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My bike rack is to meet my needs, as with most of my mods, I have specific goals in mind and how I want things to work.
I have a truck, with a rolled tonneau, with the side rails and stake pockets exposed.
My popup has a front storage bin, but has had cracking and is fragile so I didn't want any weight on it. Also front aframe is pretty congested with everything. So I wanted a different idea.
I thought of an in bed bike rack, but that would take space and need the bed to be open when going on trips. I also have a carpet in the bed and I try to keep it dry and clean. Sooooo my idea was to put the rack above the bed with space to be able to close the tonneau cover and keep the bed dry.
So my theory, and it has worked so far.... I used the stake pockets to work from, and put 2*6 along the bed rails and then used a bike rack I bought from Amazon for the front wheels and bolted it through the 2*6's so that I can take it off in pieces. For the rear wheels I used a 2*10 (which I already use as a bed divider, and I knew I wouldn't need this when camping), so it is getting dual use, and the rear IMG_20180616_194831.jpg wheels just sit on this. This works as all the bikes we have are a different length.
I need to add eyelets so I can use tie down straps, but overall it is pretty sturdy (I haven't taken it out on the road as I don't have the eyelets yet).
The front rack does deflect with the weight of the bikes over the span of the bed, but it won't be too much that it will fail, as it's just the tolerances of how it's held together which is allowing the deflection.
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