My DIY bicycle carrier

[Old Hat]

I really enjoyed designing and building this bike carrier and am happy with the finished product.

Securely attached to floor tie-down cleats.

Quick release with quality 5/16” threaded inserts and stainless steel thumb screws. Installs/removes in a few minutes without tools.

Adjustable spacer pads for snug fit on road, hybrid, or mountain bike tires.

Durable Rhino Shield exterior finish. (left over from home project)

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[My 2ND Ford]

I really enjoyed designing and building this bike carrier and am happy with the finished product.

Securely attached to floor tie-down cleats.

Quick release with quality 5/16” threaded inserts and stainless steel thumb screws. Installs/removes in a few minutes without tools.

Adjustable spacer pads for snug fit on road, hybrid, or mountain bike tires.

Durable Rhino Shield exterior finish. (left over from home project)

Very nice.

 

[SpaceWhiteF150]

That’s sick!

 

[HammaMan]

Looks good. Did you make it from raw stock? (nevermind, it's wood, LOL)

Might want to grab the rear wheels and see if it takes much force to flip the bike up. Could be prudent to add a little 'safety' strap through the rear wheels to prevent flip up under emergency braking.

 

[powerboatr]

I really enjoyed designing and building this bike carrier and am happy with the finished product.

Securely attached to floor tie-down cleats.

Quick release with quality 5/16” threaded inserts and stainless steel thumb screws. Installs/removes in a few minutes without tools.

Adjustable spacer pads for snug fit on road, hybrid, or mountain bike tires.

Durable Rhino Shield exterior finish. (left over from home project)

DUDE....you earned a BIG GOLD star for creativity
well done.. it took me a minute to see its wood
outstanding and smart thinking

 

[Dakar09]

Outstanding!!

 

[Old Hat]

Looks good. Did you make it from raw stock? (nevermind, it's wood, LOL)

Might want to grab the rear wheels and see if it takes much force to flip the bike up. Could be prudent to add a little 'safety' strap through the rear wheels to prevent flip up under emergency braking.

Good eye!

At first I was strapping over the top of the handlebar stem, and it left the rear wheel light as you say. By moving to the top tube of the frame it seems to get far enough behind the front axle to provide adequate down force on the rear wheel. Strapping through the down tube may be another option, I'll have to test. Or even move the eye bolts forward.

A strap through the rear wheels to the rear tie down cleats would be insurance yes, and I will devise an elegant way to do so if it's deemed necessary. This is a fresh design in progress. My goal is to keep it as simple and quick to use as possible while ensuring proper safety.

 

[Calson]

The problem with that setup is having to get to the front of the bed to secure the bikes in place. I wanted to be able to roll our bikes inside the bed and then secure the front forks to a board in the bed.

I took a 24 x 48 inch 1/2 inch OSB and added a 2x6 board to it and then mounted two RockyMounts DropTop locking thru-axle fork mounts to the 2x6 board. These are expensive mounts but they are unique in that they work with regular road bike skewers, road bike 12mm thru-bolts, and the 15mm thru-bolts used with mountain bikes. As we have all three types I did not want to have 6 fork mounts for the two of us. They also feature a key lock to make it difficult for anyone to remove a bike as it is locked in place on the 2x4 OSB board.

I can place the board in the bed of the truck between the fender wells and the tailgate and be ready to put two bikes in the bed in under one minute. Just as fast to remove the 2x4 board and have full use of the truck bed for other needs.

I have a fiberglass camper shell on my truck with black curtains over the windows so no one can see inside. I can leave the bikes in the truck overnight with no worries about them being stolen with the combination of the shell locked, tailgate locked, and bike thru-bolts locked in place. No need to remove the bikes from the truck after a ride as they are out of the weather and out of sight.

If I had the bike exposed in the bed I could not leave them for a minute and this would greatly limit what I could do with the bikes in the truck. A hitch mounted bike rack would be easier to manage and no more likely to have the bikes stolen with a wire cable used to lock them to the rack and using hitch locks to protect the rack. With a bike rack I can leave the front wheels attached to the bikes.

 

[mrtull]

That is an amazing bit of work! ?

 

[Old Hat]

The problem with that setup is having to get to the front of the bed to secure the bikes in place. I wanted to be able to roll our bikes inside the bed and then secure the front forks to a board in the bed.

I took a 24 x 48 inch 1/2 inch OSB and added a 2x6 board to it and then mounted two RockyMounts DropTop locking thru-axle fork mounts to the 2x6 board. These are expensive mounts but they are unique in that they work with regular road bike skewers, road bike 12mm thru-bolts, and the 15mm thru-bolts used with mountain bikes. As we have all three types I did not want to have 6 fork mounts for the two of us. They also feature a key lock to make it difficult for anyone to remove a bike as it is locked in place on the 2x4 OSB board.

I can place the board in the bed of the truck between the fender wells and the tailgate and be ready to put two bikes in the bed in under one minute. Just as fast to remove the 2x4 board and have full use of the truck bed for other needs.

I have a fiberglass camper shell on my truck with black curtains over the windows so no one can see inside. I can leave the bikes in the truck overnight with no worries about them being stolen with the combination of the shell locked, tailgate locked, and bike thru-bolts locked in place. No need to remove the bikes from the truck after a ride as they are out of the weather and out of sight.

If I had the bike exposed in the bed I could not leave them for a minute and this would greatly limit what I could do with the bikes in the truck. A hitch mounted bike rack would be easier to manage and no more likely to have the bikes stolen with a wire cable used to lock them to the rack and using hitch locks to protect the rack. With a bike rack I can leave the front wheels attached to the bikes.

Hey Carlson, thanks for dropping in. I enjoy seeing other peoples custom bed accessories. Please leave a few photos of your bicycle carrier setup when you are able.

Before the matching bike carrier I made a bed divider. It works great and is also easy to remove or install.

 

[UGADawg96]

Hey Carlson, thanks for dropping in. I enjoy seeing other peoples custom bed accessories. Please leave a few photos of your bicycle carrier setup when you are able.

Before the matching bike carrier I made a bed divider. I works great and is also easy to remove or install.

That's so cool. Reminded me of this other thread I bookmarked:

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/threads/diy-in-bed-mountain-bike-mount.17549/

 

[Ranger621]

Looks good. Did you make it from raw stock? (nevermind, it's wood, LOL)

Might want to grab the rear wheels and see if it takes much force to flip the bike up. Could be prudent to add a little 'safety' strap through the rear wheels to prevent flip up under emergency braking.

HammaMan , I agree, a simple strap through those rear wheels would be a good idea.

 

[Ranger621]

I really enjoyed designing and building this bike carrier and am happy with the finished product.

Securely attached to floor tie-down cleats.

Quick release with quality 5/16” threaded inserts and stainless steel thumb screws. Installs/removes in a few minutes without tools.

Adjustable spacer pads for snug fit on road, hybrid, or mountain bike tires.

Durable Rhino Shield exterior finish. (left over from home project)

Nice job!

 

[Kodiak]

Hey Carlson, thanks for dropping in. I enjoy seeing other peoples custom bed accessories. Please leave a few photos of your bicycle carrier setup when you are able.

Before the matching bike carrier I made a bed divider. It works great and is also easy to remove or install.

Nice work there. I am going to do something similar. I was able to find the E Track receivers for the Box Link in black. I was then going to use 2x3's to cut the weight a little and add a Molle Plate or 2 to the front so it will be more like a "wall" and let me attach things to it. I just have to get around to it.

What are the "latch" clips you are using to hold in the cross beam?

Well done and thanks for inspiration to get off my butt.

 

[Old Hat]

What are the "latch" clips you are using to hold in the cross beam?

A clevis pin with attached locking strap from local hardware store. Not sure the exact size I used.

https://www.menards.com/main/hardwa...nt/86283/p-1444440125233-c-9548.htm?exp=false

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