Bike rack for GT mtn. bikes

[gt3413]

I copied this from the general tech forum. I thought those here might have a better idea of what works best for them. I'm leaning towards a trunk rack versus a rooftop. Here it goes, give me your input:

I've got 2 GT mountain bikes. I bought a Bell bike carrier and had no luck with it. On the 1st trip, one of the rubber pieces broke and my $500 bike nearly hit the rode at 70 MPH. Not a lot of cash for a lot of you but with my wife and children that would have taken a chunk of my leisure fund to replace (temporarily until Bell replaced it). Thank goodness one side held on. This is the basic carrier that attaches to the trunk of a car. What are my options? One of the problems I ran into was the GT frame build which didn't allow me to place both bikes on the rack properly. Should I go with a car top rack or what? This was a terrible experience that I don't want to repeat. Thanks, Greg

 

[Scotty_Dog]

Do you have a hitch?

How much money can you spend?

 

[gt3413]

I don't have a hitch. I would prefer to spend less than $150 US dollars if possible.

 

[peter nap]

If money is an issue I can tell you how I handled the problem.

I have a Focus. I didn't want a trunk rack and all the roof racks that would fit were out of my budget.

I made a hitch receiver. Cost $20.00 and a couple of welding rods (2")

I also made a hitch mounted bike rack. Cost $25.00 and a couple more welding rods.
I tend to overbuild everything so I could mount a motorcycle on it if I wanted.
I painted it to match the car. $5.00

$50.00 total and a better rack than you can buy.

You may want to consider the same thing.

 

[gt3413]

Ok Mr. Ingenious, post a pic for us remedial people to look at. Maybe we can copy your rack and get our bikes from place to place. Thanks for the input, Greg

 

[peter nap]

It's starting to get dark but this pretty well shows it:

I made my receiver from 2" square stock. You would be better off to go to tractor supply and buy a 2" receiver for $18.00. You won't have to finish off the inside that way.

 

[gt3413]

That looks incredibly sturdy. I never thought of a receiver on my little car but whatever works. How is the receiver attached to the car? That looks awesome.

 

[peter nap]

Attaching it took some thought. There's no frame and not much room.

I ran a piece of angle iron from the towing eye on one side to the other side and bolted it in place.
I cut a notch in the angle iron in the center and welded the receiver in place. (You can do that off the car and you could also bolt instead of welding using U bolts)

I attached a 1/4"X1"X 18" tail to the back of the receiver and drilled the end of it.

I took two pieces of aluminum 1/4"X2"X whatever was long enough to spam the spare tire well and drilled the center of them and the spare tire well also.

I bolted it all together with the tail and one of the aluminum struts on the underside of the well and one inside the well.

This is pretty sturdy. I wouldn't want to tow much with that but it works fine for the bike rack and a small cargo rack.

I have a Jeep for all this but my wife won't ride in it.

 

[triguy98]

You;re gonna need to spend some money if you are not that mechanically inclined. And especially if you cant weld. Most places charge ~$100 for the hitch install *it is not DIY for Joe Average* and then another $100+ for the racks. Might be able to get someone to fabricate a rack for you, but after materials and labor, you'll have spent nearly as much and have something not nearly as functional. Or you could get a GOOD trucnk mount rack like the Saris Bones rack. Bell tends to make ****. They are the walmart brand of bike stuff. Bleck.