Sliding bike storage rack

[kramonut]

Considering they sandblasted and powder coated the strut the price difference is justifiable, the galvanized rail from HD will eventually rust. I'm going with the HD strut and some trolleys from Amazon plus the Park Tool hooks, not really saving any money but it looks a little sturdier than the 1Up setup and I don't really like the spring action. I'm also thinking to use the same system in a poor man's pocket door setup...
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Nice! I just got a couple trolleys in the mail from Amazon...Just waiting on my Park hooks. I'm happy with the gear blocks hooks, but want to try making my own as well.

Since these have openings on either end, I may try to rig something up for hanging a wheelset on each trolley.

 

[JonF]

The one up channel is powder coated just for aesthetics. Standard unistrut has a strong zinc coating rust. You look at any commercial building and tell me there's the rusty unistrut holding up All the EMT?

 

[Patrick]

That would make it a lot more expensive, $18 for a M10x1.5 unit...I've reconsidered the whole swivel thing, as long as I can adjust the hook one way or another is fine. Actually, I will just need the hooks to be perpendicular to the rail. I like the bearings of 'my' setup because they bigger. I've also thought of a number of applications beyond the bike rack, I just need to come up with the proper anchoring to the ceiling. Starting with these...
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This is true - even using a $4 threaded hook from park tools.
gotta be an easier way? conical bearing?

For mounting:
What about a hanger plate and threaded rod?
This would look neater with threaded rod

 

[ekuhn]

This is true - even using a $4 threaded hook from park tools.
gotta be an easier way? conical bearing?

For mounting:
What about a hanger plate and threaded rod?
This would look neater with threaded rod

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Looks like any protruding head of a bolt/screw/washer combo would stop the hook trolley assembly from rolling, unless you had deep uni strut.

 

[Patrick]

Looks like any protruding head of a bolt/screw/washer combo would stop the hook trolley assembly from rolling, unless you had deep uni strut.

I thought that clearance for a nut/bolt head was accounted for in the design?
Sure, couldn't have too much threaded rod sticking through.

 

[JonF]

I thought that clearance for a nut/bolt head was accounted for in the design?
Sure, couldn't have too much threaded rod sticking through.

No, you have to use the special hangers when using the trolleys. Just isn't any extra room, even for a 3/8 bolt head.

 

[Santapez]

There's also deep strut that would help with clearance for bolts and such.

 

[serviceguy]

No, you have to use the special hangers when using the trolleys. Just isn't any extra room, even for a 3/8 bolt head.

Correct. There are trolleys with smaller bearings (such as the one used by the OP) but I did like the bigger bearings better, hence the specific hangers.

There's also deep strut that would help with clearance for bolts and such.

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Intriguing but that would add up to the cost significantly.

 

[serviceguy]

The one up channel is powder coated just for aesthetics. Standard unistrut has a strong zinc coating rust. You look at any commercial building and tell me there's the rusty unistrut holding up All the EMT?

I have no experience with unistrut, I was just going by the regular galvanized metal as usually found on some car parts, which will eventually rust to hell. Good to know this is not the case for indoor (even though in a garage) application. I even like it better than black actually.

 

[Patrick]

No, you have to use the special hangers when using the trolleys. Just isn't any extra room, even for a 3/8 bolt head.

I guess this makes more sense, as you'd be hard pressed to have the holes line up consistently with the hangers.

 

[kramonut]

Correct. There are trolleys with smaller bearings (such as the one used by the OP) but I did like the bigger bearings better, hence the specific hangers.


Intriguing but that would add up to the cost significantly.

Yep!! As I JUST found out…the trolleys I just bought from Amazon hit the lags I’m using to mount the unistrut 🤦🏻🤦🏻 And I’m using low profile Spax lags..

Oh well, prob just return them and look for something with smaller bearings.

 

[JonF]

Got the 1Up trolleys and a few other bits of hardware in (hangers for trolley track, trolley stops and a few 90's, lags and 3/8 fasteners for the strut) and hung it up this morning. My install went from the center column between bays, out 7', then a single support leg 90 up to the ceiling beam. thought it might need a second support leg in the middle of the span but there is no sag whatsoever. There is a little bit of wiggle at the far end at the 90 since the leg is almost 4' down from the ceiling but not enough to worry about it. The bikes are stored biased towards the column end which is rock solid.

I would recommend lightly greasing the strut between the rolled lips so the trolley carriage will glide a bit more smoothly.

Some detail pics with and without bikes.

 

[tonyride]

Looks like I'm going to have to hang the rail from an L bracket mount to the wall. Where I want to put it the ceiling isn't really a ceiling because I could only find 1 stud in a 5-foot section I want to use so it must be a duct of some sort for pipes and stuff. I was afraid of that when that section is a bit lower than the rest of the ceiling and it jets out from the wall the up to the real ceiling.

 

[JonF]

Looks like I'm going to have to hang the rail from an L bracket mount to the wall. Where I want to put it the ceiling isn't really a ceiling because I could only find 1 stud in a 5-foot section I want to use so it must be a duct of some sort for pipes and stuff. I was afraid of that when that section is a bit lower than the rest of the ceiling and it jets out from the wall the up to the real ceiling.

You can span a pretty big distance with another section of strut if you can find another joist on the other side. Then tee onto that.

 

[serviceguy]

Got the 1Up trolleys and a few other bits of hardware in (hangers for trolley track, trolley stops and a few 90's, lags and 3/8 fasteners for the strut) and hung it up this morning. My install went from the center column between bays, out 7', then a single support leg 90 up to the ceiling beam. thought it might need a second support leg in the middle of the span but there is no sag whatsoever. There is a little bit of wiggle at the far end at the 90 since the leg is almost 4' down from the ceiling but not enough to worry about it. The bikes are stored biased towards the column end which is rock solid.

I would recommend lightly greasing the strut between the rolled lips so the trolley carriage will glide a bit more smoothly.

Some detail pics with and without bikes.

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Looks good. Did you notice any flex over the 10f span of the rail, especially since you don have any intermediate anchor to support it? I am planning to use 4 threaded rods anchored to 4 metal bars, each across 2 or 3 floor joists (mind you the same joists as the rail will run parallel to the joists).

 

[JonF]

Looks good. Did you notice any flex over the 10f span of the rail, especially since you don have any intermediate anchor to support it? I am planning to use 4 threaded rods anchored to 4 metal bars, each across 2 or 3 floor joists (mind you the same joists as the rail will run parallel to the joists).

I could only do 7' span from the column or else i hit the air hose reel and 7' with 4 trolleys is plenty for my meager collection at the moment. You can also see i don't have any center support on the beam, just the ends. I had planned to add one in the middle if needed, but after loading it up, i dont find any appreciable sag. If you were doing a full 10' run, yeah, I think 1 support in the middle would be sufficient. 1 support ever 2.5' is going to be overkill.

I do think that if you are only hanging it from allthread, you will get some noticible side to side sway. Unistrut has 90* brackets to tee them together which would make it a lot more rigid. If i were hanging a full 10' span, i would hang strut on each end for rigidity and 1 allthread hangar in the middle for sag.

I checked the superstrut brand (what HD carries) load charts for deflection and a 7' beam of 12ga 1 5/8 strut will sag .7" with a 505lb load. That would be more than 14 bikes if you could squeeze that many in. I'm good as is.

For your design though, a 10' span would sag 1.4" with only 350lb load. That's 10 bikes but it also assumes a point load right in the center. Load spread out across the span wont sag it as much. But adding 1 support to split it to 2, 60" beam sections then beefs it up to where it will sag only .35" under a 700# point load. No need for 2 center supports, not to mention 3.

 

[serviceguy]

On my 8th carriage and 2nd 10' rail and I haven't figured out a way to secure the 1st rail to the garage ceiling...what is wrong with me? Great setting though...thanks OP for bringing it up!

 

[JonF]

On my 8th carriage and 2nd 10' rail and I haven't figured out a way to secure the 1st rail to the garage ceiling...what is wrong with me? Great setting though...thanks OP for bringing it up!

pics of the area and what you have so far?

 

[serviceguy]

pics of the area and what you have so far?

not going to happen yet I would give away my mental condition as a hoarder...so far my 3 El Mariachis are the only bikes hanging, the 10' span rail did not sag, not visibly at least, even though it's being supported only at the very ends. It's a mistery to me how two sistered 2x6 on a 16' span can support the garage attic full of car parts without budging...

 

[w_b]

Due to the size of the channel it appears the part of the trolley with the hole is quite narrow, enlarging a 7mm hole to 10mm would definitely lower the load applicable to the trolley. Not sure about the one suggested by @JonF as I can't see the pictures but I wouldn't expect them to be much different.

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Wtf am I even looking at, Is it 4 pix of the same garbage?