im building a bumper with a spare tire carrier and jug carrier, both of which will be kind of modular to mount other things on it. im trying to find a good solution for carrying skis, ive seen people just use a pvc pipe and bungee cords, which honestly seems like a decent idea, but what other solutions are out there?
rear bumper ski rack ideas
- Thread starter mrsa111
- Start date
Comanche Scott
Expedition Leader
The tall Yakima Rocketbox mounted vertical to work like a "Ski Vault" would be my choice.
This way everything stays nice and clean inside. Carve a foam block to hold everything in place.
Craigslist is a good place to find them used. Picked one up a few years back for $100.00
This way everything stays nice and clean inside. Carve a foam block to hold everything in place.
Craigslist is a good place to find them used. Picked one up a few years back for $100.00
jeep-N-montero
Expedition Leader
Ski racks can be mounted to pretty much any flat surface, how many pairs do you intend to carry?
Probably will be carrying 2 most the time, with up to 4. I like the rocket box idea, I'd probably need a narrow one to fit between my tire and the jug carriers. Anyone have pictures of some of these ideas? I'm having trouble picturing how the rack or box would actually mount to the bumper
jeep-N-montero
Expedition Leader
You could actually attach it to the spare tire/carrier pretty easily.
Have you taken into account the salt,mud,muck that accumulates on the rear of a vehicle on wet roads? If you’ve used a rear mount bike rack I’m sure you’ve seen it. I might be a little Leary to put my skis into that environment.
I kinda like the rocket box idea but they are so fragile I’m not too sure I would trust it mounted vertically either. What about a fabricated aluminum box with pegs/tie downs inside?
I kinda like the rocket box idea but they are so fragile I’m not too sure I would trust it mounted vertically either. What about a fabricated aluminum box with pegs/tie downs inside?
ExplorerTom
Explorer
Why not on the roof?
greg.potter
Adventurer
Second that - the back of a vehicle is no place for skis - unless you don't like them!
Roof mounted ski box is the only way to go.
I'm only 5'9" and my primary skis are 186 cm = over six feet long. If I mounted skis on the rear of my Jeep XJ and didn't let them hang any lower than the bumper, then they would stick out waaay above the roof line. Maybe you could get away with it by mounting them diagonally, but I agree with the consensus so far: that's a messy and brutal location for your skis.
One trick I've learned about reducing the storage volume of a skis inside a vehicle (or roof top box for that matter) is to put a heavy duty rubber band around the binding brakes, so the brakes are held up above the ski base, in the same position they are stowed when you ski. Like this:
Load the skis into the empty trunk first, side-by-side and base down. Then you can stack the rest of your cargo on top of the skis and because the ski base is flush with the trunk, you hardly notice the thickness at all and simply have to stack the rest of your cargo around the bindings.
Now, you do need to fold down the back-seat, or have a truck bed, and unloading the skis is a bit of a pain because they're under all the rest of your cargo, but it takes up way less space than the more traditional approach of storing the skis base to base and interlocking the brakes. I've also seen this technique employed to "rack" the skis to the ceiling inside a car, which was pretty slick, but you'd have to make a bomb-proof rack to keep it safe.
One trick I've learned about reducing the storage volume of a skis inside a vehicle (or roof top box for that matter) is to put a heavy duty rubber band around the binding brakes, so the brakes are held up above the ski base, in the same position they are stowed when you ski. Like this:
Load the skis into the empty trunk first, side-by-side and base down. Then you can stack the rest of your cargo on top of the skis and because the ski base is flush with the trunk, you hardly notice the thickness at all and simply have to stack the rest of your cargo around the bindings.
Now, you do need to fold down the back-seat, or have a truck bed, and unloading the skis is a bit of a pain because they're under all the rest of your cargo, but it takes up way less space than the more traditional approach of storing the skis base to base and interlocking the brakes. I've also seen this technique employed to "rack" the skis to the ceiling inside a car, which was pretty slick, but you'd have to make a bomb-proof rack to keep it safe.
Comanche Scott
Expedition Leader
I've bashed mine through trees, dropped it off the roof loaded and unloaded with stuff. Definitely has some scrapes, but no damage. Not sure where the "fragile" thing came from. Unless they are talking about when the box is open, and has no support. I can tell you from real world experience, when the box is closed it is pretty darned tough.
Exactly, they’re not fragile at all. I’ve worked around Thule and Yakima warranty claims, and have my own cargo boxes. They’re quite durable.I've bashed mine through trees, dropped it off the roof loaded and unloaded with stuff. Definitely has some scrapes, but no damage. Not sure where the "fragile" thing came from. Unless they are talking about when the box is open, and has no support. I can tell you from real world experience, when the box is closed it is pretty darned tough.
greg.potter
Adventurer
I've bashed mine through trees, dropped it off the roof loaded and unloaded with stuff. Definitely has some scrapes, but no damage. Not sure where the "fragile" thing came from. Unless they are talking about when the box is open, and has no support. I can tell you from real world experience, when the box is closed it is pretty darned tough.
It depends quite a bit on temperature. Over the years I've had several shatter on me in very cold weather.
Comanche Scott
Expedition Leader
What is the advantage that keeps bringing you back to them over something else?
I doubt mine has ever been below 0*F, but it has seen some serious windchill, and has been hit a time or two by something thrown up from the vehicle in front.
Ive got solar panels and a fan on my roof, plus its a fiberglass pop top. I've been thinking of mounting some rails down the sides that i could run a ski rack on, but then it would be hard to keep it out of the way of the panels and vent.
I've seen some interesting ways to carry them on the side, but that might be a lot of work. I could probably fabricate an aluminum rectangular box like you'd see on gondolas, that would at least keep most the road muck from getting on them, then just use a bungee cord to keep them snug.
I've seen some interesting ways to carry them on the side, but that might be a lot of work. I could probably fabricate an aluminum rectangular box like you'd see on gondolas, that would at least keep most the road muck from getting on them, then just use a bungee cord to keep them snug.