ok so im tired of having to take off my cover and button it all back up when ever i want to go biking but i dont want to take it off permanently... so i saw this and what to make something like that.. i couldnt find that model on the thule site so im guessing they did something custom...

i know theres some good metal workers on here so i wanna see what you guys think it would take to make something like that... im guessing that its a bracket that goes under the cover rails on the outside then bolts to the bed rails... then the bars are just mounted to that bracket

 

if you have a hitch why dont youget a bike rack for the hitch....much easier to take the bikes off and prolly cheaper than fabbing up somthin like that......thats if you have a hitch tho...

 

Exactly !!!!!!

That's what I did.

 

no hitch, i wish i did

 

I am intersted in something like this too, I have a hitch but when we go up north with the boat, that wouldn't work. So let me know if any of yall come up with something....

 

no one is gonna be able to tell you exactly how to build it. looks like a roof rack with custom brackets to me.
every tonneau attaches differently. youre jus gonna hafta get a rack and start buildin brackets that will work with your tonneau.

or buy a hitch and a hitch rack....

 

Hadn't thought about that. Usually when I need to tow the trailer AND have the bikes, I jsut throw the bikes on the trailer with the other stuff. Might not work out so well with a boat though.

That is a cool idea though. Storage under the tonneau, bikes over the tonneau, and able to pull a trailer.

 

im just hoping that someone will have some knowledge of what would work in this case, not so much a step by step on how to build one

 

well pretty much any bracket you can design to clip/bolt to the bed rail and fit with your tonneau should work. bikes are light.

 

yea im thinking something like 1/8" by 2" wide flat bar bent into a square U, then slid under my cover rail at four spots and then a 2x1 peice of square tubing connecting them with a wing nut and bolt or something along those lines... i really wish i had cadd on this computer becuase ive got it all in my head right now

 

the square U is the key part of the project; getting it to fit around the bed rail, and under the cover. next i would connect the front pair and rear pair with some 2x1 as you said, or even 1x1 box...the 1x1 would probably be a bit cheaper, lighter, and i think it would look cleaner. do you have access to a mill? if you do, those rails could be slotted to fit over the custom U brackets attached to your bed, and then thru-bolted. as for the forward running rails/tire tracks...get some 2" angle, tip it up 45 degrees so you get the rack. on each rail, on alternating ends, go buy the quick release front tire mounts and weld them onto the rail, or bolt on if you prefer.
i will punch some things into solidworks later on today when im free, and send you some pics.

 

Heck yeah, I thought so too, have her loaded to the max!!!!!!

 

ok drew these up in engineering today...basicly what i want to make...

Untitled-2copy.jpg?t=1168376682
Untitled-1copy.jpg?t=1168373124

 

^^^ That's what I was thinking......

 

^^ whats your method of securing to the bed rails? i worked on a similar bracket earlier that went up and under the bed rail and squeezed onto itself from the top....and 1/4" material is some diesel bike rack mounting

 

just the pressure from the tonneau clamps on the rails...

yea and im probably gunna use some 1/8 steel instead of 1/4, dont really need that extra strength and it wont lift my cover as much... then on that cross bar in the from im going to mount of these:


and currently im thinking of just letting the back wheel rest on the second bar and bunggie it to the bar.... not sure yet though...


total cost im looking at is somewhere in the 60$ zone depending on how much the square tubing is...

 

ya those are the mounts i was talking aboot. i have a couple here, and if i pick up a new bike this spring id like to rebuild a mound for the truck.
the box tubing shouldn't be that much. steel prices have risen considerably, but depending on the cost of the bike mounts, material costs would be less than 60 as you said. i would look for 5-6inches of angle to set each rear tire in...itd be nice to easily keep them from sliding around and would have a nice appeal.
post pics and keep us updated!.

edit: still thinking those clamps need to actually be clamped down. the pressure of the cover wont keep the 4 of them from sliding forward as one unit on the bed rails. if you could incorporate them into the 4 corner holes in the bed rails, then youd probably be upset. i just wouldnt want to know that the rack is sort of sitting on the bed with the risk of sliding around or worse.

 

hmm... maybe jsut some C clamps on that 1" flange to the wall of the bed rail,,,


and for the rear tire im gunna take a U bolt, cut one side short and put a wing nut on the other and then itll be able to lift up and release the tire, then i can just tighten it down and its secured...


my only other obsticale so far is how to bend it... more then likly ill draw the lines out, clamp it in a vice and heat it while bending, but im not sure i can make a full U shape...

 

Jeff, I DO like that rear tire idea. seems a pretty good way of resting AND securing the tire. simple and clean.
as for the mounting fabrication...i agree, could be tough. if you don't want to have some place fab one up, and you have some decent welding/basic fab skills, take some box tubing the size you want your "U-portion" to be(3"x3"x1/8"wall). (you will need 12" of it (4 brackets, 3 inches wide ea.) cut off 1 portion of the box so you have a C. then for the 1"x3" piece that sticks down, use a portion of the piece that you removed or a piece of 1"x1/8" stock.
NOT the "ideal" way of doing this, but remember, with a small/decent weld, and a grinding wheel and a can of krylon....anything can look like one piece

PM me if my explanation is confusing or i can just send a little solidworks sketch. from your messages before i think you'll be able to figure that out tho. good luck and keep me posted, im interested in how it comes out.

 

yea my cousin welds so i might talk to him about it... i went to lowes to check on steel prices and 2"x 1/8"x 3' was 10 bucks and id need two... and then square tubing 2" x1" by 4' was 15$ so im going to try to find some scrap yard or seomthing like that to get it, cus its going to add up fast and im tight on money right now...

 

ya i hear ya on the money thing...last steel i purchased outta my own pocket was to build the sides on my trailer and i remember it being like 100 bux for most of the material and i was upset about that haha. i would see if there's any metal fab shops around you. they might be willing to sell off some drop pieces or even give some small scrap stuff away. a lot of places end up selling back all their drops to be recycled for more steel. if a place custom fabs large things, then they might be able to make some small pieces disappear into the back of your truck.

good luck.

 

yea not to many fab shops in my area but up in cleveland theres a ton of junkyards because it was a big steel town so im hoping to find the square tubing there... the rest is decently cheap at lowes...

 

ya you should be able to find something up there i'd assume. show up with a cooler full, look for the guy running the loader with the torch on the back, and hell give you what you want haha.

 

thules track system is junk. they make sweet racks but their mounts are not strong, what you want is a yakima landing pad system, it will bolt on to any surface and the rack is removable in seconds. if you want specific part numbers let me know, i work for REI so i do this every day.

 

^ got a link to that specific part or soemthing simular to the one in the photo..