Best Bicycle Mount for 2nd and 3rd Gen Toyota Tacoma (with bed rails)

Posting this in 2nd Gen, even though it works exactly the same on 3rd Gen Tacomas.

But I'm an avid cyclist. Road, Mountain, Townies. I carry them all. And, why yes, I do have a tailgate pad, but let me tell you why I don't have a lot of love for tailgate pads.



First, tailgate pads come in at about $100, are highly desirable, and frequently stolen. (nothing will warm your heart more than to return to your truck only to find your tailgate pad has been liberated from your possession).

To be fair, tailgate pads work great for when you need to shuttle or move a bunch of bikes a short distance. But problems come in when you leave them in place, dirt gets underneath the pad and will mar the paint on the tailgate, or if you drive on dirt roads for any distance, dirt/sand gets everywhere and will mar the paint on your tailgate and the downtube of your bike. This is exacerbated by any bumps or jostling that may occur.

So I prefer to mount the bikes more firmly. I love

$50 RockyMounts HotRod thru-axle bike rack

Rocky Mount Hot Rod Mounts.



They are modular, so one single mount will work for pretty much every bike you may have, from traditional skewers found on road bikes and townies, to solid through axels on modern Mountain Bikes. They can be had for $42-some on Amazon.

But how do I mount them to my bed rail you may ask? There are lots of things online that show people using washers and bolts and all crazy cheap-o methods to attach the mounts. I've done this and it can become super frustrating trying to hold the bolt still while tightening the nut, and finding washers that are big enough and strong enough to handle the tension. Plus, I had the washer/bolt method fail whilst carrying a heavy townie bike.

But there is a better way, oh yes, there is a better way.

$24 Te-Co 41406T Black Oxide 1018 Steel Tapped Through T-Slot Nut, 3/8"-16 TPI, 5/8" Height x 7/8" Width x 9/16" Table Slot (Pack of 5)

1018 T-Slot Nuts. These are designed to slide right into your existing bed rails, and thread into any standard 3/8"-16 bolt (very common).



A pack of five will run you about $15.00 on Amazon

So now for the fun part. Installation.

The Rocky Mount Hot Rod Mounts need to have the holes re-drilled to accommodate the larger 3/8" bolt. And I like to use a flat washer and a lock washer to prevent the bolts from working themselves loose.





Put everything together loose so you can slide the mount into your bed rails.



Leave the silver adapter out of the Rocky Mount so you have room to tighten the bolts. But be careful not to overtighten the bolts. You don't want to crush the bed rail.



Reinstall the adapter you need for your bike, And there you have it. No muss, no fuss.



I then keep all the extra adapters and allen keys so I can swap adapters, or even loosen the t-bolts and relocate the Rocky Mounts as needed.

Incidentally, many bikes will fit sideways if mounted near the tailgate, behind the wheel wells!

(not my photo)

A job worth doing!







Cheers,
dp

 

This is what I came up with. I just found it easier to bolt the angle into the tslots, also the holes in the angle make a nice place to put the wheel axle when I'm carrying the bike. I thought about mounting one to the side rail like you did.

 

+1 on the Rocky Mounts. I'm running 2 of the Driveshaft SD with changeable inner sleeves because I wanted the locking option. I waited quite awhile for the Driveshaft Track for a shorter fit that may allow my tailgate to close but Performance Bike ran a sale so I grabbed 2 of the SD. XL frame & short bed means tailgate extender. Lol.

 

Great info on the bike mounts. I am looking to purchase the rocky mounts for my 3rd Gen. I need to fit 2 bikes and looks like the best way to do that is to mount the fork mounts to the cab side of the back of the bed. The 3rd gen does not have a rail against the cab end of the bed. Anyone have any suggestions on how to attach the rock mounts?

 

Rocky mounts are great, but at almost $50 its a rip off.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sunlite-Bi...303948&hash=item4aee29b09a:g:SUgAAOSwAuNW6bQr

Try the above with some tslots and you will be golden.

 

These only work if your mountain bike is 15 years old or came from Wal-Mart. Modern Mountain Bikes have, like, four different wheel width/axel standards. Thats why the Rocky Mounts are a value. You can swap out the internal part to match your particular mountain bike.

 

Just found one on Amazon. Works great!

 

When I used to ride mountain bikes, I always pulled my rubber bed mat over the tailgate and used that as a tailgate pad. I know it’s similar to how you’ve transported in the past, but it was a good, convenient way to transport bikes without any additional costs or set up. Might be a good option for other people.

 

x2. Those cheap mounts work fine for my and my wife's bikes in the bed. . Now my bike rides on a similar setup on the prinsu rack next to the Yak so the bed can accommodate my wife's and the 2 kids bikes. Some great ideas in this post though.

 

I prefer the version that has an embedded lock so no one can steal the bike (easily). I also opted to mount the device on top of the bed behind the cab. My bike is a 29er and wouldn't fit with the mount in the rail facing back. Lost about 6" that way. Love this mount, really makes fitting the bike a simple task.

 

I know this is an older thread but finally used my new mount today. I have both road, mountain, gravel bike and the gravel has the through axel which is why I went with the rocky mount. Well today is worked great, solid connection and fit was perfect. Only issue i had was my rolltop would get in the way of the axel screwing in. Giant has an Allen key to remove the handle and fits perfect. Also kind of helps to be a little bit of a theft deterreant.

 

I know this is quite an old thread. But I just picked up a 29" and im curious if you could send me some more photos of your set up.

 

Sorry for the late response....had a baby last week so I haven't been on here since then. Here's another picture. The mount in the lower part of the bed isn't attached there. It's just waiting to be mounted up to the passenger side like the first one on the left. Not sure what all you're looking for in terms of angles but if you have something specific you need a picture of, let me know.

The mount comes with two threaded elongated plates that you put on the other side of your mounting surface. This increases the surface area of the mount so it doesn't tear through the holes. What I did was skinny up the plates so they fit in the "channel" created by the lip of the bed. I drilled two holes from the top down to pass the bolts through. Then I held the threaded plates underneath (kinda a pain) and then passed the bolts through the mount and the holes I had drilled. Then you just tighten them up. They've been that way for 6 years now and no issues.

 

+1 for tailgate pads for me. Mine has been baking in the TX heat for the past 6+ years and is still solid. great for bikes and surfboards. I also strap my recovery boards to the inside of the pad which is a great, easily accessible location when needed.

 

Congratulations on the kid! I guess i was wondering if you drilled holes in your bed or found a way to mount it without needing to do so. Last truck I had i drilled holes and then ended up removing the mounts and was left with holes that pissed me off.

 

Yeah I drilled very small holes in the very top lip of the bed right under the rear windows. It's rock solid and totally out of the way of everything else. 10/10 would do again.