brettf's Third Gen Taco Build, Adventure, and BS Log

[dman93]

@brettf Thanks a million for the pictures and words!! I've played with a lot of options ... my old cab-high ARE Z Series had an even more sloping rear window than your Leer AND had an all-glass rear window with big hinges that hung below the opening, so access was really tight. My wife loves the hitch rack and uses it when she goes out with her friends but I hate having the bikes exposed, both for road grime and security, not to mention a lot of weight hanging back there. Both my Tallboy (L) and my wife's Ripley (M) are pretty short travel 29-ers (120) and older/shorter than a newer HT LT or Ripmo which could be in my future; we have droppers which still leaves the seat higher than the bars, but I hadn't thought about the shorter stems ... I think my stem is closer to 70 or 80?? As far as height, my Kuat Dirtbag fork mounts may be a bit shorter than your mounts; it's all a matter of fractions of an inch here and there with these 5' beds. And it seems like windoors make all the difference! Oh, I too use gear ties for my front wheels, but I'd hate to remove our rear wheels to carry the bikes. One more question (sorry!) - are your bike mounts symmetrical? In other words can you put the TB or HT in either location? When I had the one-in/one-out setup I had to have the Ripley face in and the TB face out, and when I switched to have both face in, I still optimiezed each side for a specific bike to maximize clearance. But I'd rather not have to do that. Thanks again!

 

[Deleted member 1276]

it's all a matter of fractions of an inch here and there with these 5' beds.

Damn if that's not the truth. The Ripmo will have additional issues with length... good that your Kuat mounts might buy you more space and back to your "fractions" comment, air down that rear tire for extra height!

I'd hate to remove our rear wheels to carry the bikes

I hear that... but I find that for long drives, like say from CO to Sedona in mid-winter, I might remove both wheels from both bikes, gear tie each wheel to the respective frame, and pack gear tight to each... And roll with a hitch rack for when we get there... but loads of ways to accomplish all this. But for winter camping (even in warm(er) areas like high desert Sedona, we carry way more gear than camping in summer in CO.)

All such a tradeoff. Working on better options... as always.

are your bike mounts symmetrical? In other words can you put the TB or HT in either location? When I had the one-in/one-out setup I had to have the Ripley face in and the TB face out, and when I switched to have both face in, I still optimiezed each side for a specific bike to maximize clearance. But I'd rather not have to do that. Thanks again!

No - they are not, but that's because the stems are different lengths (and the HTA are different on the frames, but that's a slighter effect on length). The TB is "longer" at the stem so I can't run it to the tailgate mount because the topper window/door hits the stem clamp. But I can run my HT there because it's a shorter stem (and the slacker HTA puts it further back). I can run the HT in the other mount (closer to the cab), but because it's shorter at the stem than the TB it's effectively "longer" overall, which would force me to run it even *more* "sideways" to fit the additional length. Make sense?

Being *that guy* that demands to have bikes in the bed with a topper enclosing them is exhausting!

In the end, the slide makes this all easier to add/remove gear, but it does reduce the amount of space you have to work with.. which is already limited on these little tiny truck beds! But it's worth it to me. I'm also someone who likes to "tinker"...

 

[dman93]

Damn if that's not the truth. The Ripmo will have additional issues with length... good that your Kuat mounts might buy you more space and back to your "fractions" comment, air down that rear tire for extra height!

All such a tradeoff. ..... Make sense?

“Make sense?” Oh yeah. I have my Kuat mounts positioned at different angles (not perpendicular to the truck length) and different distances from the front bed wall, for each bike to offset the bars just right. The passenger side bike’s fork mount is located just inboard enough from the wheelwell to allow me to insert and extract the thru-axle. If I get a newer bike or fork with Boost spacing, not only will I need a new fork mount, I’ll have to reposition it to work with a longer axle.