bike racks on Airstream

[LI Pets]

I think a bigger problem with rear end sag is water/waste tanks mounted rear of the axles, if those are over the axles there is less chance of a problem.

That assumes these is no frame rot causing it etc.

[85MH325]

That's the exact rack I use. It works well.

Roger

Originally Posted by 65GT

We've been using this for a couple of years now:

ProStor at Lowe's: Two Bicycle Steel Stand



This type of indoor storage has been spreading amongst WBCCI members for a few years. The first time I saw it was in a rig from Maine.

We have carpet and it hardly moves, the bikes are always upright. Because the 65GT has beautiful ribbon mahogony throughout, I throw a moving pad (~$15, also available at lowes) over the whole works just in case the pedals come in contact with something.

Once you arrive, both the stand and the bikes move outside. The stand easily locks to your front end frame, and your bikes lock to the stand... Pretty cool...

__

[flmgrip]

Originally Posted by 85MH325

That's the exact rack I use. It works well.

Roger

I've been looking into how to transport my bikes... This seems like a great lowcost solution....
I wonder if I should mount this to the floor somehow? Linoleum is pretty slippery? Can I just screw into the floor if I choose to?

Thanks

[TankerIP]

I would be really afraid to put a rack on the back of mine. My model has a history of frame sag, crack, etc. I think this is because of so much weight being carried behind the axles. We have a bath, kitchen, and holding tanks back there. If you load the pantry, keep the tanks full, you are just creating a potential problem that would be exacerbated with hanging bikes far on the back. An Airstream model with heavy components loaded on or forward of the axles might afford the opportunity for bikes on the back. One just needs to evaluate carefully their own trailer situation.

[85MH325]

Originally Posted by flmgrip

I've been looking into how to transport my bikes... This seems like a great lowcost solution....
I wonder if I should mount this to the floor somehow? Linoleum is pretty slippery? Can I just screw into the floor if I choose to?

Thanks

Just put down a rubber-backed throw rug and put the rack on it... or a piece of something with rubber on both sides. Ours is on linoleum too, and I don't have anything under it. It really won't move much at all.

Roger

[WineStream]

Originally Posted by 65GT

We've been using this for a couple of years now:

ProStor at Lowe's: Two Bicycle Steel Stand



This type of indoor storage has been spreading amongst WBCCI members for a few years. The first time I saw it was in a rig from Maine.

We have carpet and it hardly moves, the bikes are always upright. Because the 65GT has beautiful ribbon mahogony throughout, I throw a moving pad (~$15, also available at lowes) over the whole works just in case the pedals come in contact with something.

Once you arrive, both the stand and the bikes move outside. The stand easily locks to your front end frame, and your bikes lock to the stand... Pretty cool...

__

CR@P! I just read a bunch of threads and even made some private messages to people asking about how to hold bikes inside the trailer without removing the front wheel before heading out for the vacation that I am on right now. I tried in vain to make a fixture from wood and never really nailed it (no pun intended). I have never seen the bike rack that you mentioned above in any of my many visits to Lowe's, but then again I am surprised sometimes in what Lowe's carries. Either way, I'm hunting this down next time I'm there. My homemade rack worked well enough for this trip, but I've been complaining to my wife the entire time about what a pain the butt it's been dealing with the bikes & rack. I know I've spent more than $25 is time and materials for the "rack" I built. Live and learn I guess.

[James Rogers]

I have a 1987 345 what do you have for one of them. I took our bikes to Florida one time only. The rack was made for two bikes. I had it strapped on my motorcycle trailer. Nothing was touching when I left home. I caught one of the bike tires in my side mirror. It wasn't there when I started. When I stopped it had worked loose but with no danger off coming off. It rubbed the paint off in several spots. We haven't taken them with us since then.

What do I need?????

[85MH325]

Originally Posted by James Rogers

I have a 1987 345 what do you have for one of them.

What do I need?????

I had a 325 for several years. Depending on your setup, you can use the same rack '65GT and I use... or you might want to get a small utility trailer from one of the home improvement stores and outfit it with good quality trough racks and tow it.

Roger

[Bird's Nest]

My husband is a serious cyclist and we are a biking family. We took the AS to the Savannah Century last weekend and will be in North GA for the Six Gap ride in a few weeks.

We love our Yakima Bed Heads. We have four in the bed of our GMC 2500. They clamp onto the side rail, two on each side. We mesh the bikes together, alternating sides. We can run a cable through the frames and lock the bikes to the truck's tie-down rings.

We are bike snobs, so all of our bikes have quick release wheels. A must for this rack system as you remove the front wheel and clamp the forks in the Bed Head. We have mountain bikes and road bikes. I am not sure if cruisers or kids bikes would work. You also cannot use this system if you have a cap on your truck.

This is a great system if you do not want all of your bikes rubbing together and bouncing around.

The Bed Heads are so unobtrusive that we leave them on the truck all of the time. No more fighting with a rack system when we go out of town. We just load the bikes and go. This is the fastest system we have ever had for loading four bikes.

Here is a link:
Yakima Products - BedHead

[Wayne&Sam]

Here's my indoor storage solution:

[WineStream]

Originally Posted by 65GT

We've been using this for a couple of years now:

ProStor at Lowe's: Two Bicycle Steel Stand





__

A testimonial for this thing...

We stopped at a Lowe's on our way back from the OBX and bought one of these. When we stopped overnight in VA on our way back to OH, I put this together after dinner. It went very easy as tools were included (always the mark of a quality piece of machinery). It works great although I'm sure that I will still use a tie-down to hold them in the rack while underway.

[azflycaster]

My mountain bike has disc brakes and originally would not fit into the rack. A slight modification (bend) to one of the down tubes corrected the problem.

[Karterlin]

This is great! We went and got the Lowe's 2 bike rack and it fits with the two bikes in the aisle of our trailer perfectly. We will be covering the bikes when we travel but it is pretty stable. I have learned so much from all of you. Thanks!
Karla

[gail]

why can;t you put a rack on the back of the car or suv , they have thule ones that atttach to the window from the top. Not quite sure, I do love the Lowes idea i am going to ck that out.

[Jack46]

Definitely don't monunt a bike rack at the rear bumper. But contrary to SteveH, I've had great success with a rack mounted on the "A" frame over the propane bottles. We carry two "beach cruisers" and have never had any difficulty with them in terms of banging into the trailer.

Here's the website to learn more: WELCOME to Top Pop Rails Website !

The only challenges is that I needed help to mount the brackets, but the rest of it went up easily. It also is easily removed when not needed - it will block opening your front window.

And, it is not cheap - about $500.00 when i bought a year ago. Other then mounting bikes on top of our Suburban (tougher to handle than with the Top Pop IMO), this was the best solution I came up with. Jack

[SteSpot]

Originally Posted by Bird's Nest

My husband is a serious cyclist and we are a biking family. We took the AS to the Savannah Century last weekend and will be in North GA for the Six Gap ride in a few weeks.

We love our Yakima Bed Heads. We have four in the bed of our GMC 2500. They clamp onto the side rail, two on each side. We mesh the bikes together, alternating sides. We can run a cable through the frames and lock the bikes to the truck's tie-down rings.

We are bike snobs, so all of our bikes have quick release wheels. A must for this rack system as you remove the front wheel and clamp the forks in the Bed Head. We have mountain bikes and road bikes. I am not sure if cruisers or kids bikes would work. You also cannot use this system if you have a cap on your truck.

This is a great system if you do not want all of your bikes rubbing together and bouncing around.

The Bed Heads are so unobtrusive that we leave them on the truck all of the time. No more fighting with a rack system when we go out of town. We just load the bikes and go. This is the fastest system we have ever had for loading four bikes.

Here is a link:
Yakima Products - BedHead

We have these on the bed of our truck and they work great.....

Also, we had a 69 Overlander that had a rack on the back from a PO that we had removed before we noticed the rear end separation..........wish I had known about about what to look for before we purchased the trailer. Anyway, that trailer was broadsided and was totalled so no one else will have to worry about it at least. Do we know for sure that the rack and whatever was on it caused the rear end separation? Not really. paula

[Bird's Nest]

Want to see the Yakima Bed heads in action?
I don't have the photos on my computer but I can link these videos from our trip last summer.
It is a quick shot as we are leaving the sand dunes in this video.

YouTube - The Epic Grad Trip - day 4

In this one you can see the bikes in the bed behind Nick as he is talking.

YouTube - The Epic Grad Trip - Day 3 (Second Half)

[ESCAPE POD]

Originally Posted by Bird's Nest

We love our Yakima Bed Heads. We have four in the bed of our GMC 2500. They clamp onto the side rail, two on each side. We mesh the bikes together, alternating sides. We can run a cable through the frames and lock the bikes to the truck's tie-down rings.

We are bike snobs, so all of our bikes have quick release wheels. A must for this rack system as you remove the front wheel and clamp the forks in the Bed Head. We have mountain bikes and road bikes. I am not sure if cruisers or kids bikes would work. You also cannot use this system if you have a cap on your truck.

Here is a link:
Yakima Products - BedHead

I have a Ford F150 Supercrew short bed on order, and I plan to put a shell (maybe a Flip-Pac) on the truck. Yakima makes the "Beddy-Jo", which looks like it will fit my set-up, short bed, shell and all. Here's the link:

Yakima Beddy Jo - Yakima Truck Bed Bike Racks

Has anyone used this? If so, how'd it work for you?

Cheers,
Jerry

[2airishuman]

Originally Posted by ESCAPE POD

...Yakima makes the "Beddy-Jo", which looks like it will fit my set-up, short bed, shell and all. Here's the link:

Has anyone used this? If so, how'd it work for you?

yep got one, works fine.

it's designed with webbing and small 'blocks' that attach it to the lift gate when closed.

so the bikes must face reward for this feature.

the problem is the handle bars on many bikes will hang over the tail gate when it's up.

which means the bikes are a tiny bit OUT outside the truck bed, and limits the use with a hard shell/rear window.

one can LOOSEN the bar at the stem and rotate the bars UP, out of the way on some bikes...

the rack can be reversed (bikes forward) but then it's not tethered anywhere (no biggie)

i use it FORWARD in the truck bed often, then slide it to the front of the bed with gear packed behind it...

it doesn't come with front WHEEL forks/racks, they can be added for extra $$...

and the fork attachment is funky for some forks (doesn't clear ALL suspension fork designs) ...

overall it's a good piece and can do triple duty...

1. truck bed rack

2. it can go INSIDE the 'stream with the bike mounted and stable on the floor...

3. it can be used as a 'bike stand/rack' at the camp site...

and one can make a 'base' for it that provides even more stability for #2 and #3...

cheers
2air'

[ESCAPE POD]

After further searching, I found a Yakima product, the BlockHead. It's pretty much a bolt/screw mount fork base that can be mounted to any surface, including a free-standing wood platform. Once our short bed truck arrives, I'll test these out on our two bikes. If it saves bed space, you can even stand the bikes up in opposite directions (forward and rearward). Our bikes have straight handlebars, not the street-type handlebars that might peek out over the tailgate, so I'm pretty sure a shell will cover everything without a problem.

-Jerry