Pick'em up bike carrier

[awellis3]

Thought I'd post some pics just in case someone else is grappling with the ol' haul-the-bikes issue.

We tow with a pick up and do a lot of boondocking in our pop up. As y'all probably know, pop up bumpers are mo' flimsy than our Sunlines' are. I didn't want to have to mount a rack on top of the pop up or on the truck's bumper or hitch, blocking the tailgate.
Also, we couldn't give up any more bed space than necessary 'cause we have to haul water, coolers, tables, chairs, E-Z Up, etc.
All the commercial racks and carriers were too expensive and took up too much space.

Solution:


I took an unused shelf from Penny's sewing room and mounted axle traps to it. I painted it grey to match the truck (sorta).


Here's the trap.



Penny's bike on the carrier.
The carrier lies flat in the bed so gear can be placed on it along side and under the bike's frames.
Voila! Minimum loss of hauling capacity. Now we'll have our bikes with us when we take our Sunny to Myrtle Beach SP for Thanksgiving.

Teach

[JohnB]

Teach

Nice job! Thanks for posting. Hauling bikes can be an issue and the more solutions we get the easier it is for others following along. Yours is simple and not that expensive.

In my case the tono cover rules out the truck bed vintage. PTHutch had an on top of the bed mount behind the cab. He had a tono too and that rack worked good. Just his tono was a roll up. Mine is a tilting tono.....no work either. I had to go on the TT A frame.

When sorting out how to haul bikes, we need many options....

Thanks for sharing.

John

[awellis3]

Originally Posted by JohnB

Thanks for sharing.

John

You're welcome.
I had a tonneau on my '05 Tundra and had to run with it rolled up while carrying bikes strapped to each bed side. Even cushioned that set up rubbed paint off the bikes and wasn't stable.
Instead of a tonneau, I plan to put a Soft Topper bed cap on at a later date and this config is designed to work with that.

Teach

[Tweety]

We had never seen the Soft Topper...that is awesome! We still want to be able to use the truck bed to get a load of mulch (or whatever), but we would like the bicycles under cover. Since our tonneau broke and has been repaired once already, the Soft Topper would be a perfect replacement. Love the axle trap bike rack too. Where did you get the axle traps?

[MOKID]

We have a 2006 F150 and we put a 3 fold solid tonneau cover on it: Solid Fold. We can take it off and haul wood or fold it back and haul furniture. We really like it. Bought it off of ebay for $300

We then put a sliding bike rail on top of the tonneau cover. Pickup Truck Bed Bike Rack
We carry our bikes on top of the tonneau cover. It works great for us.

Just thought I would throw those ideas out.

[jsms264]

Here's my solution.... 4 bikes on Yamika rack system mounted to ARE hard tonneau cover. I have used this system for almost 3 years with no problems. It's different, but it works! I Have hauled bikes many different ways, and at least for me this is the best solution. I can lock the bikes and the cover so everything is secure, no worries about where we stop or go and wonder if the bikes will be safe, or the cargo in the bed.

[awellis3]

Originally Posted by Tweety

We had never seen the Soft Topper...that is awesome! We still want to be able to use the truck bed to get a load of mulch (or whatever), but we would like the bicycles under cover. Since our tonneau broke and has been repaired once already, the Soft Topper would be a perfect replacement. Love the axle trap bike rack too. Where did you get the axle traps?

I have the same need: to use the truck as a truck most of the time. There are no Soft Topper dealers, so I will have to order sight-unseen when my accountant (AKA my wife, Ms. Moneypenny) gives the OK.
The traps can be purchased at most bike shops that carry racks and accessories.

Teach