Go Fork Yourself!

Appropriate title for this write up considering its all about the forking. And by that I mean attaching your bike fork to the inside of your vehicle. I almost bought a Toyota Tacoma instead of the Jeep, but the problem is that the crew cabs have the shorter bed (unless you order the long bed). Take off the front wheel, attach the fork to the fork mount on the edge of the bed and still have your bike exposed to the elements and would be thieves. No thanks. So it was back to the SUV.

Fat easily fits inside the Wrangler by itself. Can also fit in two weed wackers. But what about two bikes?

More specifically, back to the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. After speaking to Jack, I knew that a bike would fit inside. After seeing Harley have two bikes standing up inside at Tranquility, I knew that I could transport two! Just needed to order the right parts and put it all together.

I'm gonna fork you up!

Paul's Krampus and hitch mounted rack on the back

Well, I got it done just in time before the Avett Brothers concert. Elise and I were heading down to Stir, so I needed to get everything in order. ASAP! 

First off, needed to order the parts. Just needed two fork mounts, get a 2x4, and the proper hardware, right? Wrong. The fat bike has a 135 mm hub. No way that it would work with a regular fork mount. Todd asked me about my setup after I had sent him a picture and he saw the attachment. Asked if my Mukluk has a through axle (hence the attachment to the fork mount). Nope. Purely for fat, the Hurricane attachment that I have is for 135mm, more specifically for non offset. They even make a Pugs attachment with the offset. Luckily, the online store that I ordered from included the fat skewer. Whew, totally slipped me mind!

It worried me that the two bikes wouldn't fit. Well I closed the hatch on the handlbar, the Trek fell onto the Mukluk and took off some paint on the top tube. Not happy!

Anyway, I cut the wood to size. Made sure the two bikes would fit inside the Jeep, handlebars and all. The fatbike barely fits inside, I have to put the rear of the bike at an angle. I'm guessing that a 29er would probably be the same? 26 inch fits fine, whether it be HT or FS. Marked the holes, got some advice from Dave N on how to do the mount, and put it all together! I had some leftover carpet from when I did my car stereo back in the day for my Honda. Found my old 3M #77 spray on adhesive and went to town.

Doing it the old school way. Yeah, I have no band saw or any powered saw for that matter!

The additional mount is required to fit the larger fork of the fat.

Bikes fit great! They don't move at all. But just in case, I have some bungee cords wrapped in all different direction to the built in clasps on the floor of the Jeep.

It actually worked out for the better that the Fork Up mount is raised a few inches. It allowed for the overlap of the two handlebars.

Wanted that custom look with the carpet!

The finished result!

And now this hot girl can bike with me!

Total cost to get it all done? About $65. Not too shabby, cheaper than the 1up rack that I want to buy. And those are NOT cheap!