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My trucks get airline seat track (L-Track) rails in the low grooves of the bed. They come to the same height as the regular high surface and I cover the bed bottom if hauling construction debris. No photos of the bikes in the F150, but the old Nissan Frontier photos will give you the idea. Look at the bottoms of the motorcycle tires and you can see they tie down to the rails.
I made PVC kayak racks which tie down to the rails. Work great!
If you do this, drill the PVC every foot and fill each tube with expanding foam to make them stiff enough.
While we have not tried it yet, this system which is designed for motorcycles might be interesting. It would allow you to leave your front wheel on and it looks like you can add multiple wheel chocks to the rail : http://ccrsport.com/
That is pretty interesting, and it's along the lines of what I'm thinking. That system works because motorcycle front suspension compresses and holds the bike in place... I used to do it all the time, without chocks. But my wife's bike has no front suspension, so I'm going to need to add tie-down points.
Originally Posted by Checkswrecks
My trucks get airline seat track (L-Track) rails in the low grooves of the bed. They come to the same height as the regular high surface and I cover the bed bottom if hauling construction debris. No photos of the bikes in the F150, but the old Nissan Frontier photos will give you the idea. Look at the bottoms of the motorcycle tires and you can see they tie down to the rails.
That's awesome, and that's how Decked's system works. I just don't want the rails on my deck right now... I might change my mind later.
I'm going to order a 48" L-track for the front of the bed:
Add in a threaded L-track fitting for each bike's front tire:
...and then a Quick Fist (or something) fastened to the fitting.
The L-track will have to be fastened to the bed with aluminum hardware. I want to add L-track to the bed sides, but I can't get to the back of the bolts. So I'm thinking about trying aluminum rivet nuts:
The only thing is, that "trying" still involves drilling a bunch of holes through the Line-X and into the bed sides. So before I go that route, I want to be pretty sure it works.
Sounds like a good plan but there is one complication with the aluminum bodies. The L-track screws have 4-5 inch spacing and you'll find that even with a fender washer, a heavy load will pull/deform the aluminum at each screw. I made stiffeners to go under the bed from 1.5"x1/8" L-aluminum, match drilled to the L-track, and painted with Rustoleum. (It's still good as a barrier for aluminum.) After drilling through the spray-in bedliner and bed, I also used a little brush to Rustoleum each hole and let that dry.
While you want to use stainless hardware, stainless can cause corrosion to aluminum and the Rustoleum provides an effective barrier.
That's Checks. I planned on using a plate (stiffener) behind the rail at the front, but the backside of the sides isn't accessible. So I'm left wondering whether rivet nuts will work, or if they'll just pull out and destroy the bed.
I just went out & looked around the bed again. I'm second-guessing my approach. @RealQuiet's method sounds good to me, too. I discounted that because I thought the e-tracks had too much play.
That's Checks. I planned on using a plate (stiffener) behind the rail at the front, but the backside of the sides isn't accessible. So I'm left wondering whether rivet nuts will work, or if they'll just pull out and destroy the bed.
I just went out & looked around the bed again. I'm second-guessing my approach. @RealQuiet's method sounds good to me, too. I discounted that because I thought the e-tracks had too much play.
You can also strap down the 2x4s if there's too much play using the anchor points in the four corners of the box.
After having directly mounted fork mounts into the front lip of my old '98 bed, I wasn't eager to go drilling into my new truck. So I went with this option.....
And I love it. I bought an extra fork mount at PB and spaced them so no bars hit and I can get 3 bikes in the bed with 1 mount. I usually put it about 3 or 4 inches from the very front and put the wheels up in there between the bar & bed-front so nobody could pull the wheels "up" out either as skewers won't pass thru.
I can lock it.......remove it.......move it wherever I want in the bed. Heck, I could even get a 2nd and put it in the rear of the bed and run 2 more bikes facing the opposite direction.
I thought about other options but this is truly the best (at least for me) and I've since talked another riding buddy into it as well and he's happy too. (I also have the Duraliner (Ford oem) and the little grooves in the bedliner keep my road bike tires steady-eddie for long trips to road races.
My Decked system is anchored to those points and covers them.
Oh yeah...
I think if you're intentional enough about it when you assemble it, you won't have any problems. My doesn't move that I can tell and I wasn't paying attention to it all.
The "header" L-track is definitely a go, and I'll post that when I've done it... but I may have an entirely new approach for the bikes based on some hardware I stumbled upon this morning. I'm going to get it tonight, and I'll post photos later.
Also: yes, fork mounts are sturdy. And upright in the bed is the way to go, for making use of the space. I've already tried that. I just don't want to have to remove front wheels, and that's the reason I sold my fork mount setup.
02-25-2017, 05:25 PM
