Here are a few shots of how I plan on hauling out 4 bikes when we go camping - with the TT in tow.
What do you all think, and what are you guys doing for that?

 

I have done the same thing for years, except mine was set-up on my fiberglass lid of my 2010 F-150. Now that I have the new F-250, I bought the Yakima rails to mount to the new lid, and will do the same again. It works great, especially since we have no way to mount the bikes to our travel trailer. Ive seen too many bumper hitches gone wrong on travel trailers... no thank you.

 

Yeah, I called my trailer's manufacturer and the frame maker, and they both recommended NOT to attach a hitch to the rear. Plus, I have seen way too many reports of bikes falling off, racks braking back there, etc. Behind a TT, bikes bounce too much, and since the truck can handle it from a payload point of view, I think over the bed is the best place for them.
It also leaves room for gear and firewood below the bikes.

 

Pretty cool. I have had full size vans for 26 years and bikes always go inside; we have some very nice bikes and I don't like them exposed to weather, dirt, and theft/damage potential. (I'm the prez of a bike club and often ride a $3800 bike...one of my son's old race bikes...and no, we don't pay near that much for them) Yeah, this is crazy, but we have guys in our club who have pairs of bicycle wheels worth over $3000 (carbon fiber time trial disk/trispoke sets).

When my son was racing, he and 3 other guys from his collegiate team went on a road/mountain bike race weekend and got 4 guys and EIGHT bikes inside the van with their other gear. Bikes were probably worth over $20k in total. My van is probably worth about 5 grand now...

I did have a pickup from 1978-86 and just dropped the bikes in the bed, padded with blankets when necessary. Your solution looks pretty darn cool for a pickup, but I like the security of vans or SUV's

George

 

Yeah, if you have very expensive bikes - and leave them out of sight ...
Our bikes are not that expensive - the most expensive one is still under $400, and when we go camping, they will usually not be out of sight during the trip. I never had anything stolen on a campground. Besides that, the bikes and carrier are locked multiple ways: first with the Yakima locks and then also with a looped lock cable in addition.
Now if they really are gone at some point - I'll have to talk to the insurance. That would not be nice.
I see your point though. I would not put a $3K bike up there.

 

Yeah, for utility bikes with a pickup truck I seriously do like your solution--it shelters the bikes some from the wind and bugs, and does not put them into the dirt vacuum at the back of the truck or into the low headroom area on the roof. I have known guys who have broken $3k carbon fiber bikes on garage doors when they were on car rooftop racks (oops). Being a long time cyclist, I got into vans many years ago--the vans were killer when my son was racing and are still the best as a changing room/lounge/metal tent for hanging out (or waiting for the rain to stop).

I also have a small SUV for when it's just me (or me and my wife) with 1 or 2 bikes (which still go inside)...and I like hatchback cars too. But I still have an E150. And I'll admit that I am not a "normal" cyclist. I just turned 60 and did a 60 mile ride during the week of my birthday to celebrate. Shooting for my usual ~3000 miles this year.

George

 

Nice, George! That will keep you in shape. Cycling is a very nice hobby!
We do 20 mile trips on a regular basis with our kids - and our younger one just turned 6. He did those 20 mile trips with no complaining on a 20" bike at the age of 5, and he just got his first nice 24" bike from REI (the second bike from the right). He loves it, and he put more than a hundred miles on that bike in 10 days.

 

Cool deal!

 

Rock the kid, Flix! I had our son on a tandem stoker seat behind me and he did his first 50 miler with us when he was six, and his first solo 50 miler (on a 24" mountain bike with slicks) when he was 8. He ended up as the state of Michigan road racing champ when he was 16 and 17, and in the top 20 in the Category 1/2 men's state rankings when he was 20 and 21. And he was top points scorer at the Univ of Michigan in bike racing those years as well.

In Boy Scouts, when he was 14, our "High Adventure" trip during the summer was a bike ride across Michigan, which took a week, and my wife and I chaperoned (with me as a mentor for bike repair and getting some of the younger kids thru). It is a wonderful sport. I had a triple spinal fusion in 2011 and freaked out the doctors because I still rode 1500 miles in 2011 despite getting 8 screws and 3 rods in my spine in March. I started on the bike 2 months after the surgery.

Cycling is a wonderful sport. I am the president of the Wolverine Sports Club, Wolverine Sports Club "The Club of Champions", which has produced multiple national and world champions, Olympians, and Tour de France riders. We have guys in their 70's who could kick my *** and probably most other folks, regardless of age. I'm just a fat old tourist, but got nominated for prez because I'm a compulsive volunteer and mentor.

Sorry for going off topic, but our Ford trucks are just tools to help us live our lives, and my life has bicycling as a big part of it, aided by my '02 E150 now, and going back to my '78 F100 pickup, which was my first Ford truck, the first brand new vehicle I bought, and the vehicle that I owned when I started bicycling seriously. So Ford trucks have been a part of my life for a long time. And as a lifelong Detroiter, I am a booster for the American car industry with a preference for Fords.

George

 

George, that's inspiring, thanks for posting!

 

Nice job. Great idea.

 

I REALLY like that setup!