Bed side Mt Bike Storage with Camper Shell

Love the setup! Very close to what I have

 

Thanks! It's been an evolution to get there. The two biggest challenges are trying to speed up how long it takes to break camp while also reducing weight. I hit the scale on the way home from that trip, we were 1000lbs over our GVW, and that was without 80l of water, groceries, ice or beer. I'll probably airbag it this year to help maintain the ride height in the rear.

 

I looks like it'd be pretty easy to build something similar to the Kuat but that pivoted to the other side so that you could keep your awning and tent opening on the same side.

 

For sure, but the RTT and awning all come off in the winter anyway, so I'll just flip it around next year. Plus my Taco is usually street parked, so that would have me swinging my bikes into traffic when loading up.

 

I think that some of the bed caps "roll" over the bed sides a bit, so it would be a tight fit i think. Ill see what i can do with some cardboard first and then i will get a beta version sent that i can test. Have a few things in the works right now.

 

There's two approaches, right? One is that you accommodate for the lip of the shell by putting a bend in the plate that will support the bike rack, the other is that you could put a spacer under the shell to lift the entire shell. This approach would allow to come straight off the top of the box. You'd need to seal up the lower lip of the rear glass though, and some might complain that the contour of the shell doesn't match the cab the way it did before.

 

Not sure I'm following along. are you talking about mounting a bike rack to the swingout that carries the spare and Jerry cans?

 

That’s correct. I ran into a guy in Fruita, Co last year that had that set up. Instead of a spare tire, the swing out had a 2” receiver that accepted a standard hitch rack. He’d had CBI custimize their high clearance bumper for him.

 

You could just cut the lip of the shell where you want the mounts! Jeff what rack do you have your rtt mounted on? I am looking for a solution that I can buy in Canada. Cheers

 

Thanks

I have the CBI bumper with swing-out. I have a tire and double jerry cans mounted to mine. Even if I removed the cans, I think I have too much weight to add a couple of bikes. I like the idea though. Currently I put 'em in the back of the truck on fork mounts which has some benefits. Although, convenience isn't one of them.

 

you could do bends to reach around the lip but with anything like that you will be at the risk of rubbing away paint when the truck is tossing around on the trails and the cap flexes, even my annoying swingout table cables rub on my tailgate

this would be a better approach but dont know if OP will cut into the cap

 

Weight is definitely a concern. We're a family of four, so that's four bikes at ~25lbs/piece, plus another 100lbs for the rack. The Kuat swing out runs around 45lbs if it's in the mix. The cab is full of people, so all the camping stuff, bike stuff, water, cooler, and sleeping platform are in the box. If I had the CBI setup I'd only run two bikes on it with the other two on the rood or alongside the canopy. Bump It Offroad makes this:


I like it in concept, but there's a bunch of details that need work. I think it would work better if the whole bike hung on it like a North Shore rack, that way you wouldn't have to accommodate for different axle standards or find a place for the front wheel. This wouldn't be much lighter, but the weight would be closer to the truck, so it would have less leverage on the swing out.

 

Hey Climber, I'm running all Rhino Rack stuff that's been cobbled together from Amazon.com and Amazon.ca, every so often I've been able to pick up a set of feet for $25 or HD bars for $37. I'm running these tracks on my cab -

$79 Rhino-Rack 47" Aluminum Tracks Compatible with Toyota Tacoma Double Cab 2005-2022, Includes Hardware & End Caps, Black (RTS547)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MCY279B/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and these on my shell -

Rhino Rack Roof Rack Base Track Set for Cap/Toppers/Canopies 63" Set of Two with Mounting Hardware (63"), Black

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B008276X5O/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 with these feet -

$117 Rhino Rack Track Mount Leg Kit for Use with RT Tracks, Set of 2 (3")

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0082766JW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Watch out with Rhino Rack's online fit guide, they show a bunch of possible fits for the Tacoma, including clamp on type feet. The Tacoma specific tracks are the way to go. I wait until I need a bunch of stuff from the US, then head down to the border to pick it all up at once. Sometimes I coordinate with the Land Cruiser club, I pick up their stuff and they pay for my gas. You just pay GST on the stuff you bring back to Canada.

I'm pretty happy with the setup, it's strong, reliable, offroad rated and doesn't corrode like so many others. But yes, there's been some drilling and riveting involved.

 

Yeah i dont want to cut the shell. I was hoping that I could find a way to add brackets under the shell (between the bed and it) but the style shell I have makes this difficult.

It might me that for the few times I am camping out of the back of the truck and biking that I just mount the bikes over the cab on the roof rack

 

Someone remake these! I wish I've gotten these when they were available. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/kb-voodoo-outboard-bike-mount.371578/

 

Shhhhhhh I have one and am in the middle of something. More to come.

 

lol its so hard to wait on good things!

 

I subscribed to this thread as I am also finding ways to store my bike, bike of my wife and two kids. I have have a tire swing out too which makes it a pain to open my bed with my current hitch rack. I am looking at getting bike mounts for my Frontrunner rack since I have it in my cab but I still need to buy a conversion mount since it is for an older fork axle. https://www.frontrunneroutfitters.com/en/us/fork-mount-bike-carrier.html