Mounting Bikes on Front Tool Box

[JCAT]

I know there are a number of threads on carrying bikes but I haven't been able to find anyone who has mounted them onto the roof of their front toolbox.

I have sized up my toolbox on the Lifestyle Extenda Elite and it is big enough to handle two bikes.

My question is can it or will it hold them?

Has anyone considered this method or tried it.

I am going to use two Bicycle fork mount for the fronts of the bikes, just like these

 http://www.thule.com/en-US/US/Products/Bike-Carriers/TruckBed/821-Low-Rider

and then just a piece of alloy C section and velcro to strap the back wheel down, much like you see for the ones mounted on rook racks.

Thoughts please.

[GGV8Cruza]

I was going to do the same with the old camper. I have four of those mounts on the rack on the Omeo and they work a treat. The only thing I would do is support the bikes with a tie down so they do not rock side to side to put any pressure on hinges to the front box

GG

[Bird]

I cant see that being any different to bolting the mount to a roof rack... Only I'd try and spread the load on the bolts going thru the box lid so they dont pull thru.. the bikes will have a bit of leverage swaying round up there.

I'm going to try the rear bike rack mount on the Kelly weekend, havent had the courage to do it before after reading that the bloke that had the mount fail and wore 1/2 his bikes away as they dragged on the road...

What do you keep in the toolbox that you may wanna get to regularly?? Would it suck to have to remove the bikes to do this reguarly? Just a thought.

[Wazza2]

You could bolt the mount through something like a piece of decking or other timber to spread the load.

Put the timber on the inside and screw thru it then effectively the load should be spread over the timber rather than just where the screws are. Just a thought...

[Marschy]

I'm going to try the rear bike rack mount on the Kelly weekend, havent had the courage to do it before after reading that the bloke that had the mount fail and wore 1/2 his bikes away as they dragged on the road...

I've welded some RHS onto my bike rack so the top can be bolted to the top of the tailgate, then I've drilled holes into the tailgate on the far left and right hand sides and at the top of the bike rack so that I can attach a ratchet tie down strap with hooks on each end onto the rack to stop it swaying. With the loose ends of the ratchet strap I tie the front wheels up to keep them from distracting me when I used to see the front wheel moving around in the wing mirrors. The constant bouncing and swaying would have eventually fatigued the bike/recover point welds otherwise and the RHS and tie down straps are enough to keep it all under control.

[ldsparrow]

Hey JCAT, not sure if this will help but here are some photos I took of someone who had done it on an Omeo.

[Kalebjarrod]

i thought about it but then i decided againt it as i am forever getting into the tool box before i leave and as soon as i hit camp and i thought it would be a bit of a pain to "put bike on" " take bike off" just if i needed somthing out of the tool box (i am sure the angle of the lid would make the bikes hit my boat racks opened)

[V8100]

Yep done it and it works a treat thy are the last thing packed and fist unloaded.never had any drama  at all.  Will try and get some pics.
Eddy

[hillbilly]

My toolbox has a length of channel welded to it. A mountain bike fits perfectly into this with both wheels still attached and straps down to a couple of eyelets also welded on. The channel is in the middle of the toolbox lid. If it was offset I'm sure two channels would fit to allow two bikes.

It is a pain though if you need to access the toolbox.

This is the only photo I can find of the channel without going to take another one.

[Eski]

My toolbox has a length of channel welded to it. A mountain bike fits perfectly into this with both wheels still attached and straps down to a couple of eyelets also welded on. The channel is in the middle of the toolbox lid. If it was offset I'm sure two channels would fit to allow two bikes.

It is a pain though if you need to access the toolbox.

This is the only photo I can find of the channel without going to take another one.

I see the trike is mounted without the bike rack...     

[Tim - Stratford]

I use the Thule mounts too. No worries with them on the KK - We've had the MTB's mounted whilst travelling 4WD tracks in the High Country without mishap. I do tie the rear wheels off with tie downs to the top rack for additional security.




Tim

[JCAT]

Well here is my rack so far. I still need to silicone up the holes, grab a couple of velcro straps to tie the rear wheels down with and swap the bolts to nylock nuts.


Blank Canvas




Hardware secured to the top


Load distribution bars underneath (3mm gal)






How the bikes sit

Does anyone see any problems with this set up before I silicone and nylock them into place tomorrow?

Be critical, I would prefer honest, learned opinions rather than my kids bikes falling off or wrecking the toolbox.

Thanks

[Jaysea]

My only thought is that these are really designed to face in the direction of travel.  Being side on it will put a lot of pressure on the forks when you stop and start especially if you have to stop suddenly.  At that height you don't want them flying in to the back of your car.

I have mine facing the same way but put an extra brace in the middle of the camper connected to the stone guard. This then supports the middle of the bike and stops any forward movement.  Just a thought.

[JCAT]

Any picks Jaysea?

I have purchased two eye bolts so that I can hook up a tie down to try and stabilize them, I am yet to decide on it's location, probably smack in the middle where the stone guard is at it's peak.

[Eski]

I use the same fork mounts and only problem I have come across was the mounting bolts coming loose on rough roads...

I drilled out the holes and put in bigger bolts and nylock nuts...   All has been fine since...

[Jeepers Creepers]

Our pushbike mounting is off the spare wheel thingy.

It slides into the square upright and uses the clamp arrangement on the upper tube of the bike frame. It also came with two extendable bars that can be fitted, should it be a girls bike.

Fairly easy to remove if access to the toolbox is required, but a two person job though.

[Jaysea]

Any picks Jaysea?

I have purchased two eye bolts so that I can hook up a tie down to try and stabilize them, I am yet to decide on it's location, probably smack in the middle where the stone guard is at it's peak.

jCat - mine is a different set up as I have it on the draw bar not on the box.

http://www.myswag.org/index.php?topic=17776.msg353634#msg353634

Main problem with my set up is I would be a bit worried about stones hitting the bike if I was off-road so I only take the bike if I know the roads are not that bad. 

[Squalo]

JCAT I thought the same thing as Jaysea - that the fork mount system was designed for longitudional (sp?) forces rather than transverse. If you have the loop around each rear wheel the bikes can't go far if they fall over, though.

That transverse across the toolbox mounting idea is intriguing, though, if you left the front wheel on and went with a frame-supporting mounting system - a few people mention the hassle of having to pull the bikes off to get into the toolbox, but if you were to build a toolbox with the lid hinged on the left side rather than at the rear, you could just lift it with the bikes in place... you could hinge it on the right too if you put gas rams or chains on it to ensure the bikes didn't fold out into the flow of traffic

I'm going to give that some serious thought - I have 5 bikes to carry and thought I'd worked it out but my plan mean no toolbox...

[whitey1]

We use the same fork mount system on our camper attached lengthwise to the boat rack. After 15 months on the road(some very rough) the wifes bike has suffered a broken fork brace from the constant side to side movement. Make sure to strap them well to prevent any movement as there is a lot of leverage there. I'm going for a frame mounted system for the new bikes.

[JCAT]

Thanks for all the replies,

Aside from what I have already done I am going to put in some eye bolts to use tie downs for the handle bars of each bike, very much like you do with a motor bike when tying it down to a trailer. It may be a bit of overkill but better than having them fall off.

I don't envisage taking the bikes when we go down decent 4WD tracks, just for the one stop longer trips.

[spargo]

Thanks for all the replies,

Aside from what I have already done I am going to put in some eye bolts to use tie downs for the handle bars of each bike, very much like you do with a motor bike when tying it down to a trailer. It may be a bit of overkill but better than having them fall off.

I don't envisage taking the bikes when we go down decent 4WD tracks, just for the one stop longer trips.

yeah definitely tie them down. even when facing the direction of travel on the back of the Triton ute, I always tie down my stupidly expensive road/race bike. what you are proposing in terms of some tie-down points should be fine..

[Zippa92]

Here is the bar to go in the hitch point at the rear of the extenda, also on my trailer thread.
Though to get into the kitchen it would have to be removed from the trailer.

See my thread for additional pics of the bar.

http://www.myswag.org/index.php?topic=25643.0

Cheers,
Mike

[lilstookie]

We have our Mountain bike on the toolbox with a $30 Ebay bikerack holder thats lockable. We actually now have 2 of them on there and Motorbike on the rear.
We have been on the road Since April 2012 and the bike has been on there all the time whilst travelling. We use 2 bungee cords to stop the bikes moving around and we have not had any issues at all.
The only thing is that they do get dusty in the lubricated parts but its not an issue as long as you give them a wash and some WD40 when you can.
Ours are not Braced with wood or anything else other than the brackets that came in the kit.
We have been on some rough roads and never had an issue with them moving or breaking anything on the rack or the toolbox.

No need to overthink and over engineer unless your that way inclined.
Stookie

[Paj880]

Hi jcat
I had thought of doing the same thing on our extenda and may still. I know this is probably too late but I considered mounting the mounts onto a forward tilting frame or plate so the bikes and mounts could tilt forward in order to open the toolbox without fouling on the tent or cover and without removing the bikes. I am early in the thought process on this one and possibly the gas rams wouldn't handle the weight Or any other number of things I havnt thought about but worth a thought.
Darren

[Rural]

Hi Jcat,

Have not been on here for a while.  Back at work paying for the red centre trip back in July.

I have the rhino version of the Thule mounts, called a rhino claw.  They are mounted on top of the boat rack of my mountain trail.  The boat rack has a mesh flaw and we Velcro the rear wheels to the floor of the rack.  The bikes face the front of the trailer. Like yourself we don't use this for offload trips but more so for quick trips or coastal holidays etc. 

I think what you have done looks really good and the additional handlebar ties will provide some extra support and piece of mind.

Cheers - Rural

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