What do you do when you can't build out? Build up!
So I picked up 2 of these bad boys off Amazon.com:
There's various types of mounts that engage the front fork out there on the market, but I selected this one mainly because of the way the fasteners would work. I needed that spacing in order to tie into pre-existing bolts holding my bed wood down. Unfortunately the holes are way too damn small for my beefcake stainless bolts, so I just decided to slot the flanges, allowing for any drunken math I may have done while mounting the bed down in the truck.
Luckily I have access to a mill at work
Now, my original plan was to mount the bikes so that they faced forward, but the stem on the frame ended up hitting the back of the roof, so that was out. It also wouldn't work once I mount the glass in the back of the car.
The interim solution I came up with is to bolt the mounts in the back of the truck and have the bikes face backwards:
Fits perfectly.
I have to swing the a** end of my longer hybrid bike inboard toward the center of the car so it will fit, but the mountain bike fits really well.
Once I put the rear glass in, I can either keep this solution, and remove the rear wheel in addition to the front, OR, go with mounting option 3:
I'd probably try to bolt the mounts on through the roof, that way I can remove them and just keep the button-head screws there (with a gasket) if I ever want, but the mounts ARE steel, so I could weld them too.
Pros of mounting the bikes like this is that there's still a ton of room in the bed for carrying coolers and other cargo, and there's really no chance of messing up the glass.
Cons would be drilling holes in my roof, potentially scratching the paint (once I paint it), and that's really it. Ergonomically, getting the bikes in and out from either position is super easy.
Bonus - the mounts (when not in use) act as badass rope hooks/tie downs.
What do you guys think?
