General Cycling Discussion - Haul a bicycle in a truck

I've been looking on how to haul a bike in the bed of a truck but just can't come up with something that can help me, what makes this a more complicated question is that I am talking about a 4' bed, how would you carry your bike in such a tight space?

I've been looking on how to haul a bike in the bed of a truck but just can't come up with something that can help me, what makes this a more complicated question is that I am talking about a 4' bed, how would you carry your bike in such a tight space?

Get a folder? Leave the tailgate down? Get a hitch rack?

Aaron :)

go to you local bike shop and look at some of the racks. some companies make a device that clamps and or screws to the side of the bed. you simply take off your front wheel and clamp the fork. something like a roof rack or the things I use in my van.

try this. http://www.thule.com/en/US/Products/BikeCarriers/TruckBed/5786509.aspx

I have a truck and I use one of these.
163507

It fits and I can switch it over to the car if I need to.

I use ratchet straps. I hook one end on one side of the handle bars then hook the other end of the strap to the bed. repeat on the other side then tighten down. Works damn good too! if your bed is to short, just leave the gate down. if i can/could upload straight to this site from my BB phone, I could take a picture of mine right now.

Take the wheels off the bike. I routinely carry mine in the trunk of my small car.

I'm trying to picture a 4' truck bed.

I'm trying to picture a 4' truck bed.
Maybe a Ford Sport Trac?

Maybe a Ford Sport Trac?

That was about the only one I could think of...I have a couple of acquaintances with those things, one uses a roof mount rack the other has a hitch mount rack. I drive a full sized crew cab dually with an 8 foot bed, never had a problem hauling bicycles.

Aaron :)

I've been looking on how to haul a bike in the bed of a truck but just can't come up with something that can help me, what makes this a more complicated question is that I am talking about a 4' bed, how would you carry your bike in such a tight space?

Diagonally :D

Something like this would work:

http://www.dakine.com/bike/accessories/pick-up-pads/pick-up-pad-sm/

It costs $100 though. You could probably rig something similar up for less (I'm picturing a mechanic's fender protector with straps added to keep it from blowing off).

I have a 2005 Dodge ram 2500 and a few times I have the bike in the bed. Now I just pulled the rear seats up and the bike fits perfectly in the back cab. I have a 2009 Specialized Sequioa.

Maybe a Ford Sport Trac?
Or one of the H2 abominations with the short bed in the back. HUT or whatever it is.

This might work:

http://www.autoanything.com/bike-racks/69A5457A0A0.aspx

P2

Something with a 4' bed isn't a truck.

This one worked for me....made out of pvc pipe.

Go to:

http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/

click on "articles" and "how to do it" and select "truck bed Bike rack"

I just turn the front wheel a bit and use a ratcheting strap around the fork to either side of the truck to hold in place.

Just my $.02 worth.....

A typical bicycle is about 6' long so that leaves you about 2' short of space. If you remove the front wheel you shorten the bike by about a foot. That leaves you 1 foot short. I'm thinking that if you were to install a conventional fork mount at the height of the top of the bed that would angle the bike enough that it would just barely fit.

Leave tailgate open:

http://www.pipelineracks.com/photos/photo6.jpg

toss and go!

I have a truck and I use one of these.
163507

It fits and I can switch it over to the car if I need to.

is that an Allen? we used to sell tons of them are they still made?

is that an Allen? we used to sell tons of them are they still made?

Yes. (http://www.amazon.com/Allen-Deluxe-2-Bike-Trunk-Mount/dp/B000ELUXFC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=automotive&qid=1281223771&sr=8-2) I like mine a lot.

I made a rack with a treated 2x6 and a pair of these: http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Product_10052_10551_1031488_-1_1529500_20000_400019

Take off front wheel and then clamp the fork in that, which is bolted to the board. So long as your tailgate is closed, the little bit of bouncing around shouldn't be a problem. Works good, and pretty cheap.

Something with a 4' bed isn't a truck.

I agree 100%, the problem is, I live pretty much car free, and the times that I may have to take the bike in long distances it would be through the use of a truck with a 4' bed.

A Nissan Frontier with a crew cab (http://images.thecarconnection.com/lrg/2005_nissan_frontier_crew_cab_100008135_l.jpg), which is just another way of saying "I bought a truck to go up and down the road and keep up with the Joneses" I guess the exact opposite of what someone who rides a bike/cyclist would do.

The bike made it through a trip from OH to KY in it, but with a scratch on it and going up and down, I really would like to avoid that again, reason why I asked. I do like the ratchet strap idea but here is the other thing about this truck. This is about what the bed looks like (http://0.tqn.com/d/trucks/1/0/B/E/1/pro4x_bed.jpg) I think that the one in the picture looks a bit smaller though (is that even possible??). Those aluminum rails you see on the bottom and sides are nice, if you've got the $200 hooks for them, they do not have an edge on them that you can use a ratchet strap on, there are zero hooks on the bed of the Nissa Frontier and you can not reach under tbe edges of the bed, as you would on a normal truck bed, because Nissan's proprietary system is in the way of your hands or anything else to reach in there. It is basically "useless" in the sense that you can't use normal methods to hold anything down.

I do however have an "extender" that will sit on the tailgate making it 6' I'm still scratching my head over how to make anything that will go on the bed from being loose.

A low cost option with some DIY involved:

Find channel nuts that fit the Nissan rail system.
Bolt on a universal bike mount like the one from Performance. Yakima makes a similar bike mount called a Blockhead.

If you can't find channel nuts use square nuts that fit in the channel or makeshift "t-bolts" using carriage bolts and washers. Once you have something that can slide into the channel and holds then the rest should be easy.

Edit: This link shows in more detail what I'm talking about. It also mentions a source for the channel nuts.

http://www.titantalk.com/forums/titan-faq-howto-area/28496-utili-track-bed-tricks.html

Look at the yakima rack web site and fit your car. I showed a few solutions for your situation.

hang the front wheel over the tailgate.