Interior Ski Rack

[Jetboy]

I'm kinda tired of the mess of ski gear in the back of my 4runner. My parking garage at work is only 6'7" height and as a result I cannot use a roof top ski rack. I have a rocket box that I can use for camping and such, but I can't leave it on. It's not practical to go on and off all the time. So I just throw my skis in the back. I generally ski 3 days a week during the winter (benefits of a fortunate work situation), so the wet ski gear in the back starts to add up over time to a soggy car. So that's the problem.

I would like to build some sort of interior ski rack that is temporary and lives in the back of the 4runner. I basically never have passengers in the back - but I'd like to keep the option of at least folding up the seats with the center down if I needed to. I think I've had rear passengers about 10 times in 25,000 miles, so it's not a must have by any means - but I'd like to still be able to do so.

My primary goal is to keep the back from getting scrached up by my skis. I'm tall and tend to ski 190cm ish length skis so they don't fit super well without resting against the rear doors. The other goal is to collect the water as they warm up and melt off. Right now I use a ski bag that is a PITA and marginally effective at either task.

Anyone have anything like this? I'd love some ideas on how best to build it/mount it. Maybe it's a stupid idea and I should just put a hitch rack on and let my skis get covered in road grime. Might be better than the alternative of sticking big wet dirty stuff inside.

This is kinda what I was envisioning, but I'm not sure if there are better ideas out there.

 

[SirBarton]

Do you usually have a front seat passenger? If not you could go with something like the seat rack - https://www.seat-rack.com

Doesn't solve your moisture and dirt problem though - unless you have them in a bag.

 

[Jetboy]

My wife skis with me a lot so I often do have a front seat passenger. That is a neat idea though. Could possibly use one of the rear seats plus an additional stand alone rack. I had thought I could maybe just have some sort of plastic catch basin underneath - like a piece of 12" plastic pipe cut in half or something to catch the water.

 

[Spenny]

Do you usually have a front seat passenger? If not you could go with something like the seat rack - https://www.seat-rack.com

Doesn't solve your moisture and dirt problem though - unless you have them in a bag.

that seat rack is awesome!

 

[Rico696]

Can't you just get a ski bag and just put the skis in the bag? That's what i do with my snowboards...

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[Jetboy]

I use a ski bag now. It doesn't do a very good job of keeping the water contained. For a day it might work. By the end of day 3 in a row it's kind of a mess inside. Maybe one of the hard sided ski carriers would work. The other issue is just a length problem. 190+cm skis don't fit well in the back - even diagonally. So a way to prop them up down the center that isn't riding on the folded down seat would be nice. The edges are sharp and scratch/cut up interior soft parts pretty quickly. Snowboards are a bit easier because they're a lot shorter. My longest snowboard is only about 170cm.

I'd rather use a roof rack if I could fit in my parking garage. That would be my first choice - keep that wet and sharp stuff outside.

 

[bofa]

Maybe wipe them down before throwing them in the bag?

 

[jrandom]

That is a damn fancy interior ski rack you've posted :madgrin:

I have never had a ski rack, road grime on bases, no thanks. I have always kept my skis/boots inside. I have a Yak skybox, but truck doesn't fit under anything so I never use it, apart from road trips.

Dude wipe that shit off while its still frozen. Keep a small soft rubber "squeegee" in the back. Knock your boots together. Takes likes 30 seconds. Zero issues with runoff. How long you been skiing?

I drop the rear seat center armrest down and put mine and my betters half's skis/poles through there (I also have wet okoles that cover the entire back seats and armrests). I would like to fab a clamp on L-shaped something to the back of the slide to let the tails rest against and something to hold them down with.

You could build a plywood tray that goes through the center console and to the back, rhino line it, and gravity will take any accumulated moisture to the back, add a small rubber drain hose to evacuate it out the back. I ski 190~ fats and you could fit two pair side by side no problem.

 

[Jetboy]

I bet the rack in that Volvo ad I posted doesn't even actually work. If you look at it - how the heck do you get the skis out? Remove an aluminum plate? lol. I like the concept though.

It's the bindings mostly. It's easy to wipe off the packed on snow on the boards. 2 pairs of ski bindings melting off 3 days a week adds up. I suppose it kinda depends on binding choice so some degree, but they all pack in some snow. Something like a Marker Duke holds a lot of snow - and is kinda shitty as a binding to boot. But - I have a pair mounted with them that happen to be my powder boards and I rides what I gots.

It's not a huge issue. I'm not damaging my car from water. Just makes it humid all the time inside and would be nice to keep more water out of the carpets/mats in some way I could drain it easier.

 

[bofa]

Maybe take a small stiff bristle brush for the bindings?

 

[jrandom]

I bet that thing automagically ejects them and helps you step in then cleans them off for you when you put them back, served with an ice cold IPA :madgrin:

The biggest moisture issue I run into is the pooling in the floor mats, its way worse than what I get from my skis. All the repeated getting in and out. You do bring up a good point though I was thinking how to make it easier/better/safer to shuttle ski gear around, it has been on the tip of my mind since i bought this truck. Oddly my gear fit better in the back of my 3rd gen than this.

I have Guardians and yeah the rails do hold some snow and my Linken teles block up a bit too, just take an extra minute to knock that crap off. It is the soaker days that suck, wet sloppy heavy snow fall that melts on contact, I always end up just throwing my sh!t in the back and dashing.

 

[Toffees]

I'm kinda tired of the mess of ski gear in the back of my 4runner. My parking garage at work is only 6'7" height and as a result I cannot use a roof top ski rack. I have a rocket box that I can use for camping and such, but I can't leave it on. It's not practical to go on and off all the time. So I just throw my skis in the back. I generally ski 3 days a week during the winter (benefits of a fortunate work situation), so the wet ski gear in the back starts to add up over time to a soggy car. So that's the problem.

I would like to build some sort of interior ski rack that is temporary and lives in the back of the 4runner. I basically never have passengers in the back - but I'd like to keep the option of at least folding up the seats with the center down if I needed to. I think I've had rear passengers about 10 times in 25,000 miles, so it's not a must have by any means - but I'd like to still be able to do so.

My primary goal is to keep the back from getting scrached up by my skis. I'm tall and tend to ski 190cm ish length skis so they don't fit super well without resting against the rear doors. The other goal is to collect the water as they warm up and melt off. Right now I use a ski bag that is a PITA and marginally effective at either task.

Anyone have anything like this? I'd love some ideas on how best to build it/mount it. Maybe it's a stupid idea and I should just put a hitch rack on and let my skis get covered in road grime. Might be better than the alternative of sticking big wet dirty stuff inside.

This is kinda what I was envisioning, but I'm not sure if there are better ideas out there.

These won't fit? Seems small enough to store, unless you're skiing every weekend or so and it's too much trouble to install and remove.

 

[jrob]

I was contemplating something similar when I was living in Denver. I was getting tired of having to haul my skis in and out of the house, and wanted to keep them locked up in the truck.
Drew this up in sketch up for you real quick.
If I were going to build it, I would do something like this. Probably just do like 6 good coats of polyurethane on the plywood tray, or if you wanted to get super fancy I guess you could step it back to 1/2" and glass it in. That starts getting pretty involved though. For securing the skis, just some bungees and eyes strategically located to hold them in their PVC slots should do the trick.

It's roughly to scale using your badass 190s. Hooked you up with some sweet bindings too.

 

[Swarty]

Magnetic ski racks

I'm not sure if there are better ideas out there.

GEV Mag Mounts
Inno mag mounts

A bunch of these are low profile enough to leave on and you'd have to remove your crossbars. Also they come right on and off. I've seen the GEVs and they are very low profile.

 

[jrandom]

Unless its in a box exterior racks are for the birds, here is a short list why:
1. Easy to steal (leaving your skis out on the top of you ride in a parking lot or over night anywhere but your garage is asking to get them stolen)
2. road grime (nothing better than coating $1000 (retail) pair of boards with everything nasty on the road).
3. UV's (much like road grime, that are bad for your skin are just as bad on your ski bases)
4. you don't double check the lock or the rack assembly when your in a hurry your gear flies off the roof
5. as aerodynamic as a log or pallet of bricks.

Out of sight, out of mind.

 

[rtinniste]

The rack honestly looks like a bigger hassle then anything only thing I can think of is for "wow factor".

Knock the snow off your boards/ski's and wipe it real quick with a towel. I keep 2 harbor fraud moving blankets in the back of my 4runner and works for me. Even with my messy ass friends who always seem to make a bigger mess. My biggest issue is finding a place to change out of my boots and pants without getting clothes and socks muddy or wet and tracking that into the car.

 

[Jetboy]

I drew this as a quick idea of what I might go with. I have a 4x8 foot table cnc router so I'd just need to measure to make sure it fits correctly in the 4runner. With the wood and some adjustment for making it look nice and curvy it should be about a 20 minute cutout on the router plus some time to paint it or whatever. It's kind of a chincy Ikea design, but for me it's easy and fast. I still need a catch basin though. In a perfect world I'd cut out of foam and fiberglass it, but in the real world I just don't care enough to make one that nice.

It will fold up almost flat for storage.

 

[ADK Explorer]

I drew this as a quick idea of what I might go with. I have a 4x8 foot table cnc router so I'd just need to measure to make sure it fits correctly in the 4runner. With the wood and some adjustment for making it look nice and curvy it should be about a 20 minute cutout on the router plus some time to paint it or whatever. It's kind of a chincy Ikea design, but for me it's easy and fast. I still need a catch basin though. In a perfect world I'd cut out of foam and fiberglass it, but in the real world I just don't care enough to make one that nice.

It will fold up almost flat for storage.

Dude, make it out of better materials, patent it and ... ka ching!

 

[Muskrat14]

Have a seamstress fab up a neoprene bag.


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[Jetboy]

Still needs a catch basin. But it works.