Want to mount bike rack on bed rail without crossbars. Ideas please?

[midcont]

I would like to mount a mountain bike with both wheels attached to the bed rail. Don’t want cross bars and may eventually get a tonneau so that would have to factor in. If the brackets are mounted to the top are flat and the bike was a few inches off the side of the truck (in order to allow a tonneau to sit flat), that could work also.
I’ve been looking through threads for ideas and everything seems to be mounted to a bed rack, which I also don’t want to do.
Short of finding somebody to design and fab something custom, wanted to see if anybody can point me towards an existing solution.
I’ll have to figure out a bike rack to mount also, so advice there would also be appreciated. Thinking this 1up would work. Any way this could bolt directly to the bed rail? /https://www.1up-usa.com/product/roof-rack/ I don’t have the truck yet.

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[JRobes]

if you're looking to only mount whatever brackets you envision to one side of the bed, it will likely be tough to find a product to fit that application. Crossbars of some sort are fairly necessary whether they're your typical cross bar that spans side to side or part of a bed rack help manage the rotational loading that a side wind or aggressive turning that may cause your bike to dump into your single bed side. I thought I saw someone make a bracket that bolted into the front of one of the bed corners that tied both into the front bed rail and side bed rail to help manage that side loading, but it then blocked the use of a tonneau cover.

 

[johnparjr]

Try this as most Tundra rail stuff fits

All-in-one Bike Block Fork Mount - Quick Release Pick-Up Truck Wall Bicycle Storage https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HYJK7K...abc_44XQ26P5D0BBP3BYTHFN?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Oops just saw you want to keep the tires on

 

[BaileyW7]

I tried to mount a 1up to the mopar cargo rails with a 90 degree bracket but the bed sides are far too flexible so the bikes moves more than I’m comfortable with. You need some sort of crossbar for support for it to work.

 

[Alans17]

I don’t have an example picture, but I’ve seen a bracket attached to a front trail rail that kept the bike upright in the bed. I’m sure the front wheel was removed.

 

[midcont]

I tried to mount a 1up to the mopar cargo rails with a 90 degree bracket but the bed sides are far too flexible so the bikes moves more than I’m comfortable with. You need some sort of crossbar for support for it to work.

Thanks for this. Was the issue the bed rail being soft or the 90 degree brackets you used flexing?
I don’t have the truck yet. Could you go straight down through the top of the rail and tighten down?

Short of this I found this picture on the forum where guys are using unistrut instead of trail rails. A bracket like this that stayed flat may work if something exists

 

[NH-JT]

https://squareonecreations.com/coll...s/sideride-bike-mounts-jeep-gladiator-version

This is designed for a fork mount, but might be able to adapt for a 1up. It looks like a solid front connection, I’m guessing there’s some play in the rear mount.

 

[Happycoop]

Interested to see what folks have come up with. I'm looking for the same solution, and I love my 1Up racks so I'd be partial to being able to utilize those moving forward as well.

 

[midcont]

Found something that would work but not exactly the design I had in mind. Hoping a vendor comes up with a solution mounting to rails
https://letsgoaero.com/half-nelson-channel-2-bike-truck-bed-mount-v-rack/

In the meantime trying to decide between diy unistrut or buying a trail rail system. Will wait till I get a solution.

 

[Happycoop]

Found something that would work but not exactly the design I had in mind. Hoping a vendor comes up with a solution mounting to rails
https://letsgoaero.com/half-nelson-channel-2-bike-truck-bed-mount-v-rack/

In the meantime trying to decide between diy unistrut or buying a trail rail system. Will wait till I get a solution.

Interesting...hadn't seen that one before. I'd be worried about mounting my bikes by the carbon rims, but maybe that's not an issue.

 

[BaileyW7]

Thanks for this. Was the issue the bed rail being soft or the 90 degree brackets you used flexing?
I don’t have the truck yet. Could you go straight down through the top of the rail and tighten down?

Short of this I found this picture on the forum where guys are using unistrut instead of trail rails. A bracket like this that stayed flat may work if something exists

The whole bed side would flex and the bike would swing left to right aggressively. The 90 degree brackets are 1/4” thick so they were probably the strongest part.

I just couldn’t see any bracket working unless it braces that cargo rail to something.

You could absolutely bolt it directly to the bed side rail and be good but I opted out of that option haha. It is the perfect sport for a bike though.

 

[813 Fabrication & Design]

I have also designed 3 different mounts so far to try and accomplish this. The bed is way too flexible. I have a few more ideas, I'm not going to stop trying yet!

 

[Dreaded1]

Thanks for this. Was the issue the bed rail being soft or the 90 degree brackets you used flexing?
I don’t have the truck yet. Could you go straight down through the top of the rail and tighten down?

Short of this I found this picture on the forum where guys are using unistrut instead of trail rails. A bracket like this that stayed flat may work if something exists

Hey I know that picture, that's my truck. Those 90 degree brackets are designed for use with the tonneau cover. I take mine through the car wash and not a whole lot of water gets in. The factory cover still rolls up with these brackets and crossbars installed. If you need to remove the cross bars its a matter of removing 4 bolts.

I would love to see a design were a hinge is added to one side of these brackets and gas struts added to the other, so you can tilt the entire system out of the way for easier loading.

 

[XJADDICTION]

There are tonneau covers that sit inside of the bed rail on mounts that attach to the bed rail system. Some have a rubber gasket that will slide over the bed rail when closed (that would still be an issue for you).

There are bike mounts for crossbars that won’t interfere with the bed cover, but you said you didn’t want cross bars. Is your reason for not using cross bars or racks because you want full use of the bed?

The biggest issue is support as mentioned previously the bed sides will flex without using a rack or cross bars.

I have carbon rims on my bikes with through axles so I mount them with wheels attached. I haven’t had any issues with small amounts of constant movement with the rims. I wouldn’t want it to be a lot. I use Yakima Front Loader Mounts for my carbon rimmed bikes with no issues so far.

Here are a couple of options
- KB Voodoo (uses crossbars)
- eight13design (they chimed in above)

 

[GLR_JTR]

I have a Ride88 which is attached to the rail system. One thing I really like about it is that you can fold it and it will hide under the tonneau cover. It also support all kind of tire size, so from a road bike to a fat bike, no problem.

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