DIY Thru Axle Bike Mount 

Yeah, and so far so good on them holding up! :D

Nice! Yeah, bike storage is super important. We were going to do the slides, but we actually made our bed too short, so we couldn't afford to have the extra space for a slider... oops! It's okay though. As it sits, they aren't hard to put in or take out.

We haven't made that mistake yet thank goodness! lol Definitely gotta keep that block in the brake.

You’re welcome 😊

Thanks so much!

Thanks so much! We chose interior storage mainly for keeping our gear clean and out of the elements. Storing outside during a long trip makes all of your (expensive) stuff filthy with whatever is being tossed up from the road. Theft deterrent and looking less like an RV is two other reasons we went with the interior gear storage.

Thanks! They work very well! :)

Adventure in a Backpack - just a thought, is it worth having a couple of really cheap axels for the clamp and then you can keep the good quality axels in the wheels?

It's fine, 2 and a half years later.

Sorry I missed your comment. :/ That steel rail is just for added support for under the bed. The unistrut (the steel beam) is more rigid than wood.

Thanks so much for watching! We couldn't do a longer piece with both bikes mounted on it because we had to stagger the bikes because the handlebars would hit together. After making this video, I put a big gnarly lag screw through the mount through the metal of the floor. Good to go now! :D Thanks again for watching! :D

@@EXPLORISTlife you still could have done each like you did with longer wooden bases to spread the load.

Man, there's all kinds of stuff we COULD'VE done.

Basically by holding the lever straight out to the side and spinning it.

Probably! Good thought!

So, you're saying our axles didn't fit through the pipe and we are running some kind of gas pipe scam? 😂👍😂

No Problem! Yeah, so I really like them. The only 'issue' is that since they are so low profile, you can only get half turns on the axle as they hit the floor when you are screwing the axle back through the fork. No big deal since I was needing low profile, but still a consideration. We were initially going to do slides as well, but ran out of time. Looking back, I've been pretty happy with the no-slides arrangement. Like, Maybe it would have been nice to have the bikes on a slide for cleaning purposes, but for just loading and unloading them, just backing them into the compartment is really as simple as it gets. I hope that makes sense! :D

Adventure in a Backpack haha sweet! Yeah the farther I get into my build the more my budget disintegrates, and I think the slide is a luxury. Thanks for the tip! Maybe i'll see you guys at the van meet up in San Diego on September 9th. Keep on vannin!

Yeah, we've got dropper seat posts. One of the bikes has a quick release, one doesn't, but we keep an allen key handy for that reason.

Thanks for the reply. I'm trying to minimize the height and was thinking of going quick release on mine to avoid stress and fatigue from tightening/loosening the bolt since it's aluminum. Will keep allen wrench for guests bikes. Just returned my mounts ($70) because they didn't fit my axle. I'm going with your system. Brilliant DIY BTW!

Maaayyyybe? I'd probably use bolts instead of screws though.

Hey PrismaAnglicano, No problem! Glad it helped! :)

@@EXPLORISTlife I saved aboout 100 euros :D

You should take your axle to the hardware store and see which size of pipe works the best. 👍👍

@@EXPLORISTlife Thanks for the quick reply! I can't do that atm I'm afraid....CV....so trying to order bits online. Which size pipe did you use? Cheers

Ah, right. I truly don't remember what size we used and it doesn't look like I made a note of it.

@@EXPLORISTlife Okay, no probs :)

@@sprintervanconversions www.pvcfittingsonline.com/resource-center/pvc-pipe-dimensions-18-through-24/ You can see SCH40 1/2" pipe has inside diameter of 0.602 inches and 15mm is 0.590". That's less than 1/64th difference. Should work fine.

Thanks! Yeah, we didn't have an automatic pipe cutter. Lots of tools, but none of those. I think for now we will just leave it as is. For the last 10 years, this is how I've transported bikes and although the wobbling makes me uneasy, it has never caused any damage. Thanks for watching!

Fair enough. I think the set up you have is great and no doubt you will have so much crap, I mean useful stuff (damned auto-correct!), pack in there too that they wont have room to move about too much. Cheers. ;-)

Haha, right?! That's the plan! lol Thanks! :D :D

Great vid! I stop the "Wobble" with a short length of 6mm rope I tie off to anchors already in my car, loop it around my headset once and back down to the other anchor point. On 1 end a short strong bungee that gives a little bit of tension, compressing the fork a little.

just get a bigass block of dense foam and cut some notches for the top tube and wedge it all in place, also saves any scratching cos the foam is soft

I don't remember specifically, but 1 5/8 seems accurate.

Yeah, you could definitely add as much additional support as you like in your install. After 2+ years with no additional modification than what is shown in the video, it has worked pretty well.

Yes, original thru axle. No, I would not recommend this for a roof rack. If this fails in the location I have it mounted, the bike just falls over. If it fails on the roof rack, the bike goes bouncing down the highway and through somebody's windshield. I'd recommend a mount from Yakima or similar for that.

Tough to say. I'd just take the axle to the hardware store and see.

Most modern mountain bikes intended for riding things like trail, downhill, or cross country come with a thru axle. Quick release axles and open dropouts are being phased out. You will see quick release and even bolt on axles on older bikes and some big box bikes

Everything over $1000

Probably! Just size your screws/bolts appropriately.

@@EXPLORISTlife wow thank you realy good video

+Rick Couture Nice! Yeah, sounds good! Let me know how it goes.

pvc pipe was not quite right size but i found some fittings at home depot and clamps that worked perfectly...snug fit on axle.

The pipe is indeed metal.

15mm

Any ideas on parts to use for a 5mm QR skewer?

Thanks for that! :D :D

I have one

I am always looking for a deal, but also, the mass-produced mounts were not low-profile enough to work for my setup. Also, after 10,000 miles, these mounts are holding up perfectly and work just as well as their $50 counterparts! Cheaping out would have been just tossing them in the back with no mounting... Thanks for watching! :D

Fair enough, you needed something custom for your setup. And still works. So thats win win situation.