On the way home from the Midwest Bicycle Fest last fall my old International pickup bed trailer really put the scared in me by repeatedly trying to sling itself off the road and take my truck full of bikes with it. The next day I listed it on CL and sent it to a new home. That left me with only my '87 Dodge Dakota to haul bikes in. Four with out the topper or three with it. Not nearly enough room for my load of bikes headed for the Midwest Bike Swap next month. So began the quest to turn my truck into a bicycle hauling machine (on a very limited budget).
I started by trolling CL for a ladder rack at a decent price. Most of them were going for $100+, so when I found one for $50 I jumped on it even though it was for a long bed full-size truck. I talked him down to $40 and came home happy. First thing I had to do was narrow the rack by 9". Once that was done and welded back together I cut the front legs off and fit them into the front stake pockets on my bed. With the front legs in place I set the rest of the rack on top of them and put the rear legs into the back pockets. Once I had everything square and level I welded the front legs in place. doing it this way gave me the overhang above the cab I had been wanting.
I work at an aircraft factory and a lot of parts are shipped in to the plant in large plywood crates of various sizes. They resale the empty crates at the Surplus Store for really good prices. I picked up four crates, two were 112"x 20"x24" and two were 110"x30"x22", for less than $8. It just so happens that the width between the top of the ladder rack is 53". One of each size of crate was trimmed and fit to serve as the bike hauler while the other two crates will be used to make dividers/stands inside the other crates.
Once it is all finished I will be able to carry 10-12 bikes on top and 4 more inside the bed along with all of my piece parts to be sold.
I started by trolling CL for a ladder rack at a decent price. Most of them were going for $100+, so when I found one for $50 I jumped on it even though it was for a long bed full-size truck. I talked him down to $40 and came home happy. First thing I had to do was narrow the rack by 9". Once that was done and welded back together I cut the front legs off and fit them into the front stake pockets on my bed. With the front legs in place I set the rest of the rack on top of them and put the rear legs into the back pockets. Once I had everything square and level I welded the front legs in place. doing it this way gave me the overhang above the cab I had been wanting.
I work at an aircraft factory and a lot of parts are shipped in to the plant in large plywood crates of various sizes. They resale the empty crates at the Surplus Store for really good prices. I picked up four crates, two were 112"x 20"x24" and two were 110"x30"x22", for less than $8. It just so happens that the width between the top of the ladder rack is 53". One of each size of crate was trimmed and fit to serve as the bike hauler while the other two crates will be used to make dividers/stands inside the other crates.
Once it is all finished I will be able to carry 10-12 bikes on top and 4 more inside the bed along with all of my piece parts to be sold.
