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Thing Bike rack prototype...
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spaeth
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:55 pm    Post subject: Thing Bike rack prototype... Reply with quote

I worked this up the other night. If I am happy with how this works I will do one out of marine ply and coat it with truck bed liner. So far it is working well. It fits under the soft top without bikes on it. The top must be down to carry bikes obviously. Once I am convinced I like this I will weld nuts into the roll cage to be able to bolt it down instead of using the nylon straps. The chip board is 4'x4' with a slot cut in it to clear where my cage rises up in the center. If you had a flat top cage you would not need that cutout. The fork mounts are standard pieces for putting bikes in a pick up bed.

I forgot to take a shot with a bike in it. I will get one up soon.

Hope this helps someone out there,
Craig

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saddlesore1
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 7:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you let the windshield down, go down a steep hill so you can get some speed up you can fly to were yo want to ride.
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surfarii
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 11:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you are going to weld anyway cant you just weld a couple of tabs on your front hoop and bolt the fork mounts to that. The rear tire will probably rest on the rear hoop and you can tie down to it . The lumber takes away from the look of your car even if it is a piece of finished Coco Bolo.
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Ian Epperson
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 11:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

surfarii wrote:
The rear tire will probably rest on the rear hoop and you can tie down to it .


Looks kinda like my roll bar - no rear hoop. Also, the booster seat and kids bike in the background look kinda like my setup too Wink If it has a rear hoop, it'll probably be OK for adult bikes, but the kids' bikes rear tire probably wouldn't reach it.
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spaeth
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 1:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I thought about mounting the brackets right to the bar, but then I would have to strap the rear tires down. We ride alot and the idea of just dropping the bike on the roof and heading off is nice. Besides not losing the tie down pieces (what ever they may be). I will maybe play with it some more. The idea of the wood is to cover it with black truck bed liner. It will probably end up looking alot like a bikini top. This is the other benefit to using something solid is that it acts like a bikini top by offering some shade in the hot days.

I like the comments though.

thanks,
Craig
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Captain Spalding
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 2:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'd go without the plywood. Plywood with bedliner on it is going to be heavier than the application demands. Besides, there's something about mixing plywood and vehicles that rubs me the wrong way. It just screams "hobby" rather than "custom." If you want to stick with plywood though, maybe you could glass it and paint or gel-coat to match the body color, rather than go with the bedliner. Do you hit your head on the corner of the plywood when getting in and out of the car?

Speaking for myself, I'd get an off-the-shelf low profile basket-style rack and adapt the bicycle fork mounts to it. That would provide a lot more versatility in terms of what you could carry on the roof. The downside of the roof rack is that it stifles the made-it-myself urge. Smile
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Semper_Dad
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 6:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree, ditch the chipboard. Might be some aerodynamic issues (yeh, right Laughing ) Not to mention that hardware doesn't stay attached to chipboard very well.

Keep it simple by making having the front fork mount welded to some removable clamps that attach to the forward roll bar.
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Pinky
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 9:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I made a trailer hitch mounted one last summer while I still had my old Thing.

Took an old hitch, welded some square stock verticaly onto it, welded a T cross piece on top, and then stuck on a couple of exhaust clamps pointing upwards, like a pair of "U"s facing outwards on either side. I just sat the bike in the "U"s, wrapped rags around the bike frame so that it wouldn't get scratched and bounce in the "U"s, tightened down the top pieces to the exhaust clamps, and off I went.

It took about 20 minutes to make and was super easy to remove when I didn't want to have it on. I didn't mess with engineering anything too clever or pretty though, so it was tall so that the bike wouldn't scrape on steep grades, and a couple of bunjee cords kept the bikes in place and the front wheel from flying around (even though I hate using bunjee cords, I figured they wouldn't get too much stress from this).

Elementary design, but it worked just fine for my needs. It never interfered with the top either.

Sorry, no pics, but with scrap steel it was pretty ugly anyway.

When I finally finish my other Thing, I will probably do the same deal, but will make the design a lot better so that I can fit extra bikes and mount and unmount the bikes easier.

Easy design to make, easy to load and unload the bike, easy to remove the rack when you don't want to use it, and it's easy to store when not in use. It doesn't interfere with the rest of the car at all, except that you aren't able to open the engine lid with it mounted. Whatever- pull out the pin, slide it off, and you're golden.

I love reciever hitches!!!
There's so much to do with them beyond hauling!!!

How about a bike rack/winch mount? Cool
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Ferretkona
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 7:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pinky wrote:
I love reciever hitches!!!
There's so much to do with them beyond hauling!!!

How about a bike rack/winch mount? Cool


My exact thought!
I have lived where a bumper mounted winch (even welded in) was a target for every thief around. I enjoy removing the winch off season! So much easier to move a winch front to rear without blocks.

A front and rear receiver mount is just so handy.
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