I have contemplated running another batch but it requires a significant investment (and therefore risk) on my part to support the manufacturing.

Unfortunately the rack is only designed to hold 1 bike. Could it hold 2? Possibly. But it was never tested to support that much weight.

How much was it designed to hold? Some of you yahoos with your DH setups have rigs that weigh more than double what my road bike weighs.

:happyanim:

I will be interested in the next batch

Hey guys, I don't have my car anymore. I'm selling mine in the linked thread...

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83969

Likewise!


Out of curiosity, how did you determine the length of the rod? Is there a downside with reducing the extra length?

About 75lbs including the weight of the rack assembly. Mine is about 50lbs (bike and rack) and when we modeled stress tests, deflection was only about 0.01 inches with 50lbs. They are overkill but that doesn't mean the spots in which they are installed were engineered to support this idea.

Good luck with your sale! Might want to point out that they are actually 303 stainless steel. They will outlast the car in which they are installed ;)

I basically modeled these after my own bike. I considered pedal clearance to the back of the car, bike sway, and trunk swing angle when determining length. The extra material at the end is only a few inches and is there to act as a damper for possible vibration in the rack. It also ensures the rack is not mounted at the furthest out point on the bar where leverage and stress could be increased.

Hey man, I'm in ON until July, if you manufacture some more then please keep me posted.

Looking forward to this item, the weather now has me contemplating road-trips to some very fine bike locations!

Attachment 111973

Test fit before powdercoating.


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^Looks good! What material did you opt for?

FYI, I've inquired with producing another batch. Not sure how to handle this as this was never supposed to keep going but here we are. I may throw them up on eBay or something to make transacting easier for members. Will see how to work out the logistics of all this soon, but for now the ball is rolling.

Stay tuned and thanks all for the continued motivation and interest!

Definitely interested. Thanks for looking into this again!

Interested. Thanks for the update.

Attachment 112757

Attachment 112758

Done. I'm going to have to shim the one end or cut the bolt down on the cam lock to take up the clearance.


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Does anyone know what size the thread is for the rears?

I am way interested in this setup. Looks perfect! Please PM me when you do another run!

How many people have confirmed they would be buying thus far? I know in your PM you said you would need a large order before you'd consider doing another batch..

I think I have enough to justify an order. I have usually made the order simply based on member interest, but what always happens is I run the batch and have them arrive, only to have 5-10 more people interested. Since the effort of this is to help the community, I feel it might be best to just order a few extra and keep "stock" for when the fence sitters get off. I just hope I don't get stuck with them, that's all.

In other news, I'm in talks with 1UP USA right now to get the changed dimensions on the roof rack bracket. Thanks to some members, I was able to determine that there was a small design change, which I will have implemented on the next batch. They've also taken interest in our little thread here and are quite impressed with everyone's designs!

For those of you that reached out via PM and have received one back, please continue to contact me as this may very likely be my last run.

Do you know what dimensions are changing? I ask because I'd like to copy what another member did and attach a Yakima Boa mount (front wheel off).

BTW, I'd like to report that my similar custom machined setup has so far survived two fender bender rear end collisions. They both happened within the same block too, sheesh! No detectable damage to me. It did make a mash in the Toyota mini truck pickup bumper plastic. Luckily it was the plastic portion. Second time was a Honda Civic and it made a nice crunch in his bumper and liscence plate.
It makes me a little worried in that being bolted into the "frame" of the car and bypassing the absorber structure and being pretty significant chunk of metal that if involved in a bit more significant rear ender it may damage the car frame. Anyway, I'm going to get some orange & white scotchlite like tape and wrap the heck out of the rack. The little strips of red I have on it now seem to be ineffective!

tried mine out a couple weekends ago, just to make sure the bikes will fit on it correctly.. you can fit 2 bikes on it easily enough, just need to take the pedal off the one closest to the car(which i had to do with the saris bones rack i used before, so no big deal for me)
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8795/1...c2f72855_b.jpg

https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7681/1...f3c82594_b.jpg

https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7686/1...212e475d_b.jpg

Just the width of the groove that houses the 1UP tray. The overall diameter of the bars will remain the same.

Hi, @that_guy, I am onboard for another round. Fit two road bikes in the BRZ this weekend but wish to do the tow hook setup.

Let me know what I need to do, thanks!

Just shoot me a PM. We'll take it from there. Details coming soon to those interested. This might be my last batch - it's taking a lot of time to put things together and work is also sucking up a lot of personal time. But I love seeing guys out on the trails so I know how important toting your bike is on these little cars.

I also noticed Yakima stopped offering the roof rack option for the twins...guess they found it just as sketchy as I did!

I am interested- how do I pay? I'm in Calgary.

Count me in
 

I need this. I'm not a fence sitter, Paypal is ready to go. Just tell me when you need my money and how much. PM sent.

Well, perhaps my last batch has been ordered. Probably a little over a month before they are in the hands of happy riders but they will be happy, no doubt!

I ordered extra this time to not only satisfy the fence sitters I always get each batch, but to keep the price down amidst our recent change in currency (USD vs CAD). I'll keep everyone posted with the progress and if you missed out on a batch before, shoot me a PM and I'll see if I have any left this round to help you get back on 2 wheels.

Cool man. Just stopping by to make sure I'm on the list :)

Anyone have a recommendation for a fork mounted tray that has some width to it to limit the motion of the bike? My Thule Big Mouth has way more front to back movement relative to the car (side to side relative to the tray) than I'd like. Once I hit 70mph, the air is really pushing the bike away from the trunk lid. The stamped steel bracket that holds the uprights that support the mouth twists quite a bit without placing much force on it. My countermeasures are 1) get the bike out of the airstream by going fork mounted and 2) getting a tray with better rigidity. I had an old cheap Thule fork mounted tray from my first mountain bike over a decade ago and I remember that one was even worse than the Big Mouth when it came to side to side rigidity.


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You'd need to send me a PM if you're interested ;) Not on the list yet...

The Thule big mouth only supports the bike by the lowest portion of the wheels with a 1" strap and a bar connected to the center of the lower frame triangle. This isn't really that secure for mounting transverse across the back of the FRS (or any car for that matter). This is why Thule and others do not recommend this form of mounting with their roof racks. From my experience, only 1UP will recommend this mounting style due to the fact they use the same design for their hitch mount as they do for their roof rack option. For reference, my old Yakima Highroller would sway as well being mostly plastic and only supporting the front wheel with a simple metal/plastic hoop...and this is when it was mounted as intended on my roof.

For the price, I don't think there is a better option out there from the 1UP. I have never had the issues you've described using my 1UP rack and my 29er is like a wind sail just from it's size alone.

Worth looking into if your shopping options. Lots of users using them here with these bars, myself included, so there's data to support it working.

Good luck!

Custom Tow-Hook Bike Rack
 

I agree the stamped steel bracket that holds the stanchions on the Big Mouth is too flimsy for this usage. Hence the inquiry.

I have a Rockymount tray arriving today. I'll give that a shot and see how it goes. The 1up is on my radar, but the $200 that the tray will cost is dangerously close to what I'd spend on an Ecohitch to use with my Thule 916XT hitch mounted rack.


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EcoHitch looks very cool. I'm surprised it went mass (sort of) production. I always thought that sort of thing would end up grassroots and reserved to talented forum members like those here. Cool to see though!

Alright, update for those who might be sitting on the fence. In my last batch for some very patient members here, I ordered a few extra, expecting some last minute "can I get a set". While I've been able to satisfy a few of these, my machinist actually ended up having extra material and ran off a few more sets to avoid waste. This means I actually have 9 sets left. This very well could be my last run of these - it's really time consuming. While I love being able to help out members here, it's getting harder to do with my work schedule.

So, if you want one of these 9 remaining sets, send me a PM. They are probably 2-3 weeks from landing on your doorstep from today.

Thanks again to everyone for the interest and keeping this alive.

I paid for a set a few minutes ago!


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Sent a PM.

sent paypal just now

Looking forward to being able to move my bikes around again
thank you

Good news, the bars have arrived! I now have 225lbs of stainless steel bars in my garage lol.

I hope to get them bundled up and out tomorrow for those who donated towards getting this batch going. For everyone else, I have 6 sets left - after that, they are GONE.

Looking forward to seeing them installed on more vehicles and seeing more members on the road and on the trails!

This is my homemade version.
Took advice from here and came up with a 'UK version' http://www.gt86ownersclub.co.uk/foru...topic7520.html

Total cost was about £100

^Nice job! Toe hook racks will now be world-wide!

For everyone else...after all this, I only have 6 sets left...

http://i61.tinypic.com/34t75lf.jpg

Looking forward to receiving a set!