# Home-made Racks



## soccer6543 (Aug 12, 2009)

I made me a home-made roof rack for my 4-runner and am in the process of planning another one. Has anyone else make a home-made rack/system for their bike(s)? List with materials and cost. Plus any ideas for my future rack are appreciated.














































My rack has changed slightly since these pictures. I now have spray-painted it black, and I got a new bike.


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## cracksandracks.com (Oct 22, 2009)

nice job....how long did it take you to make this? 
what were your approximate material costs?


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## soccer6543 (Aug 12, 2009)

cracksandracks.com said:


> nice job....how long did it take you to make this?
> what were your approximate material costs?


It probably took me about 2-3 hours total after work. this included the measuring, cutting, assembling and installing.

Most expensive part was the fork holder (and the fork up for my new bike). Most of the Aluminum I got from people who were recycling it. I would say total cost (excluding fork holder) less than $30. This slightly depends on where you are/prices/what materials you use/etc.

It consists of:
1/8 and 1/4 inch aluminum plate
Aluminum I (eye) rail (came from an old construction site, I had to chisel concrete from around it)
and the tire holder is actually made to hold a bike tire, got it from an old bike shop
I attached it with bolts and some 1/4" aluminum strips I cut (square U bolts hit my roof, they wouldn't work)

The only problems I ran into were: 
I attached a square U-bolt over the I rail right behind the fork holder to keep the wobbling down. 
And I reinforced the front cross member of my rack with a piece of aluminum under the rail to reduce stress on my rack.

Any more questions?

I can possibly post step-by-step plans and/or pictures for anyone interested. Like I said I'm making another one as soon as school is out.


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## Stupendous Man (Jan 12, 2004)

Nice job. I considered making something just like this for the van.

Here is a bike rack I made about 5 years ago for when we go camping. I have to haul 5 bikes, soon will be 6.
It cost about $120 to make with simple materials, the biggest cost being the 4 fork mounts @ $15 a piece.

The top rack is quickly removable from the base, so the camper beds can still slide out.
The pics show how it was constructed.


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## kntr (Jan 25, 2004)

$60 and a little welding


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## cracksandracks.com (Oct 22, 2009)

this is becoming a good diy thread...
that's all nice stuff.

i asked about the costs associated because i'm just trying to gauge the time/value vs. buying aftermarket...of course i know you can't factor in the X factor, which is the pure satisfaction of making something yourself.


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## crashtestdummy (Jun 18, 2005)

I've made several items because what I needed wasn't being made by anyone else.

A couple of fabrications in this post to another thread. http://forums.mtbr.com/showpost.php?p=6807523&postcount=9

Some other ones I made. When I first got my Frontier I made a new bar using some Yakima hardware that I already had. Later on I built a bike with a 20mm fork and had to fab up some new mounts.


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## soccer6543 (Aug 12, 2009)

How does the back tire get held on the 20mm rack? Is it simply the fork holder on the front cross bar and the rear tire on the back? or is there a member running between them? How hard was this to make/how much did it cost?


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## wv_bob (Sep 12, 2005)

Made this back about '90 to fit in the bed of a pickup truck, later expanded it to hold 2 more bikes

Nowadays I just sling my bike in the bed of the truck and forget about it


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## crashtestdummy (Jun 18, 2005)

soccer6543 said:


> How does the back tire get held on the 20mm rack? Is it simply the fork holder on the front cross bar and the rear tire on the back? or is there a member running between them? How hard was this to make/how much did it cost?


I have a 12" Yakima wheel tray that I use for the back tire. I also use this on my Load Warrior and I use an old toe strap to fasten the tire down. My racks are mounted on Yak Tracks with Control Towers, so I can easily adjust where they are in relation to each other.

Difficulty to make? Not too hard if you have a mill and lathe. You could probably get close to the concept with several trips to a decent hardware store.

As far as price to build, I have no idea. They were bits and pieces that I had kicking around. One of the advantages of being a "junk" hoarder.


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## soccer6543 (Aug 12, 2009)

If you work with a mill and lathe, you'd appreciate my bike. I had several sets of regular skewer wheels when I bought my 20mm fork and did want to pay the price to buy a 20mm wheel. So I had a guy I work with fab me up some bushings that fit into the 20mm slots on my fork and hold the 'nipples' of the wheel and allow for a rear skewer to slide through and secure it all. I've been riding like this for over 7 months, AM riding and NO problems what-so-ever (minus the 30 extra seconds for putting the wheel on) cost him about 20 cent a bushing. And in my opinion, stronger than the 20mm thru rod.


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## crashtestdummy (Jun 18, 2005)

soccer6543 said:


> If you work with a mill and lathe, you'd appreciate my bike. I had several sets of regular skewer wheels when I bought my 20mm fork and did want to pay the price to buy a 20mm wheel. So I had a guy I work with fab me up some bushings that fit into the 20mm slots on my fork and hold the 'nipples' of the wheel and allow for a rear skewer to slide through and secure it all. I've been riding like this for over 7 months, AM riding and NO problems what-so-ever (minus the 30 extra seconds for putting the wheel on) cost him about 20 cent a bushing. And in my opinion, stronger than the 20mm thru rod.


Sounds like a good fix. I doubt that it's any stronger though. Another strength benefit of the thru axle is that the bearings end up with a much larger ID, so you get a more substantial wear surface.


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## soccer6543 (Aug 12, 2009)

crashtestdummy said:


> Sounds like a good fix. I doubt that it's any stronger though. Another strength benefit of the thru axle is that the bearings end up with a much larger ID, so you get a more substantial wear surface.


You have a point there, I didn't think about that. But it works well for what I do, and it's cheaper.


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## crashtestdummy (Jun 18, 2005)

soccer6543 said:


> You have a point there, I didn't think about that. But it works well for what I do, and it's cheaper.


Cheaper for the win.


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## JustMtnB44 (Nov 8, 2004)

soccer6543 said:


> And in my opinion, stronger than the 20mm thru rod.


Definitely not stronger; it is a much weaker set up. While I appreciate the DIY approach (I like making my own parts too), it really defeats the purpose of having a 20mm fork in the first place. But if it works for you, then that's cool.


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## gdpolk (Aug 3, 2007)

This one cost me about $35, most of the cost was in the D-ring hardware. I had screws already and some of the wood. I literally built it in the back of my truck to be a press fit into the bedliner and be easily removable for when I need my whole bed. Then I painted it black with left over spray paint cans. It is about 4 years old now and I think I want to build another just like it using square aluminum tubing whenever this one finally dies. It is super easy to just drop the bikes in and it holds both 26" and 29" tires securely. It holds 3 bikes which is fine because my truck is only a single cab so I won't ever be hauling more than me and two buddies anyway. The D-rings can be used to bungee the bikes in more securely if needed and to hang gear like helmets and Camelbaks off of as well. I need to touch up the paint again some time but that will be a project for winter.


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