Just hauled two bikes for a weekend trip of about 1100 miles round trip. I have the standard 5.5' bed, along with the Box Link cleats. Both bikes were put into Baxley chocks which were unsecured to the bed. I had figured the weight of the bikes would keep the Baxley's secure and stable. They did for the most part. Only one of them shifted just a bit. The bikes themselves were strapped down as normal using a bar harness on one and soft ties on the other.

The only issue I ran into was trying to tie them down and not running into each other with the straps. Having a couple tie down points in the front rail of the bed would've been extremely helpful, as this may have eliminated the need to run the straps criss-cross against the bikes.

I guess my question is, does anything like this exist, and am I thinking correctly that this would've simplified hauling two bigger bikes in the bed? At this point, with the truck being a lease, I won't drill into it just yet. However, I like to think ahead, and would like to plan for the future. Is this even an option?

Thanks.

 

I'd put a strap between each bike front & rear that allowed them to stay a safe distance apart, then a strap to each corner pulling the bikes apart. Only 4 bed points needed.

Remember that the bed is only strengthened for tiedowns where Ford put them. You can add a cleat anywhere you like, but it might just pull the bedwall in.

 

Im sorry for asking a dumb question, but are you saying to only use just two straps per bike? So the driver side bike gets pulled a bit to the driver side, and the passenger side bike is pulled to that side? So not tying down all four corners of the bike? ( or at least the front two corners?) Im just trying to picture the example you gave.

 

6 straps. 4 corners to the tiedowns, plus 2 between the bikes.

 

Gotcha. Thanks!

 

Anyone use this system? Would the front bed rail be strong enough to support pulling a strap tight on one bar end of a cycle?

This looks to be about what I need (or would like to have.) In reality I'd really only do this twice a year, maybe....so it's not as though I'd be stressing the front every day with heavy loads.

https://www.macscustomtiedowns.com/c...ed-ford-521005