I have finished building my cheap bike rack...



I wanted to use my Thule accessoires... so the X-Tower where out...

I have used Mighty Mounts 28H from Yakima, some aluminium square rod from home depot and some old Thule bars (cut at 32 inches, to be narrower than the X-Terra rack)

The yellow mark is around a long bolt going through the thule bar, the aluminium bar and bolted in the Mighty Mount. The red mark is the Mighty Mount.

The bike is held by a fork adaptor bolted diretly to the thule bar.


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2001, Solar Yellow
SE X-Terra with a/t

That's a bit similar to my custom bike rack. Though I wanted the Thule bars to be wider than the rack so I could put my bike on the outside of the factory rack, so it's easier for me to put the bike up. I used U-bolts to hold the Thule bar to the factory rack.
http://www.xterragalactica.net/mods/bikerack.html

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Gary
Xterra Galactica

[This message has been edited by X_Jeeper (edited 08-03-2001).]

IMO.. using trays with mmounts instead of trucks would have come off a lot cleaner, and lowered the rack. I can't see how you lock down the rear tire or the bike.
Try here for my different solutions for carrying bikes http://geocities.com/x_canuk/rack1.html
also searching the bike forum will give other alternatives.



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member of http://www.soxc.org
http://www.geocities.com/x_canuk

I simply use a toe-clip strap to hold the rear wheel to the bar.

Xcanuck, you are right, trays and MMounts would have been a cleaner solution. But more expansive and not allowing me to use my other Thule accessories (ski during the Canadian winter)

Gary your rack is very clever. I did mine narrower than the stock X-Terra rack to make it less catch prone in narrow tree-covered trails.

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2001, Solar Yellow
SE X-Terra with a/t

Anyone know if there's a way to change a Yakima "Anklebiter" bike rack into a fork mount bike rack? Just wondering if I could somehow do this mod by adding the fork mount mechanism to the existing "Anklebiter" gear. I know I should've bought the fork mounts in the first place, but I got a really cheap deal on my two "Anklebiters", but I like the stability of a fork mount. The only thing that I can think of being used to make this change would be the tray, but then do the Yakima Fork mounts come together molded onto the wheel trays? Sorry if this seems confusing. Just trying to save some money and increase stability for the bikes I load up on my X.

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2000 Yellow SE 4x4 5 Speed

"Never judge a person's horsepower by his exhaust."

In the case of steelheads.. the forkhead bolts into the tray, you would have to find a yak dealer that would sell only the head. ( I believe you can because I did get a part # manual with my trays ).. then just bolt the head to the tray.
Personally, I haven't found any accessory ( thule or other ) that I haven't been able to bolt onto the original crossbars using the mightymounts.


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member of http://www.soxc.org
http://www.geocities.com/x_canuk

yet another option: Mine are on the outside of the factory rack using modified Xtowers.


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Cheers!, -John
NCCX http://www.nccxterra.com

So just go buy a couple of those Yakima Steel heads (or will other kinds work --- ie: generic ones) fork mounts and bolt them to my current yakima wheel trays?

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2000 Yellow SE 4x4 5 Speed

"Never judge a person's horsepower by his exhaust."

I'd stick with one of the heads from the yak line.. at least they should fit the trays from the anklebiters.. ( I'm guessing trays from different makes are not all the same )

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member of http://www.soxc.org
http://www.geocities.com/x_canuk

Thanks Xcanuk!!!

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2000 Yellow SE 4x4 5 Speed

"Never judge a person's horsepower by his exhaust."