Pin box bike rack

[BB_TX]

Been carrying the bikes (2 but sometimes 3 if taking one for a grandkid) in the bed of the truck. Remove the front wheels and lay two in front of the hitch and sometimes one behind. Works OK but is a pain to remove the wheels and stack them. And the DW just bought a new cruiser bike with fenders, larger seat, and longer handlebars making it much harder.
Don't have a receiver on the back of the Monte. And don't really want to put bikes back there as I have seen too many bikes really violently bouncing around back there on rough roads.
And did not really want them on the front of the truck on a front receiver.
SO.
Got a few feet of 2x2 angle iron, a cheap 2" receiver tube from Harbor Freight, a little welding and now I have a pin box bike rack.
basic frame
another view
bolted to pin box frame
4 bike rack
side view
other side view
Holds two bikes with lots of cab clearance on the long bed even on tight turns. Should hold three bikes with plenty of clearance also. And very little movement of the bikes going down the road.

[leemedic]

BB, you have got a bunch of upside down pictures there! LOL

[GreatWhite]

I don't see upside down pics.. Maybe my glasses are backwards

Anyhow, That's a great idea. I have a trike for me and a bike for DW. Trike goes on top of the truck cuz it's so big.. but the bikes can go on the front as you have done. I've even seen folks with the big 3kw Honda genny's set up like that. Wish I could weld... Oh, I can weld.. but, doubt any bead would pass inspection. Plus, always looks like a bad case of the uglies with all the splatter

[BB_TX]

I can stick two pieces of metal together, but no one would ever accuse me of being a welder.
Don't be mislead by the tack welds on the top. That was just initial framing. Bottom side of joints are almost continuously welded.

[Art-n-Marge]

Bolted on to the rig's hitch was a good idea! Makes it removable for another rig and centralizes the location. Nicely done.

I've never welded, so do you think a bolt together would work if only carrying bikes? Nothing like adding a little more weight at the pin, but I think I have weight margin for it and this does not make the overall length longer like when carrying bikes behind the rig or in the front of the truck. Saving the room in the truck bed is also very appealing.

Some time ago I saw a front mounted hitch from a company in Canada, and it was WAY expensive, plus shipping, Ouch! Buying parts and putting it together yourself has got to make this less expensive. I already have a 4 bike carrier but only need two, I just need a receiver to mount it to. I like this a lot but carrying more than two bikes would make me nervous on turns.

[BB_TX]

Art - I don't think there would be any problem bolting a frame together that would be strong enough. The only problem would be how to attach the receiver tube to the frame. You can't put bolts thru it as the bike rack has to slide into the tube. Can't think of a really good way to attach it.
I was already carrying my bikes in the bed of the truck anyway so did not add much to the truck loading.
Yeah, the price of those store bought mounts is why I built my own. A $20 HF receiver tube and I had some extra 2x2 angle iron laying around. You could buy a receiver tube and about 8' of 2x2 angle and take it to a weld shop. I bet they would fab it up pretty cheap. Or print the picture and take it for an estimate.

[DQDick]

There is a company in Canada that makes a similar setup. I looked at it, but had to give up the idea since we have a short bed pickup.

[Irlpguy]

Art if you are contemplating making a bolt-on bike rack, you can always attach the receiver using a couple of U bolts, you can reshape regular round tube ones to fit, or you can buy ones that are made to fit square tubing.

[Art-n-Marge]

Yes Irlp, that's more what I was thinking (U bolts surrounding the receiver bar or something like that). I know welding is outta my league, so I was wondering if using nuts and bolts would be strong enough to support even two bikes that were bouncing around. I'm now thinking it's doable if designed correctly.

I just had a revelation about the company in Canada. It was something like Top Pop Rails and they sold several types and capacities of bike carrying systems, but I cannot find their website anymore. They are probably out of business since their systems were very expensive and the economy didn't help.

[Gkerlin]

Art,

I think THIS might be the company that you were talking about.

[DQDick]

That's the one I was looking at.

[Art-n-Marge]

The product model names seem to be the same, but the company name is definitely different from when I first tried to look for this about 2-3 years ago. Top Pop Rails was the name then and either renamed itself or this company bought them out. I'm guessing they are still gonna be expensive. IIRC the price for the hardware (FW bracket and bike carrier) I needed, was almost $600 not including shipping or tax. Our two bikes didn't cost near that so this did NOT make sense as a purchase for me.

I can get a front mounted receiver for my truck for about $150, but I'm not comfortable having the bikes in front possibly covering the headlights. I'm not comfortable with a rear mounting since I'd have to go the more expensive welding route to get suitable hardware installed in back of the Monty. I know others have done that, but I don't like that solution. For now, I do what BB_TX used to do, but the amount of other gear is starting to fill up the truck bed and we've been leaving the bikes behind (until I find an inexpensive but sturdy solution).

If I can keep the price about $200 - $300 then I'd be happy and it looks like BB_TX is on to something with his solution.