So, there was a post in C&V under the "Looking" thread about a seller with a bunch of car racks in his ad. Photo showed 10 or so, and I replied that I'd had that many over the years but now do not, and then began to wonder just how many I do have and set about finding out. Laid it all for a pic.

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Far left is an old Thule gutter-mount with two fork mounts and one remaining upright tray that goes back to about '82 and my Dasher wagon. It was also used on my Nissan pickup for a couple hundred thousand miles of repping. Gone are the Hollywood pickup bed rack for the same truck and the Hollywood roof rack with fork mounts that served on a Sentra.

Next is the bike board I built for use in later minivans. Plywood sheet is notched to fit around one middle seat and the 2x10 screwed to it at the rear has fork mounts for both flat fork tips and lawyer nubs and an eyebolt for a cable lock. The black piece holds two fork mounts that were originally installed directly on the 2x10 but I decided to make it removable so I could have a fork mount inside my VW Westy, where it clip to the bulkhead of the rear seat. These days the ply stays in the garage and I just use the 2x10 in the Mopar minivan. The black block moves from van to van.

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The boxed Allen Compact rack is my emergency travel-in-disguise rack that goes in car or van on trips without bikes. Just in case I'm 300 miles from home and find a must-have two-wheeler I'll have a way to get it home. I bought this at the end of my Trans Am attempt when I rented a car to get home and had to buy a rack. This is all that shop had and it's opened up a whole new idea of bike shopping.

Top-right is the trusty Saris 3-bike rack that usually rides on the back of the Westy but can fit almost anything and carry its share. I highly recommend this rack at every opportunity. It may not fit every vehicle and every need but I bet it damn near does.

Below that is a Saris roof rack with four fork-mount bike trays and clips to fit a rainguttered vehicle, like two previous Mopar Minivans and the Aerostar (with different fit clips) before them. Lotsa miles on this one, also. Somewhere in the garage are the two wheel mounts that go with it.

Bottom-right is the receiver-type Hollywood fork-mount two-bike carrier that was in use on a 1.25" receiver (earlier vans) but now also has an adaptor from Harbor Freight to fit a 2" receiver (current and most recent vans). This rack also used one part of the Saris roof rack fork mount with a long piece of 2x2 as a fork mount carrier for my wife's RANS Wave recumbent, and it would also have worked for our ex-tandem.

So that's seven racks if you count the double duty by the black block. Neither roof rack is in use these days. And that total does not include any other odd pieces that might turn up with further digging or the various accessories like a Thule fairing and a Saris fairing.

If our two other vehicles had 2" receivers on them I'd probably just get a Yakima or Thule swingaway rack and call it quits, but these will do for now.

Is'm thinking you live some place with a lot of storage.

A few years ago we moved from a house with an attic and a basement but no garage to a house with a garage but no attic or basement. Everything wound up in the garage. Fortunately, there's still some space left. The bike portion of the shop is located below the loft area. Looks a lot tighter with all the junk in it now.
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Nobody ever has enough storage. I joke with my buddies when I retire I need a 800 SF house and 10,000 SF pole barn

Truer words have never been spoken lol. I built a 40x40 pole-barn/garage several years ago... its currently full and none of my vehicles nor my bigger tractor is in it (nor my larger trailer and one of my boats). At one point in time I had it nicely organized and very skillfully squeezed 2 trucks, 2 boats, 6x10 trailer, several garden tractors and implements along with a third of it full of tools and such, but its been a few years since it was organized. Been debating on building a partial second level to move some of the storage type stuff up there and leave the floor space open for vehicles and tractors. That's a nie setup there Thumper, I like the loft - kinda along the lines of what I was thinking for mine.


I have never used a bike rack yet, they just roll right in across the floor of the back seats of the truck.

I usually just put a single bike into the minivan short term, leaning against one wall, but sometimes the demands are greater.

My bride would like to be able to park her vehicle in the garage on occasion and there's actually room for one regularly but that space gets commandeered for various projects like the rack photo. We also have a utility trailer that I dreamed would bring home lots of old motorcycles but of all the loads it's carried so far, motorcycles have not been among them. Good thing; there's only room to spare for bikes right now and not much more of that.

Nice VW Westy! I had one of those too. Currently have a class B (RT 170), but will probably downsize to a MV (Pacifica in the lead) and camping out of the back of it. I've just got a set of old Thule roof racks, and their Revolver hitch rack for the van, but due to the weather/rain/theft issues along the Eastcoast, I despise using them.

Went to folders which store/carry Under bed/backseat of the Van, in a MINI, or on a Motorcyle. And the Brompton is amazing... my favorite bike ever and [for me] top pick for Commuting, Utility, LCF, Folder, and Touring classes/sub-forums.

We will probably forsake the Westy and build out a Sprinter/Transit/Promaster with a swingaway on the back. Full size bikes take up too much space inside. Have not tried compacts except short distance on an old-timey Raleigh Twenty.

impressive

I'm also a DYI rack engineer...this is the 2nd generation of my homemade pick-up rack. Still made of old deck boards and 2x6's, but in this later iteration I've turned the 2x6's upright and notched out for the derailleur which gives a sturdier stance and doesn't require as many bungees. Also I have 3 of these - all separate, rather than 1 big heavy rack for 3 bikes.

If you have a pickup truck, you don't need a rack thanks to the magic of friction...just use a ratchet strap or bungee cord with one full wrap around a tube on the front triangle.

I don't want the bike to look like it's falling out or leaning against the side, also don't want that friction on the paint. Standing straight also looks better IMO,

Then tie it up straight, it's not a complex operation. The paint can be protected by using a soft cloth under the tie. I formerly used a diy lumber rack but I haul a lot of stuff with my pickup and the consequent removing/replacing the rack gets old. The ratchet strap is easy to store and has more inherent utility than a dedicated rack.

I don't see how you could do it straight with one strap unless you have a hook in the bed of your truck, I don't have that on mine.

I do have anchor bolts, but most often I just use the inside drip edge of the bed which has been sufficient. The only time I have ever damaged paint doing this was on a rustoleum oil paint job which was not 100% cured.

Actually, I once saw a two-rope no-rack trick that looked cool. Place the bike in the bed leaning over with the wheels along one bottom edge, right for example. You have a rope on that same side that is a loose loop you can put around the seatpost and then run a single bungee from the left to the seatpost. Constant tension. I'll mock something up to demonstrate.