Heavy duty bike racks

[LandieMan]

Hi,

we need a bike rack that will fit into the Haymen Reece 50mm receiver hitch that's big enough to take 4 bikes and strong enough to take the rigors of outback roads.

I see there's a few on the market but I'm keen to hear experiences with bike racks and whether the standard ones are strong enough for outback driving or do we need to buy/make something special

Cheers, LandieMan

[Michael2]

I remove the bottom facing pedal, fold the handle bars flat (90 degree turn) with the front wheel and load a couple of bikes onto the roof rack.

4 bikes sounds like too much for most bike carriers I've seen. It may be worth putting 2 bikes on top and getting a shorter sturdier rack for the back. Let us know what you find, because I'd like to carry 5 bikes in a couple of years time.

[LandyAndy]

EASY to make one yourself.
I have a homemade one in the shed,fitted 3 easy.Ive put a reciever on the camper trailer so the bike rack can be used,plus if really needed tow a second trailer in an emergency if there is a breakdown on a trip.
Andrew

[isuzutoo-eh]

My folks have a 4 position bike rack, damned if we can get four on it though, the geometry of our bikes won't allow. Three is a struggle if you throw in a women's bike. It also bounced around a lot, so much so we feared it would fatigue and drag 8 grand of bikes on the road, so a pair of tensioned straps splayed to roof-corner points held it firm.
Don't forget to occy or velcro strap your wheels still or you'll slowly wear out your bearings :)

[LandieMan]

I remove the bottom facing pedal, fold the handle bars flat (90 degree turn) with the front wheel and load a couple of bikes onto the roof rack.

4 bikes sounds like too much for most bike carriers I've seen. It may be worth putting 2 bikes on top and getting a shorter sturdier rack for the back. Let us know what you find, because I'd like to carry 5 bikes in a couple of years time.

Thanks, we're hoping to avoid the need for a roof rack but putting a couple up there would make life a little easier as removing four bikes each time we wanted to get into the back would be much harder than just 2. With just 2 you could just remove them while still on the rack.

Cheers, LandieMan

[LandieMan]

EASY to make one yourself.
I have a homemade one in the shed,fitted 3 easy.Ive put a reciever on the camper trailer so the bike rack can be used,plus if really needed tow a second trailer in an emergency if there is a breakdown on a trip.
Andrew

Thanks Andrew. The Trak Shak we've just bought has a 50mm receiver on the back already which is one of the reason we're looking for receiver type bike rack. The emerency tow option wasn't something that had occurred to us so thanks for that idea too.

I'd love to custom make one but sadly all my gear is 2000 miles away in NZ and now that we're over here in Aussie our time is a little precious too.

Cheers, LandieMan

[LandieMan]

My folks have a 4 position bike rack, damned if we can get four on it though, the geometry of our bikes won't allow. Three is a struggle if you throw in a women's bike. It also bounced around a lot, so much so we feared it would fatigue and drag 8 grand of bikes on the road, so a pair of tensioned straps splayed to roof-corner points held it firm.
Don't forget to occy or velcro strap your wheels still or you'll slowly wear out your bearings :)

Thanks, I think a pair of straps to a couple of strong anchor points as high as possible on the corners is the right idea. I'd like to think that a rack from any reputable supplier will be strong enough for general usage and the addition of the straps will cover the additional "bouncing" loads off-road.

Also, it's a good point to check that 4 bikes will actually fit on it. I think I'd perfer a double bar type rack that you just hook the bikes over rather than a single centre bar type with clamps. That way there's more flexibility to mount the bikes closer together and nearer the vehicle.

Thanks again for the reply.

Cheers, LandieMan

[bee utey]

Seen this?
Thule Australia > Roof Racks + Roof Boxes + Bike & Ski Carriers (http://www.thule.com.au/news_detail.php?news_id=11)

[knp]

We've carried 4 bikes on a receiver hitch OK but not off road.
Works good on a D2 and doesn't bounce around too much.
Bit of a problem though when you want to open the back door.

So we welded on a hitch to the back of the camper. Works well also but the bikes really bounce around a lot more.

Ideally I'd like to make a carrier for the D2 that swings away (like those Kaymar spare wheel carriers). I think Thule used to make something for 2-3 bikes but not sure about 4 - same probs though with different size/style bikes - hard to get them all mounted securely without too much damage to paint/wheels/drive-train etc.

If you're towing a trailer then I reckon the safest place to mount them is somewhere on the draw bar. This would be fine for 2 or maybe even 3 bikes but 4 might not be possible unless you've got a really long draw bar on the trailer (ours is 1.5m but I reckon 1.8m would be ideal).

So I guess if you're rushed then a roof top option is probably the best when combined with a rear wheel mounted carrier as well. Otherwise a heavy duty swing-away would be best.

Have a great trip.
Pedal ON!
Peter

[LandyAndy]

Thanks Andrew. The Trak Shak we've just bought has a 50mm receiver on the back already which is one of the reason we're looking for receiver type bike rack. The emerency tow option wasn't something that had occurred to us so thanks for that idea too.

I'd love to custom make one but sadly all my gear is 2000 miles away in NZ and now that we're over here in Aussie our time is a little precious too.

Cheers, LandieMan

Where are you at the moment???
There are many talented members who build steel stuff.Perhaps somebody could help you out.
Discowhite is one who springs to mind.
Andrew

[LandieMan]

Where are you at the moment???
There are many talented members who build steel stuff.Perhaps somebody could help you out.
Discowhite is one who springs to mind.
Andrew

We're prep'ing the truck in Traralgon, an hour and a bit east of Melbourne.

It might be easier to buy something that's close and strenghten it if it's required. The 130 tub we have has a solid canopy on it so I think a couple of anchor points up the top corners will help with the bounce which seems to be the major problem.

Thanks again for your help.

Cheers, LandieMan

[LandieMan]

Seen this?
Thule Australia > Roof Racks + Roof Boxes + Bike & Ski Carriers (http://www.thule.com.au/news_detail.php?news_id=11)

Yes I had seen it, the swing away idea looked superb. I also saw the price :o which killed the interest pretty smartly.

It would be interesting to see how solid it is because it would have to be pretty heavily not to twist I would have thought. You'd probably need a engine hoist to lift it on and off :D

Cheers, LandieMan

[Killer]

We're prep'ing the truck in Traralgon, an hour and a bit east of Melbourne.

It might be easier to buy something that's close and strenghten it if it's required. The 130 tub we have has a solid canopy on it so I think a couple of anchor points up the top corners will help with the bounce which seems to be the major problem.

Thanks again for your help.

Cheers, LandieMan

Have you thought about packing the bikes inside the tub? With a bit of creative packing the bikes don't take up up that much room in there. We have fit four bikes, (3 road bikes and a kids bike) across the front of ours, and still had room for a large esky, (about 60l) a dog box, (about 600 x 800 x 800) and all our luggage for a few weeks in Melbourne. And it was still only loaded up to about window height.

Cheers, Mick.

[LandieMan]

Have you thought about packing the bikes inside the tub? With a bit of creative packing the bikes don't take up up that much room in there. We have fit four bikes, (3 road bikes and a kids bike) across the front of ours, and still had room for a large esky, (about 60l) a dog box, (about 600 x 800 x 800) and all our luggage for a few weeks in Melbourne. And it was still only loaded up to about window height.

Cheers, Mick.

There's certainly plenty of space in a 130 that's for sure. However, we've built up wooden cupboards/boxes and fridge slide in the tub so it wouldn't be practical to store bikes. I'm sure we'll be able to find a rack that will hack it.

Thanks for your comment.

Cheers, LandieMan

[ScottW]

Check out Grip Sports (http://www.gripsport.com.au/bike_main.php?part=bike_products) for a few ideas and make your own. The Downhill bike rack is probably the best bet on rough terrain as the bikes sit on the wheels, not hung from the top tubes. Don't know about fitting 4 there though.

http://www.gripsport.com.au/images/products/2711577Towbar%20Carrier%202-Bike%20QUICK%20GRIP%20Collage.JPG

[LandieMan]

Check out Grip Sports (http://www.gripsport.com.au/bike_main.php?part=bike_products) for a few ideas and make your own. The Downhill bike rack is probably the best bet on rough terrain as the bikes sit on the wheels, not hung from the top tubes. Don't know about fitting 4 there though.


Thanks for that. A nice find. You're right, the downhill bike racks do look good and mounting the bikes on their wheels does have some advantages.

The downside of the lower mounting however is that it would be hard to brace/strap them back to the body/roof line of the vehicle so "all" the load including the twisting would be on the tow hitch.

Cheers, LandieMan