DIY Hitch Bike Rack- PIC HEAVY

[4runforfun]

After much back and forth I decided to make my own bike rack. There were pros and cons to each a hitch rack and a roof rack. Biggest con of roof rack was my height disadvantage. Biggest con of hitch rack, the sturdier the more $$.

Supplies:

roughly 8' of 2"x2" steel tubing.
2- fork mounts (Amazon)
2- tire trays (Ebay)
2- ratchet straps (Amazon
2- cans of metal primer
2- cans of rubberized undercoating

Started with a CAD 2D drawing of the rack, after setting up bikes like I would mount them and take some measurements.

Cut and Welded frame, going exactly off the drawing. (Measure twice, cut once)
-disclaimer- I only did two welds on a count of wanting this rack to look good. My uncle did the rest, mine were just not good.

Set bikes on rack and marked where to drill my holes for the hardware.

Removed all rust and paint, with metabo sand pands and wire angle sander.

Primed with two coats of Rust-o-leum metal primer. Painted two coats of Rust-o-leum undercoating.

Let dry for 2 days. Then put on hardware from online, using stainless nuts and bolts and some silicone.

FINI!

Overall very pleased with the outcome. Saved a lot of money and it's much safer and sturdier than anything store bought.

 

[4runforfun]

more pics

 

[KidVermicious]

I love the hell out of this. Nicely done.

 

[veloindy]

Nice work! Very similar to a Hollywood rack I had back in the day. I miss the days when everybody used good ol' 9mm front wheel skewers.

 

[thebwlife]

Is that thing 100lbs?

 

[4runforfun]

Is that thing 100lbs?

haha no. I was worried about that, but I used 1/4" thick on the middle support going to my rig. Then on the "I" I used 1/8" thick. All in all its about 20-25 lbs. Not too bad. I really want to know now so I'll have to get back with you on that.

 

[4x4mike]

Good job. All the vehicles I've owned have had Yakima crossbars for skis, boats and bikes. I bicycle commute yet still have to drive to pick up kids after work. For years I've been tired of my roof racks because of fuel mileage and dirty bikes. It always happens that the truck is clean but the bikes are dirty which then makes the truck dirty.

I've always used and like the Yakima Steelheads and decided to remove them from the roof and build a rack off the back. I had several requirements for the rack. The rack had to carry two bikes, any two I own our would carry. This is a mix of road, mountain and cross. The rack had to tilt so I could get in the rear of the 4Runner other than just the rear window. The rack also had to be high enough to not get caught up on anything offroad. I've wheeled with bikes and I don't want the rack or the bikes to be damaged. At the time of construction I also envisioned building some sort of a platform to hold gear and I wouldn't want that stuff getting hung up either.

Here is what I ended up with. The square tubing is metal fence post material from Home Depot (the black metal fence stuff). The round tubes are EMT with an outer diameter larger than Yakima bars. I sanded down the OD to accommodate the Steelheads only where they are mounted. The larger OD is nice because it keeps someone from sliding the Steelheads off the bars stealing them and/or the bikes. The base of the rack is a Thule hitch bike rack I cut up. It's the beefy part and already had the tiling mechanism and a bracket I could use instead of build.

 

[4runforfun]

Good job. All the vehicles I've owned have had Yakima crossbars for skis, boats and bikes. I bicycle commute yet still have to drive to pick up kids after work. For years I've been tired of my roof racks because of fuel mileage and dirty bikes. It always happens that the truck is clean but the bikes are dirty which then makes the truck dirty.

I've always used and like the Yakima Steelheads and decided to remove them from the roof and build a rack off the back. I had several requirements for the rack. The rack had to carry two bikes, any two I own our would carry. This is a mix of road, mountain and cross. The rack had to tilt so I could get in the rear of the 4Runner other than just the rear window. The rack also had to be high enough to not get caught up on anything offroad. I've wheeled with bikes and I don't want the rack or the bikes to be damaged. At the time of construction I also envisioned building some sort of a platform to hold gear and I wouldn't want that stuff getting hung up either.

Here is what I ended up with. The square tubing is metal fence post material from Home Depot (the black metal fence stuff). The round tubes are EMT with an outer diameter larger than Yakima bars. I sanded down the OD to accommodate the Steelheads only where they are mounted. The larger OD is nice because it keeps someone from sliding the Steelheads off the bars stealing them and/or the bikes. The base of the rack is a Thule hitch bike rack I cut up. It's the beefy part and already had the tiling mechanism and a bracket I could use instead of build.


Nice, I thought of building it in a way to open the back door but the theory of more moving parts=higher potential to break. If I already had the roof racks mine would be a little different much like yours but this way I saved a good bit of money.

 

[ArnavG544]

After much back and forth I decided to make my own bike rack. There were pros and cons to each a hitch rack and a roof rack. Biggest con of roof rack was my height disadvantage. Biggest con of hitch rack, the sturdier the more $$.

Supplies:

roughly 8' of 2"x2" steel tubing.
2- fork mounts (Amazon)
2- tire trays (Ebay)
2- ratchet straps (Amazon
2- cans of metal primer
2- cans of rubberized undercoating

Started with a CAD 2D drawing of the rack, after setting up bikes like I would mount them and take some measurements.

Cut and Welded frame, going exactly off the drawing. (Measure twice, cut once)
-disclaimer- I only did two welds on a count of wanting this rack to look good. My uncle did the rest, mine were just not good.

Set bikes on rack and marked where to drill my holes for the hardware.

Removed all rust and paint, with metabo sand pands and wire angle sander.

Primed with two coats of Rust-o-leum metal primer. Painted two coats of Rust-o-leum undercoating.

Let dry for 2 days. Then put on hardware from online, using stainless nuts and bolts and some silicone.

FINI!

Overall very pleased with the outcome. Saved a lot of money and it's much safer and sturdier than anything store bought.

Awesome job!!!!! :clap2::clap2::clap2:

I wish I was hardware-savvy enough to do something like that haha!

 

[HwyChile]

It looks great. I would be a little worried about the weld between the piece that goes into the receiver hitch and the part that is the rack. That is going to flex a lot so that weld could fail, especially since the weld is hardened. It may be light enough where that would never happen, but I thought I would point it out.

I have a hitch type dirt bike hauler where I roll the dirt bike up onto a the hauler and I noticed its design does not depend on a weld. I have noticed those trailer hitch haulers for equipment are designed that way as well. I spot welded it everywhere (it bolts together) but was careful not to put any long welds that could cause cracking from future flexing. These things flex a lot because they are a see-saw so that is what concerns me. I also have a bicycle hitch rack as well.

 

[KidVermicious]

That is going to flex a lot so that weld could fail, especially since the weld is hardened. It may be light enough where that would never happen, but I thought I would point it out.

It should hold just find under the weight of bicycles. If it starts to fatigue and develop cracks he can plate it easily enough.

 

[HwyChile]

It should hold just find under the weight of bicycles. If it starts to fatigue and develop cracks he can plate it easily enough.

I hated to bring it up since he worked so hard on it and it is a great job, but I would rather err on the side of caution than have a problem. Good looking hitch. Excellent job.

 

[4runforfun]

It looks great. I would be a little worried about the weld between the piece that goes into the receiver hitch and the part that is the rack. That is going to flex a lot so that weld could fail, especially since the weld is hardened. It may be light enough where that would never happen, but I thought I would point it out.


Duly noted sir. Thanks for the heads up! I think it'll be fine but I'll look into a back up if it ever happens. Plating it is a good idea.

 

[HwyChile]

It looks great. I would be a little worried about the weld between the piece that goes into the receiver hitch and the part that is the rack. That is going to flex a lot so that weld could fail, especially since the weld is hardened. It may be light enough where that would never happen, but I thought I would point it out.


Duly noted sir. Thanks for the heads up! I think it'll be fine but I'll look into a back up if it ever happens. Plating it is a good idea.

My worst fear is my dirt bike falling off into traffic. However, I love this thing and the way I lock it down it cannot come off. I put lights on it though because the dirt bike hides all the lights on the car. It is much better than fooling with a trailer.

 

[FatTiresRollin]

LOVE IT...how about a mass production run?

 

[4x4mike]

I have a bolt in the 3:00 and 12:00 position on my receiver to keep my rack from moving. It's really solid.

It, like all production hitch bike racks hide the license plate and the some of the lights. One thing I have going for me is that I have the Yakima trays and the Thule rack still has the factory plastic plugs. If I were to get pulled over I'd play dumb and say I bought it that way. I've added reflective plugs to my end bars and a reflective strip so I stay visible. I thought about adding the little button LED's for brake and turn signals but they are small and together for their use aren't DOT approved to replace the vehicle lights so no bother getting pulled over for that.

 

[HwyChile]

I have a bolt in the 3:00 and 12:00 position on my receiver to keep my rack from moving. It's really solid.

It, like all production hitch bike racks hide the license plate and the some of the lights. One thing I have going for me is that I have the Yakima trays and the Thule rack still has the factory plastic plugs. If I were to get pulled over I'd play dumb and say I bought it that way. I've added reflective plugs to my end bars and a reflective strip so I stay visible. I thought about adding the little button LED's for brake and turn signals but they are small and together for their use aren't DOT approved to replace the vehicle lights so no bother getting pulled over for that.

I don't have lights on my bike rack. Bikes don't hide the lights too awfully bad. However, my dirt bike motorcycle does hide the lights too much for me so I put lights on it and I feel much better knowing people can see me stop, turn, etc. I also put the reflective tape all along it which helps at night. I put the reflective tape on the bike rack too. The reflective tape is something you may want to consider if you use it at night.

 

[4runforfun]

I don't have lights on my bike rack. Bikes don't hide the lights too awfully bad. However, my dirt bike motorcycle does hide the lights too much for me so I put lights on it and I feel much better knowing people can see me stop, turn, etc. I also put the reflective tape all along it which helps at night. I put the reflective tape on the bike rack too. The reflective tape is something you may want to consider if you use it at night.

I went back and forth on lights, I decided to use plastic plugs for now and do more research on lighting it up. Main thing is I want to keep it clean looking without adding too much. But some reflectors and maybe an LED strip are in the future. For now it's only daytime driving, though you can see my brake lights if I get caught with sun setting hopefully the a**hole behind me has headlights LOL:fear:

All in all thanks dudes!

 

[JohnJerk]

Looks awesome. How do you mange sway?


Edit: looked good in white too.

 

[ImOnAPlain51]

Nice job, looks great. Always fun to build something that's one of a kind, that you will use.

Now excuse my ignorance. I've been looking at getting a mtn bike since moving to ABQ, why do I notice most people getting the racks that hold from the wheels instead of those that hold at the frame like these.