Building a bike rack
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Yea, I've tried making a few myself. A couple worked, a couple didn't. Mine were for my truck. The things that I think are most important are: They hold your bike up, you don't have to take the wheel off, the're not permanent, and a quick load/unload. The simple designs have been the most achievable and reliable. My current is just a bar with some metal U slots welded to it, and a tie-down stap to secure the bike in place. The bar is telescoping (Bought that way) and the slots can be moved up and down the rail, holding up to four bikes.
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Threaded pipe
I built this for like $40 at the Home Depot. You can get 3 DH bikes or 4 XC on it. Or 3 DH and a hardtail.
The top support is a turnbuckle, it's made of a Huffy top tube, with a 1" steerer slid inside. There's a chain running down the length of the piece, so the chain supports the weight, and the turnbuckle tightens the chain and prevents the rack from bouncing.
It's very strong; the sheet metal is reinforced from inside the tailgate. You can do pull ups with it you want.
I can also open the tail gate with bikes on it and *it will stay open*. I removed one of the tailgate struts and made a locking leg - kinda like a patio umbrella with a push button.
It's all galvanized and rattlecanned, then I wrapped the whole deal in tubes, some of which are torn in this pic.... I use toe-straps to keep the bikes from bouncing in to each other. The rack is also high enough the the wheels hang above the bumper, so the bikes don't drag off-road.
Anyway, it's pretty permanent, maybe not the best for keeping resale value on a "nice" car.
I built this for like $40 at the Home Depot. You can get 3 DH bikes or 4 XC on it. Or 3 DH and a hardtail.
The top support is a turnbuckle, it's made of a Huffy top tube, with a 1" steerer slid inside. There's a chain running down the length of the piece, so the chain supports the weight, and the turnbuckle tightens the chain and prevents the rack from bouncing.
It's very strong; the sheet metal is reinforced from inside the tailgate. You can do pull ups with it you want.
I can also open the tail gate with bikes on it and *it will stay open*. I removed one of the tailgate struts and made a locking leg - kinda like a patio umbrella with a push button.
It's all galvanized and rattlecanned, then I wrapped the whole deal in tubes, some of which are torn in this pic.... I use toe-straps to keep the bikes from bouncing in to each other. The rack is also high enough the the wheels hang above the bumper, so the bikes don't drag off-road.
Anyway, it's pretty permanent, maybe not the best for keeping resale value on a "nice" car.
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