PVC Bike Rack

[Sombeech]

How to build a PVC Bike Rack

This is my NEW PVC Bike rack for the truck or garage.

Old model here.

Don't forget to strap your bike down with some of these:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ogloutdcomm-20


Cost of parts - @ $35

Parts List - all 1" PVC Schedule 40 pipe & fittings:

• 40' Pipe
• 6 90 degree elbows
• 34 Tees
• 1 Pint PVC Cement

Pipe Cuts:

• 10 @ 12-1/2"
• 10 @ 9-1/2"
• 10 @ 8"
• 15 @ 3-1/16" (3 and 1/16th) - This makes for 3" tire slots.
• 12 @ 3-3/4" (According to the width of your bed. This is for between the bike slots. Between my wheel wells is 45") I had @ 5' of pipe left over.

Tools needed:

• Rubber Mallet
• Measuring tape & pencil
• Hacksaw or sawsall
• cloth towel to rub off the burs from the pipe cut

When gluing the pipe to the fitting, twist the pipe in. This will remove air pockets, and reduce the pipe from pushing back out from the fitting.

Instructions:

1. Glue the 3-1/16th pieces to the Tees and 90s
2. Glue the 12-1/2's, 9-1/2's, and Tees to those pieces. You want to produce 5 slots, unattached from each other.
3. Lay these 5 pieces across your truck bed so you can measure the needed length of the 12 short pieces, if you desire to go from wheel well to wheel well.
4. Attach the perpendicular pipe & fittings on last.

No drying time necessary, use immediately.











Front or Rear mount



Great for storing the bikes in the garage

[REDFOX]

Nice rack ! Haven't said that in a while.

[KanyonKris]

With your skills, it's time to make a PVC bike frame.

[Sombeech]

With your skills, it's time to make a PVC bike frame.

Either that or a Lego Bike.

[accadacca]

Kewlness. I need one of those for my kids bikes in the garage...hmmm.

[StudChild]

How well does it hold your bike up in a fast sharp turn? My friend made him one and our bikes would fall over if he took a corner to fast.

[Sombeech]

How well does it hold your bike up in a fast sharp turn? My friend made him one and our bikes would fall over if he took a corner to fast.

I still tie the bike down with straps, just so the bikes won't bump and pedal scrape each other.

You can leave it standing up without straps, but if you have the front wheel in the rack, you'll have the whole back end pivoting on a turn. If the rear wheel is in, you'll usually be ok.

It also comes down to what size of tires you have and how wide the slots are.

This rack is mainly to keep them standing as you strap them in, but I've also been able to just close the tailgate without tying them down and have been alright. Your friend's bike rack might have been sliding around too, he may try just tying the rack down and see if that helps.

[greyhair biker]

Very nice! I need to build one for my bikeshop!

[tiresmokindad]

Very nice! I need to build one for my bikeshop!

Yes I agree. I want to see all your bike models in your bikeshop.

[SavageSam]

First off Thanks Sombeech for posting this. I built the "old" model and it works great. Quick question, what's the difference between the two?

[Sombeech]

First off Thanks Sombeech for posting this. I built the "old" model and it works great. Quick question, what's the difference between the two?

You're welcome.
My old model only held 4 bikes, and was built for my Toyota Tacoma with a skinnier bed. I've now got a Dodge Dakota with a wider bed, and this rack holds 5. It also is made with thicker PVC. The old model never really had a problem holding the bikes, it just broke when I dropped it out of the truck one time.

[greyhair biker]

maybe now that I have a minute to myself I'll make a couple - great idea!

[gholt]

Just made it for the kids, unfortunately, I should have read the instructions throught. I put the 3 1/16" on the 1st section of the rack. So, it is a little bit on the warped side, but it looks like it will still work well. Thanks for the idea.

[amwilliamson]

I'd like to make the rack to get the kids bikes and scooters off the grass and driveway. Do smaller bikes fit? (16 inch wheels) I 'm afraid that such a small portion of the tire would fit in there before because the tires are so small that it wouldn't stand up. KWIM? Ever try razor scooters in there? I think I would have to make the tire slots wider. The scooters are 3.5 inches wide. But can anyone tell me if a razor scooter will stand up if you try it in the wider area of the rack (the space for between bikes). Thanks!

[accadacca]

I'd like to make the rack to get the kids bikes and scooters off the grass and driveway. Do smaller bikes fit? (16 inch wheels) I 'm afraid that such a small portion of the tire would fit in there before because the tires are so small that it wouldn't stand up. KWIM? Ever try razor scooters in there? I think I would have to make the tire slots wider. The scooters are 3.5 inches wide. But can anyone tell me if a razor scooter will stand up if you try it in the wider area of the rack (the space for between bikes). Thanks!

Ditto.

[REDFOX]

The nice thing about this rack is that you can easily custom build it for your needs. I have a slot for accomodating my old school 3" wide downhill Gazzalodi and Arrow racing tires. My kids park their scooter in between the tire slots. The smaller the diameter of the tire requires a tighter fit in order to keep the ride up right whatever it maybe. My rack is made of 1" grey sch 80 pvc. I did this for 3 reasons. One, was for strength ( holding mostly downhill 45lb bikes or more ) Two was my concern about the uv rays making the white pvc become brittle, and lastly cosmetically the gray doesn't show black tire rub marks. This really wasn't an issue white for some reason looks clean even when it is dirty.

[Sombeech]

I'll have to take some shots with the Kona in here now

[live2ride]

yeah you do, better make sure the Klein shrine is in the background...

[accadacca]

Wow! This post has 10,000+ views. Somebody must like these PVC bike racks.

[harrylarry]

Thanks for the plans! I just made one for my truck per your specs. Then, I couldn't see a reason for such wide wheel spaces (?) so I shortened all the pieces in the wheel sections to 1-7/8" which will make the T's butt up against each other. This creates a space that will snugly fit a mt. bike tire. Of course, doing this necessitates making the other sections correspondingly wider if you want the rack to span the width of the truck (I actually cheated a little and made the 2 middle sections extra wide, but I think that ideally you would make all the wheel sections equally spaced apart).