Quadna71

Deciding on building or buying - have to secure two bikes in the truck bed. It’s an open bed with a soft tonneau cover that can be folded up, one bike is a fat bike, one bike is a commuter, and I’d like the method of securing to be easily removable. I’m looking at either building tire slots out of 2x4 and securing to a sheet of plywood so it can be lifted back out. Or bolting store-bought racks to the same sheet of plywood so it can be lifted back out. Thoughts?

Leading idea for a wooden rack (credit to prickleypete from TacomaWorld)




And this is my leading idea for a store-bought mount (from HF)

Tomm Willians

With three in the bed and our Kuat we can take lots of friends riding.

Quadna71

I had fork mounts in my last truck - they were mounted to the top of the toolbox and worked great. This truck doesn’t have a toolbox and I’m reluctant to mount anything to the bed that requires any drilling. Does that one require drilling to secure it at the sides?

What about tailgate pads…any pros/cons for that? They seem they are better for shorter trips but we also take 6-8 hour drives and I wasn’t sure if the longer length of time could eventually scratch the outside of the tailgate.

Bmach

Something like this tailgate storage.

icemilkcoffee 

Can't you just lean each bike against the side of the truck bed and tie them down like that? I do that all the time. Just put the pedal up so that the pedals are contacting the sides of the bed.

Camilo

I still own and have used the bar fork mount as illustrated in the photo above which spans the front end of the bed. They work great. The problem (more of an inconvenience) is that you have to get up into the bed to put the bike in and mount the fork. The way I describe below, you simply wheel the bike in and don't have to jump into the bed. This is the way I have done for at least 10 years in both a Suburban and pickup trucks. The same rig can be used for both and can be taken in and out of service easily.

Just bolt fork mounts on a 2X6 or 8 laying across the rear end of the truck bed. The board is NOT drilled or fixed to the truck bed, just laying across it. Full width is most stable, but mine is just wide enough to get two bikes mounted on fork mounts with an inch or two between the handlebars. You can also angle the fork mounts if it makes sense to have the handlebars angled.

[edited after posting] ​​​​I've written lots of words below, but once you have the fork mounts, the board and the fasteners, it takes about 15 minutes to assemble the basic thing.



Slide the board onto the open tailgate. Take the front wheel off, wheel the bike into the bed on it's rear wheel, attach the fork to the fork mount, repeat for bike #2 and slide the board into the bed so you can close the tailgate. You don't have to get into the bed at all.

If the bikes without the front wheels are shorter than the bed, push them back with the 2X8/fork mount until they are against the front of the bed so they don't slide forcefully forward if you brake hard. This will also help keep the rear of the bikes moving side to side. To remove the bikes, just slide the fork mount board out on the lowered tail gate to make the fork mounts easy to reach and then just wheel the bikes out to unload.

If the bikes are longer than the truck bed, just angle them so they fit. That also will help keep them stable side to side, especially if they're angled in opposite directions..

If you are concerned about security, that's pretty easy too, but not critical for just having something that works. First, use some sort of uncommon fastener to screw the mounts onto the board. They make a variety of "security" fasteners. I just used the type of allen-head screws with the little raised dot in the middle of the allen socket so a special allen tool is needed. Not super uncommon or secure, but common enough that you can find the screws and special allen wrench almost anywhere, but unlikely to be in the casual thief's bag.

For both quick release and thru-axle fork mounts you can find locking fork mounts. I haven't bought locking thru-axle mounts yet (don't really need them), but when I need security, I simply run a cable through the rear wheels and triangle and padlock it to the cargo rings that are in each corner of my pickup bed.

In the picture you can see I have a simple eye bolt on the 2X8 with a short chain with a padlock to another corner cargo ring in the bed.

So the mounts are fairly securely mounted to the board, board can be locked to the bed and the bikes can be locked to the fork mounts. Since I have a rigid, locking topper, I generally don't bother but it was nice before I got the topper.

I have put the wheels in a plastic tub along side the bikes separated from each other by a piece of foam mat or cardboard. I have alternatively just stood one between the bikes and the other between the bike and the side of the bed. I have also hung them from the shifter hoods. Or put them inside the truck.

A few optional final things that I've tweaked over the years (in addition to the security)- not necessary for functioning, and I had none of them for many years and just tweaked as things came to mind.:

If you look closely at the picture, I have both QR and thru axle mounts on the same board, one in front of the other so I can use it for any of my bikes.

Also, after sliding the board in and out many, many times, I mounted it to plywood to (1) make sliding over the tailgate-truck bed gap easier and (2) you can see a notch cut out which rests against the driver's side wheel well. That just keeps the bikes from sliding forward if I want to store some stuff forward of them. (3) it's long enough so the rear wheels rest on it. Therefore they don't roll when I push the board back into position, therefore keeping the pedals from moving. (4) The length of the plywood in front of the board ensures that when I close the tailgate, it makes sure that the whole thing back far enough so that the handlebars are far enough back so I can close the rear window on the topper.

I put the red "handle" on the board (using something I happened to have) to aid sliding it.

You can see little white blocks I put near the thru-axle mount just to help hold the fork lined up with the mount to make putting the axle in easier.

Finally, you can see an allen wrench for the thru axles attached to the board with a couple of strong stick on neodymium / rare earth magnets. Just because never seemed to have it when I needed it.

Herzlos

Can you fit roof bars to the top of the bed? That'd let you mount 4-ish bikes and leave the bed empty for stuff.

GhostRider62

I used to have a chunk of a 3/4 sheet of plywood with fork mounts in the bed of my pickup. I used a bungee cord to secure the rear tire to the bed. Simple, cheap and worked fine.

Quadna71

While I don’t want to come across as high-faluting, I do think I want to find a more refined way of securing them. The truck is pretty new (4000 miles) and the bikes are brand new so I’m still nervous about scratching either of them. I’m sure about halfway through the summer the newness will be worn off on both of them but for now I am still there. Plus I think that I need to find a way to incorporate some firewood around them so that we can have a few fires camping as well. Thankfully I have a full-size truck with the long bed so at least I have some spare room.

Quadna71

Thanks everyone for the ideas. I think I might be incorporating a number of them to make something I can slide in and out. Her bike has a clamp on the front wheel but mine doesn’t…might look to switch that out so that less tools are needed. Or just use tools until it starts getting worn and then swap it then…saves money for now. I don’t have any extra plywood (just used it for a new battery box in the camper) but I have plenty of 2x6 planks in the shed that will do the job. Starting to feel like I’m spending as much on accessories as I did on the bikes!!!

Thanks again, everyone!

topflightpro

When I had a truck, I cut a 4x4 to the width of the rear tailgate with fork mounts. I screwed in eye-bolts at each end and used double sided clips to attach it to the hooks at the back of the tail gate.

And if needed, I had cables and pad locks to lock the bikes to the loops in the bed.

Also, if you have a bike with a thru-axle, you can get a thru axle adapter for fork mounts or a bolt in thru axle option. The Rocky Mounts one is pretty sweet.

Russ5415

I'm a procrastinator by nature but finally bought a tailgate pad. Works great. Should have done it sooner. I'll put rachet straps closer to the seat of the bike also for extra stability and security if I'm going far or getting on the interstate.

Koyote

Lots of good ideas in this thread - for a removable solutions, I like Tomm Willians ' idea.

Another option: when I had a pickup truck, I just drilled right through the bed and bolted in a couple old front hubs -- I used some u-shaped bolts, so drilled two holes on either end of each hub and bolted them down. Then I would just removes bike(s) front wheel, fasten the fork to the old hub, and drive away. Worked like a charm, and only cost the price of the hardware (a few bucks) since I already had some old hubs.

dedhed

Depending on your area/state moving firewood beyond a certain distance may be illegal, particularly in the age of ash borer.

https://www.dontmovefirewood.org/map/

prj71

I have a fork mount rack made out of a 2 x 4, some 4x4s, some PVC pipe and 4 pipe clamps. Maybe $15 into the whole thing.

Quadna71

Thanks, my state is one of those states so we follow that rule closely. For us it is also due to the spotted lantern fly.

_ForceD_

There’s also this option…

https://www.autoaccessoriesgarage.co...ntent=surfaces


Dan

prj71

You can...But then the bikes run the risk of bounce around and getting scratched damaged or the bed of the truck gets damaged from the pedals.

prj71

Oh goodness...that didn't long for the firewood police to show up.

dedhed

When you have to look at the devastation every day out your window you might have an interest in it. 95% of the trees in this picture are dead from ash borer and it continues for literally miles. Bike related, the MUP that is back there was once nicely shaded and now you have to dodge sticks and clear fallen trees as they shed and slowly come down.

prj71

I'm very familiar with it. I'm located in the same state as you but 3-1/2 hours further north and it was just discovered for the first time in my county.

We've got it in 62 of 72 counties right now. It is inevitable that it will be everywhere eventually.

Nate8727

Harbor Freight - 2 Bike Hitch Rack. $40.

Solid rack, and folds down if you need it to.

Obviously not for the bed but just a different perspective.

prj71

Those are the type that damage bikes.

Nate8727

Not in my experience. I've had it for around 2 years without issue. As long as you make sure everything is secure you should be fine.

rumrunn6

fwiw - for a few years, while I had 4Runners w/ soft-tops I rigged a customary trunk mount rack to hang on the tailgate. it had ropes to the roll bar, left & right, so the tailgate wasn't solely responsible for the bike weight. worked pretty well actually. also kept the cargo area free for cargo, like camping gear, etc. now, on my Cherokee I have a hitch mount