How to Make Floating Monkey Bars (DIY for <$25 each)
An ultimate 8 step guide with a shopping list, video, pictures, plus bonus tips on conquering the obstacle once you’ve built it!
If you’ve ever thought to yourself, Monkey bars are great and all, but not remotely difficult or dangerous enough, I have great news!
You’re not alone.
Floating monkey bars have appeared on American Ninja Warrior in the past, and they made an epic return for the 2019 Season. This year they shattered buzzer dreams for a who’s-who list of talented ninjas.
But they didn’t stop there . Force5 Equipment created a new version of the obstacle for the 2019 North American Obstacle Course Racing Championships and the Obstacle Course Racing World Championships.
This obstacle, named “Gibbons Experience”, made notable appearances at both events. With a free-swinging setup it challenged athletes’ grip, precision, and will to succeed like few obstacles before it.
That’s right, Force5 decided that plain old floating monkey bars weren’t difficult or dangerous enough. So they hung the cradles from straps and chains and let them swing and spin — brilliant!
In that spirit, here’s how to make your own homegrown version out of wood and joist hangers. Now you, too, can tumble to the concrete in your garage and get hit in the face with an oak dowel (I hope not, please be careful).
Standard Disclaimer: This guide is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. Whatever you do at home, I’m not involved, so don’t come crying to me if you do a poor job and it falls on your head as a result.
DIY Floating Monkey Bars for <$25 Each
The first thing to do is make sure you have everything you need. Here’s a shopping list — you’ll want to print this off and take it with you.
Disclaimer: Some of these links are affiliate links. Purchases you make via these links provide financial support to me and my family. These items can easily be obtained from most quality hardware stores if you don’t want to buy stuff online.
Floating Monkey Bars Shopping List
Parts
- 2"x4"x10-12' Interior Structural Wood
- 1.25–1.5" Oak Dowel (cut to 8" long)
- 3/8"x3-4" Steel Plated Zinc Lag Screws (2 per cradle)
- Washers for the Lag Screws (1 per Screw)
- 3/8"x2.5" Forged Steel Shoulder Eye Bolts (1–2 per cradle)
- Nut for the Eye Bolts (1 per Bolt) (they should come with these)
- 1" flat topped wood screws (4 per cradle)
- 2" Zinc-plated Heavy Duty Corner Brace (2 per cradle)
Amazon link in case you can’t find them cheap at Home Depot
Tools
- Cutting Implement (Hand Saw, Jigsaw, Table Saw, etc)
- Ratchet Wrench Set or Hex Wrenches
- Screwdrivers
- Power Drill & bits
- Sandpaper
- Tape measure
- A pencil
Hold up, now!
Before you jump in the car and drive to Home Depot, I have a few notes regarding this list.
Very Important Shopping Notes
First, the 2"x4" wood:
10' will make 4 cradles with a bit left over, 12' should give you enough for 5 cradles. You need to decide how many you want to make before you start buying stuff, as that will determine how much of everything you need.
Measure twice, go to the store once.
Second, the dowels / pegs:
The official pegs from Force5 are 10", and you can certainly go that route, but you’re going to need more wood and maybe a bigger joist hanger to ensure you can lock in safely with that extra length and force. 8" has worked well for us.
Third, the eye bolts:
Yes, the shoulder bolts with the circle completed are more expensive. You can sometimes find them cheaper if you’re buying several at once — you will be. But yes, you can buy cheaper eye bolts where the circle isn’t complete and they’ll probably hold your weight.
Probably being the operative word.
Fourth, the wood screws:
Make sure they’re the kind that will screw in flush with the wood, or you’re going to have problems trying to get your pegs to land in the cradle.
Fifth, the corner braces:
Yes, they come with screws that you can totally use. I’m suggesting you buy and use longer, sturdier screws as these things will be supporting your body as it swings through the air.
You have to live your own life, I guess.
Sixth, about Drill bits:
You need drill bits that are a size or two smaller than your wood screws, lag screws, and eye bolts so you can drill pilot holes — that’s up to three different sizes. I used 5/16" for the lag screws and eye bolt. For the wood screws, I have a tiny 3/32" bit that came in handy.
If you want to be safe, take your bits to the store with you so you can compare and buy anything you’re missing.
Okay, that’s enough notes — time to build!
The Actual Factual Build Steps
I strongly recommend you read through all of the steps in advance to make sure you understand the process and have everything you need.
1. Measure and cut two 8" dowels to use as pegs.
You can cut a few spares while you’re at it, in case you decide to make a peg board, too.
2. Measure and cut the 2x4 into 8" blocks.
If you’re going to err, err toward 1/8" too big rather than too small. Otherwise, you’re going to be cutting your dowels down even further, and that will make them harder to use. Remember to measure and mark before cutting!
If you want to be really clever, you can use your new pegs to measure and mark the 2x4.
3. Carefully sand down the dowels and wood blocks.
Splinters suck, so don’t skip this step! Be thorough and careful — it’s worth it.
4. Drill pilot holes for the lag screws and eye bolts next.
Each cradle will consist of three pieces of 8" long 2x4.
The central pieces will need a ~1.5" pilot hole in the middle of each end, as well as a hole or holes for your eye bolts that run through the block.
The side pieces will need a single hole drilled through the upper central part of the block to line up with the holes on the ends of the central piece. See the image below for a guide.
I strongly encourage you to use your tape measure and pencil to measure and mark each hole BEFORE drilling.
Pilot holes make it MUCH easier to screw your bolts in, and also help to ensure that they go in straight and clean without splitting your wood blocks. Again, don’t skip this step!
Also, for the eye bolts — I did one central bolt in each cradle, but you could put one offset to each side (two total eye bolts per cradle). You will spend a little more money but you will also make your cradle a bit more stable. Just make sure that you also offset the eye bolts to leave room for the lag screws, which need to go right into the center for the greatest stability.
5. Use the lag screws and eye bolt(s) to complete the frame.
First, use the lag screws and your ratchet wrench to attach the side pieces to the end piece — don’t forget to put washers on the lag screws! Also, don’t tighten them completely at this point — you’ll thank me later.
Second, go ahead and put the eye bolt in — this is honestly a great forearm workout all on its own.
If you don’t have a fancy (or clever DIY) drill attachment to get this done, you can do like me: Just jam your screwdriver in there and start twisting.
Or get your kid to do it. (It builds character for sure.)
6. Mark and drill pilot holes for your corner braces.
Hold the braces on the wood side pieces, just above the bottom to leave plenty of clearance. Then, mark the circles where the screws will go with a pencil.
Finally, drill your pilot holes using the appropriately sized bit (they can be pretty small as these screws will go in easy).
7. Screw the corner brace into place using your drill or screwdriver.
But honestly, at this point you’re probably feeling the burn, so just use your drill.
8. Double check and hand-tighten EVERYTHING.
Always a good final step at the end of any project: make sure you haven’t left anything half-finished! Tighten those screws and lag screws to the point where they don’t move, but don’t strip them or split the wood.
Make sure the eye bolts and nuts are tight as well!
Congratulations! You’ve built your very own floating monkey bars.
So what are you going to do now?
Did you complete this build?
Please tag me in your pics and videos!
BONUS: How to Do the Floating Monkey Bars Like a Ninja!
Well, hopefully your next step is to take a break. Get yourself a drink of water and maybe have a snack. Sit down for a minute and take a load off.
I’ll wait.
Okay, are you feeling refreshed? Good!
It’s go time.
Some safety notes:
- We highly recommend putting a thick gymnastics mat, spare mattress, or both underneath you while practicing this obstacle. If you’re extra fancy, you might even have a legit crash pad . Whatever you go with, you’ll want to get it setup before you start swinging like an ape.
- However you hang these cradles, be absolutely sure they’re attached to something that can support 3 times your body weight (at a minimum). Ceiling joists are great. Sturdy trees also work. If you have an actual rig or adult-sized monkey bars, good on you!
6 Awesome Gibbons Experience / Floating Monkey Bars Tips & Tricks To Up Your Game
- Practice like you play. Hang the cradles approximately 24" apart, and practice starting from a stool, stepladder, or plyo box to simulate the real obstacle more accurately. Starting on a raised platform does make a difference!
- Use a two-handed switch grip to prevent spin. If you’ve got the grip strength to one-hand these pegs and brachiate all the way through, there’s nothing more we can teach you. Well done! For most people, it will be safer and easier to grip the cradled pegs with both hands and transfer on your forward swing. Gabrielle demonstrates this several times in the video above.
- Go ahead, be a chicken. If that’s still too hard, don’t despair! You can chicken-wing this obstacle by hooking an elbow over the top of the peg, or even going in up to your shoulder/armpit! With a bit of swing, the next cradle should come into reach.
- Use your momentum. When removing the pegs, do it on your backswing to prevent them from getting caught in the cradle. Likewise, transfer the pegs to the next cradle at the apex of your forward swing. This allows you to take full advantage of your momentum.
- Use your whole body to build swing. Having trouble setting or removing the pegs? Try driving up with your knees in time with your swing to create moments of weightlessness . See the video for a demo. This puts your legs and core to work; just don’t swing too hard!
- Dismount early. As soon as you’re confident you can reach that bell (for most people, by the 4th cradle on a normal 5 cradle setup), take a big swing or twoand get out of there! Be careful you don’t miss though.
Go forth and conquer!
