked closely, I recognized it was a fairly high end bike frame with matching high end parts, and the drive line was always clean and well oiled. Gotta appreciate the stealth manoeuver there. :thumbsup:
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Postby GuitarPhotog » Wed Dec 28, 2011 6:01 pm

MegC

Here's the truck bed, front wheel intact, bike rack you were looking for

http://www.etrailer.com/dept-pg-Truck_B ... adles.aspx

I'm looking at something similar for across the front of my tear.

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Postby MegC » Thu Dec 29, 2011 2:55 pm

Since there's no way to lock that down hard, may as well just make this:
http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/goodi ... keRack.htm

And maybe a couple of these to chain the frame down to the bed somehow....
http://www.kryptonitelock.com/Products/ ... 2&pid=1194
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Re: dual hitch

Postby rowerwet » Sat Aug 25, 2012 8:08 am

jnowis wrote:Anyone use one of these (Dual 2" Hitch Bicycle Receiver Adapter Extender Extension 4000lb)?

9712797125 worked great after I modified the upper receiver with a much more forward hole to allow the td coupler to clear the bottom angle of the bike rack. THIS IS ALL DEPENDANT ON HOW MUCH WEIGHT YOUR HITCH IS RATED FOR, my van can take 300 lbs, most cars can take 1-200 lbs, which may not work.
in the future I will be adding a receiver onto the back of the td, as my planned tongue box will interfere with the bikes. I also used my bike rack as a boat carrier, will post pics later...
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Re: My solution for carrying bikes & towing the ttt

Postby pmowers » Sat Aug 25, 2012 3:55 pm

I have used the following for a number of years, and the bikes seem to stay put without much problem.http://www.amazon.com/Heininger-1011-Advantage-SportsRack-Carrier/dp/B0002Z9KH2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1345929405&sr=8-3&keywords=receiver+tube+clamp+bike+rack
Image

I have used it on both my F-150 and the S-10 the preceded it without problem, when I towed my older trailer I actually added one of those extension platforms to the receiver tube because the distance between the trailer front and the back of the truck was so short, I could not get into the bed. I have had 3 bikes on it at one time, and never had it budge. You could use it with one of the double-receiver setups without a problem. Road bikes, mountain bikes, full suspension steel-frame, women's, men's, all have fit without adapters.
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Re: My solution for carrying bikes & towing the ttt

Postby Techguy » Fri Sep 14, 2012 4:58 pm

I have one of these Swagman TOWING carriers. Mine is an older model but it is a towing model in that it attaches to your draw bar and leaves a tow ball open for the trailer. I used mine with a pop-up. It does take up space between he TV and trailer but it's not normally an issue. The part the carries the bike comes off or it folds/pivots down to allow you to get into the TV.

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Re: My solution for carrying bikes & towing the ttt

Postby nj_rider » Wed Sep 19, 2012 6:35 am

I love this set-up:
Image

The trailer did come with a Thule hitch mounted on the back of the trailer itself but I didn't like the idea of not being able to see the bikes and if by chance one were to come loose and bounce off as I was traveling down the highway I wouldn 't be aware of it until much later.

So this solution works for me 8)
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Re: My solution for carrying bikes & towing the ttt

Postby McGuffin » Sat Jan 25, 2014 8:48 pm

Hi There,

If you are carrying two bikes or less an alternative is to attach them via a truck carrier. This gets the weight off the tongue but still keeps the bikes in a good place aerodynamically.

Regards,


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Re: My solution for carrying bikes & towing the ttt

Postby Richard Miller » Sat Aug 22, 2015 12:23 am

I bought an E-bike/ fat bike, and I'm going to mount it on the rear bumper of my tear.
Image
First thing is to make them match
Image
and
Image
with flying eyeballs.
The trailer frame is 2" square tubing and the bumper slides into the open end of the frame. when the bike is off, the bumper will slide forward to clear knees and shins. bumper will slide out and far enough to mount the bike and pin in place.
I took 4" schedule 80 PVC pipe and cut to 16" length, then cut 1" out of the pipe length wise. I then took a heat gun and heated pipe to bend sides up and flex apart enough to hold the 4" tire then cut in half ,one for each wheel.
Image
The PVC will be painted silver and bolted to bumper with carriage bolts, then wheels will tie into holders with ratchet type straps or tie down straps. I'm not sure how I will mount the upper diagonal braces, maybe brace from frame directly behind rear bumper up to tops of front and rear tires, with some type of loop to mount locking mechanism. I'm just kinda "winging" it here, and suggestions are appreciated
Image
I used to be pretty indecisive, but now I'm not too sure
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Re: My solution for carrying bikes & towing the ttt

Postby Fenlason » Sun Sep 27, 2015 5:25 pm

Richard Miller wrote:I bought an E-bike/ fat bike, and I'm going to mount it on the rear bumper of my tear.
Image
First thing is to make them match
Image
and
Image
with flying eyeballs.
The trailer frame is 2" square tubing and the bumper slides into the open end of the frame. when the bike is off, the bumper will slide forward to clear knees and shins. bumper will slide out and far enough to mount the bike and pin in place.
I took 4" schedule 80 PVC pipe and cut to 16" length, then cut 1" out of the pipe length wise. I then took a heat gun and heated pipe to bend sides up and flex apart enough to hold the 4" tire then cut in half ,one for each wheel.
Image
The PVC will be painted silver and bolted to bumper with carriage bolts, then wheels will tie into holders with ratchet type straps or tie down straps. I'm not sure how I will mount the upper diagonal braces, maybe brace from frame directly behind rear bumper up to tops of front and rear tires, with some type of loop to mount locking mechanism. I'm just kinda "winging" it here, and suggestions are appreciated
Image


Most comercial racks similar to that have a bar with a hook on the end that come down on the wheel or wheels. If this is the only bike that will be on it, something that clamps to the top tube might be easier.

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Re: My solution for carrying bikes & towing the ttt

Postby ScottE » Sat May 21, 2016 11:09 am

I needed a foldaway bike rack for the back of my Camp Capsule foamy, that allowed access to my entry door. I made a hinged arm assembly that locks into an angle iron bracket to stabilize the rack while underway.
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It also folds up when not in use.
139840
The whole thing weighs less than 10 lbs and is very stable with 2 bikes loaded.
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