Non Doorway Chin Up Bars
 

Anyone have any suggestions on how I can make a chin/pull up bar that I can mount in my garage's ceiling? I don't want the kind that you can easily mount on the doorway, because I want to be able to hang from it without bending my knees.
The garage ceiling is covered so I can't get in between the ceiling supports without doing a bunch of cutting into the drywall.
I also don't have a welder. I basically have a drill, hammer, saw, and nails (of course I will buy materials...but want to avoid buying tools to build it).
I saw some wall mountable ones but they were going for over $100 easily, and there has to be a way to set something up without having to spend too much money.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Screw eye bolts? Or the one's that you use to hold bicycles? Maybe screw them into the joists and then fashion the bar yourself? Just thinking out loud here.


Good Luck

What about trying to find a bathtub support, like the kind that the handicapped and elderly use? I know that they are usually pretty thick, but you may be able to find one with a diameter comfortable enough to do pull ups on.

I would just build a support frame, and then have a bar going between the two. Basically, you'll want two triangular wood frames cross braced on each side, and then joined at the bottom, with the bar at the top. All it takes is some screws and some lumber, and its not going anywhere.

I would use a cast iron bar from the plumbing aisle at Home Depot. Two elbows, two shorter lengths of bar, and a mounting plate that allows you to screw the threaded ends of the pipe into it and then put some bolts throught the plate into the rafters.

I would screw it together with pipes too, but as a frame that stands on it's own. 2 elbows, I pipe to hang on in between the elbows, two long pipes coming from the elbows to the ground, two Ts that connect to the long pipes, and 4 small pipes coming off the Ts which make up the stand, and caps on the end of the pipes so the thing doesn't wobble. That'd be like $70 of pipe though, I think.

Unfortunately, it would take quite a bit of pipe to give you the support you need for a freestanding unit and it would take up a ton of floor space. I'm sure it would be considerably more expensive than $70 to do that. You'd need probably a four foot square base of pipe to lay on the floor for support at a minimum.

I made one that went across the corner. It was a pipe attached to two pieces of angle iron (I welded but you could bolt it together). The angle iron on each end attached to 2 studs and was very sturdy.

Use two hooks form home Depot, screw them into a support beam in the ceiling. Take a 1" or 1 1/4" metal pipe, get the right length to hold plus a few inches, and run a piece of chain through it and hook it onto the hooks.

The problem with that is a whole lot of sway. Not that it can't work, but there's a real good chance you won't be working the same muscles you would with pull ups on a stable bar. As you tire out your form inevitably gets sloppy and you'll be all over the place.

Good point. It could be stabilized with a couple of hooks in the wall and rope, or even hooks in the floor.

In thinking about it a little more, he could run a pipe from one side of the garage to the other. the ends could be attached to the garage walls and the length supported from the ceiling with strapping. This would not only give you a chin up bar but could also provide a means to hang things for storage. This could be done for a reasonable cost if it's a one car garage but a two car one would probably be prohibitive.

Great ideas!!
I'm probably gonna go for the home depot plumbing pipe with the mounts. It looks like it will be the easiest and the one that is out of the way the most. I am worried about it coming out of the ceiling though, but I figure if a have a few screws in there I should be alright, and I only weigh about 150 lbs. Thanks for the ideas everyone. You all rock!

How aboot two floor flanges and a threaded piece of pipe? Just cut the pipe to size thread it into the floor flanges and bolt the floor flanges to the joists. Real easy.

Isn't that like the plumbing pipe and wall mount suggestion?Unless I am missing something....

Wasn't sure how they were talking about mounting it. So I threw in the Floor Flanges. Could be the same thing.

It is I just didn't use the term "floor flanges".

Here's a picture of mine mentioned above...

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...e/fb760c52.jpg

for HQ, click link
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...2.jpg.orig.jpg

I put it up last weekend. I just went and got a bunch of plumbing pipe and elbow joints and what not. So far its holding up fine. Thanks for all the help..much appreciated.