We want to take our bikes on this trip as many of the stops have good cycle paths. For this we need a bike rack for two bikes that we can put on the truck and still tow.
There are bike racks that mount on the trailer, there are bike racks that fit on the hitch, there are bike racks that stand high above the truck bed, there are simple pads that let you hang your bike over the tailgate. Problem is none of them are ideal, if it mounts on the trailer we have the problem we cannot take the bikes if we unhitch the trailer (or require a second rack for when the trailer is off). If it fits on the hitch then we cannot tow as it interferes with the trailer. If you fit high bars it either does not fit with the tonneau or is just too big. If you just hang the bikes over the tailgate either it blocks the camera or gets in the way of the trailer.
Ideally you would stand the bikes in the truck bed (as we are not intending on loading much in there for the trip) but with a 5′ 6″ bed you cannot stand the bikes without the tailgate down which is a no-go. The other option is you remove the front wheels and use the front fork to mount the bike into the bed then the bikes will just fit in the bed. There are several crossbars on the market that allow you to do this but they fit where the tonneau cover goes so its either tonneau or rack not both!!
I then found a company called BIKE88 that had something like I wanted (Mounting Hardware for RIDE88 Bike Racks) but they where designed to take a rack that held the front wheel so again would require the tailgate to be down.
The problem with their design was it fitted between the two front tiedown points in the bed which then meant the back wheel extended beyond the tail gate by 6 inches. That got me thinking I could buy one then modify it for my purpose but that was an $800 investment that might not work out.
So I decided it was time to fabricate my own one and make it fit my requirements. After thinking through several ideas I decided to build something from basic steel you can buy at HomeDepot then if it did not work I had only wasted under $100.
The design required me making brackets that would replace the existing front tiedowns but with a rearward extension of 6″ that i could then mount the crossbar to. Hence the title of this post, I had to dig out my wire feed flux welder and do some welding, lets just say years of no practice does not help you fabrication skills. After a few attempts I have built the side mount brackets and am now working on the crossbar system.
Will post more once the crossbar is complete and I can show it fitted to the truck.
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