Anybody ever made a DIY bike rack for back of a truck?

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.

wahoowad

Minister of Fire
Dec 19, 2005
1,669
Virginia
Looking for a way to make what is called a blockhead - it is the thing that holds the front forks down in a bike rack once you remove the front wheel. I need to transport 2 bikes in the back of my truck periodically and a pair of retail blockheads cost about $50+. The bikes are not that nice but I still do not want to just lay them in the back and let them move around. I'd rather mount them in some kind of rack in the back of my truck. Also need to put some other stuff back there with them.
 
I have to transport 2 bikes so I looked them up.

This is the first link I saw: http://www.yakima.com/product/8001117/blockhead.aspx

Those appear to be cast aluminum and would probably make a nice project if you had enough beer cans and a small foundry.

A couple ideas for a quick/cheap way:
Use a 2x4 or a 4x4 with a hole drilled for the axle mount. At Lowes they have bent metal bands for 2x4s that would help support the axle hole to keep it from pulling through the wood. The bands look like a 'U' with a horizontal tab on each side. For a 4x4 you could find the 'C' type brackets that they use to tie 4x4s to other pieces. I'm sorry but I don't know the professional name for these parts. Perhaps that 4x4 'C' piece could be used alone with two bolts on each fork. You could mount both of them on a board and load your other stuff on top of the board to keep the bikes stable.

Then again you could also whittle something out with your chainsaw ;-)
 
Its a truck, just put them in the back already ;)
 
I'm going on a long road trip and the bikes will take up too much room if I simply lay them down in the back of the truck bed. Maybe I can stand them up between some of the other gear I'll pack back there. Would prefer to find a simple way to secure them though.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.