My Bike Carrier and Storage Boxes

Purchased my 2020 TRD OR in June and finally got around to finishing up a couple of little projects.

First up I added factory cross-bars to my roof rack and then fabricated a simple roof top bike rack. I used some cross-bar clamps, a fork holder and some aluminum plate and bars that i had lying around, so overall cost was pretty low. It is super easy to load up a bike and the bike rides very solidly with little movement.

My second project was a set of storage drawers/boxes for inside the 4Runner. I made a set of two so that i could remove one and carry a second bike using a fork mounted carrier inside. Was a fun build and am very happy with the end product.

 

Out of curiosity how do you get your bike up there without damaging your paint?

 

I had a similar system for my FJ also. It is a bit tricky the first time but very quickly becomes quite easy. Open the side passenger door, with the front wheel off of the bike pick it up by the forks and the frame and lift over your head, step up onto the running board and place the bike on the rack fasten the front fork into the fork holder, and strap the rear wheel to the rack. Takes about one minute to do. Reverse the sequence for unloading. I never touch the paint.

 

Ahhh gotcha. I’ve gone back and forth between roof and tow hitch. However I don’t trust myself with putting it on the roof. lol

 

I love this box setup. You don’t happen to have any written out plans on how you built it do you?

 

Don't know if you can make sense of this or not. Have a look.

 

Should be able to figure it out! All plywood?

 

A few more pics.

 

Everything is 3/4" plywood except the bottoms of the drawers, I believe that was 5/16" or 3/8" plywood. The faces of the drawers was stained plywood.