Vincent
Active Wheeler
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2024
- Messages
- 244
- Reaction score
- 26
- Rivian
- R1T
I've always been a fan of the 1Up bike racks and had one for several years. With the purchase of his new R1T and the Rivian Crossbars, Cris had to switch from the traditional 1Up mounts to what they refer to as "flush mount". I've added some pictures for reference.
This new flush mount however has a security flaw. The hex bolt that secures the rack to the cross bars is easily accessible to anyone with the right sized Allen wrench. It would be fairly easy to unbolt the rack with or without a bike on it.
I can't take credit for the idea because I got it from Cris but I thought it was such an elegant solution that I had to share. So he purchased a small bag of 5mm solid plastic ball bearings. Don't know why he ordered for a 100 even though he only needed 4 haha. He took the plastic bearing and tapped them into the hex bolt. The bearing are just a little larger than the hex and with a slight tap of a hammer, they are nice and snug.
So how does this prevent theft, you might ask? Well, it simply prevents an Allen wrench from fitting into the whole. Can't get the wrench in the whole, can't unscrew the bolt, can't steal the rack or the bike. If you ever have to remove the rack from crossbars, you can simply pry them out with a pick or drill through them with a small drill bit. Plus, he's got about 96 more available!
It's a pretty cool and simple way to keep your bikes safe from theft. Fixing it is super easy and it's quite cheap too. So for someone who parks his truck outdoor and and maybe doesn't leave his bike on his truck cause of fear that it might get stolen, you can easily get these 5mm solid plastic ball bearings, fix them to just crossbars and just like that, you're good to go.
This new flush mount however has a security flaw. The hex bolt that secures the rack to the cross bars is easily accessible to anyone with the right sized Allen wrench. It would be fairly easy to unbolt the rack with or without a bike on it.
I can't take credit for the idea because I got it from Cris but I thought it was such an elegant solution that I had to share. So he purchased a small bag of 5mm solid plastic ball bearings. Don't know why he ordered for a 100 even though he only needed 4 haha. He took the plastic bearing and tapped them into the hex bolt. The bearing are just a little larger than the hex and with a slight tap of a hammer, they are nice and snug.
So how does this prevent theft, you might ask? Well, it simply prevents an Allen wrench from fitting into the whole. Can't get the wrench in the whole, can't unscrew the bolt, can't steal the rack or the bike. If you ever have to remove the rack from crossbars, you can simply pry them out with a pick or drill through them with a small drill bit. Plus, he's got about 96 more available!
It's a pretty cool and simple way to keep your bikes safe from theft. Fixing it is super easy and it's quite cheap too. So for someone who parks his truck outdoor and and maybe doesn't leave his bike on his truck cause of fear that it might get stolen, you can easily get these 5mm solid plastic ball bearings, fix them to just crossbars and just like that, you're good to go.
