ok so the supplies should be here within a week so now to how im going to mount the cross bars to the brackets... i was thinking of a bolt and wing nut but i think itll stick out way to much and look akward... since i plan on having it on 24/7 i need something strong but clean...

 

drill a hole in the top surface of the 1x2 large enough to drop the head of the bolt thru. then you can wing nut the bottom if you wish.
cleaner install.

if it was me and it is a 24/7 install, id jus use nyloc half-nuts

 

expand on the nyloc half nuts please...nvm found them...

i think i might drill a hole thorough one side of the tube then into the bracket and just stick the head of the bolt inside the tube becuase its only going to be an inch into the tube... then just tighten it up... hopefully they make really short bolts so i dont have to use spacers or anything...

 

i do in fact

you need:
control towers set of 4
http://www.rei.com/online/store/Prod...cat=REI_SEARCH

4 landing pad 6's
http://www.rei.com/online/store/Prod...cat=REI_SEARCH

1 set of 48in crossbars

http://www.rei.com/online/store/Prod...cat=REI_SEARCH

then how ever many bike racks you want up to 4.

i recomend either the Thule side arm racks or yakima king cobra. both work great are lockable load with out removing the wheels and lay flat when not in use.

how the system works, is the landing pads bolt onto you bed cover, then the control towers lock into the landing pads.

 

damn thats like 400$ for that stuff , i think ill pass lol...

 

ya its expensive but the stuff works awsome, my rack set up cost me almost $400 and i got it all at cost which is 60% off retail. good luck with your setup.

 

well i ordered the fork mount today as well as some 1/4" by 1" flat bar which should be thicker then i need but you never can be to safe i guess. hopefully getting the 1inch square tubing monday or tuesday....

all thats left is to figure out how im going to bend the brackets. anyone have any ideas? im more then likly going to end up just heating it up and bending it in a vice, and then clamping to something to get the rest of the U shape....

 

well got my stuff today and started to build and.... bending is not an option lol... i heated the joint up for about 3 minutes with a propane torch and still had to beat the hell out of it with a hammer to get it to bend... the arc of the bend was a good 1/2" so that screwed up all my lengths....

so i cut all the pieces to the proper lengths and im going to get them welded sometime later this week...


i also decided to go from 1x1 square tubing to 1" conduit becuase of price... cant beat 6$ for 10ft and its just as strong... still working on a way to mount it securly to the brackets however...

 

I have installed a few of these and they seem to work well. They are spendy.

http://www.pace-edwards.com/products...&model=696#696

 

well i got the brackets all welded up yesterday... theyre not the best welds but they are incredibly strong and it was free so i dont care lol....
bikerack011.jpg?t=1169919286

so this morning i got to mocking up the cross bars and seeing how strong they will be... so far so good, and i dont think im going to need to even clamp the brackets down because the tonnaue holds it so well....

sorry that theyre dark, dark garage ha





now all thats left is to get them all painted up and try and figure out how to mount that fork mount....

 

Looks good !!!!! I believe (if it were me), I would grind down those brackets really smooth and get them powder coated. If you plan to permanently keep that on the truck, it would look MUCH better

 

the outside of them is pretty smooth because thats what youll see, the inside i just left because itll be coved by the tonnaue cover... id like to powdercoat but dont want to spend the money so theyre just going to get a ton of coats of black paint