Uploaded August 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
We recently purchased a new travel trailer with less storage and I needed a little extra room to carry camping gear and the bikes the bed of my pickup. This truck had a gooseneck hitch in it when I purchased it but I’ve never had a need to use it.
After making some measurements, I really thought I’d get the bikes up high enough to give me about 20” or so underneath the largest bike but I was pleasantly surprised when the bikes were completely above the side rails of the bed.
The bike rack is made from one 54” piece of 2.5” square tubing, two 12” pieces of 2.5” square tubing, and two 47” pieces of 1” square tubing. (The 2.5” tubing is about 1/4” thick metal and the 1” square tubing is 1/8” thick)
The total cost of metal was $130.00.
I used my side grinder with a 24 grit grinding disc to grind the base of the rack ( bottom 4.5 inches ) so that it would fit inside the gooseneck hitch. I drilled the hole for the hitch pin with a step drill bit which worked great. After welding it all like I wanted it, I painted the rack with a can of black primer / paint combo. After it was all dry I used zip ties to attach pipe insulation to the 1” square tubing.
Side Grinder
amzn.to/3bG9OOz
24 grit grinding disc
amzn.to/3ddUglD
Ryobi cordless drill
amzn.to/3Qs5cud
Step drill bit
amzn.to/3BSOL63
Paint / primer combo
amzn.to/3bFHKLg
We recently purchased a new travel trailer with less storage and I needed a little extra room to carry camping gear and the bikes the bed of my pickup. This truck had a gooseneck hitch in it when I purchased it but I’ve never had a need to use it.
After making some measurements, I really thought I’d get the bikes up high enough to give me about 20” or so underneath the largest bike but I was pleasantly surprised when the bikes were completely above the side rails of the bed.
The bike rack is made from one 54” piece of 2.5” square tubing, two 12” pieces of 2.5” square tubing, and two 47” pieces of 1” square tubing. (The 2.5” tubing is about 1/4” thick metal and the 1” square tubing is 1/8” thick)
The total cost of metal was $130.00.
I used my side grinder with a 24 grit grinding disc to grind the base of the rack ( bottom 4.5 inches ) so that it would fit inside the gooseneck hitch. I drilled the hole for the hitch pin with a step drill bit which worked great. After welding it all like I wanted it, I painted the rack with a can of black primer / paint combo. After it was all dry I used zip ties to attach pipe insulation to the 1” square tubing.
Side Grinder
amzn.to/3bG9OOz
24 grit grinding disc
amzn.to/3ddUglD
Ryobi cordless drill
amzn.to/3Qs5cud
Step drill bit
amzn.to/3BSOL63
Paint / primer combo
amzn.to/3bFHKLg
