Thread: Bike Carrier

Haven't bought one yet, but 4WD Megastores had a nice one (I forget the brand) that took 4 bikes and slotted into the tow hitch. Was in the $300-$400 region from memory.

Hello Andy,

I went through this same issue when I was planning my Cape York trip. Ended up with a cheap ($89) rack that is designed for a rear window/hatch. It fits perfectly over the spare wheel on the back of the defender. I tied a 90x35 board to keep the bar that hooks over the tyre from going through the back window. Used the straps to tie it down to the top and bottom of the door.


Not a very clear photo, but you can get the idea. By the way no rack is designed for off road use. Did a 10,000k trip over corrigated tracks, and extreme off road, with no problems.

Cheers,
Ken

if youve got a hayman reece reciver hitch why not just have one made?

If they are just "traditional" bikes they are easy to make up but if you have fancy dual suspension bikes y bikes or other curvy wierdo designs than its a mite more difficult but not impossable.

My favorite solution is the one that mounts the bikes by their axle mounts on quick release brackets and you put the wheels in the back of the car.

one of them custom made to go on the hitch to take 4 bikes would be a great solution and if you already have a swing away wheel carrier could be fabricated to hang off of the tyre carrier..

There is a business in Victoria called Grip sport

Grip Sport - Australia's first and only Specialist Bicycle Engineers

They make racks specifically for Downhill bikes (heavy bikes) and bikes that don't have a straight top tubes. They work on a similar principle to the Thule racks where the bike sits on a horizontal rail although unlike the Thule rack the bike is held upright by the one crank (does scratch up the cranks a little) they are around $300 but he can custom make one to carry 1,2,3,4 bikes what ever you want. They are super strong I have used one for many years. Actually had someone take off and run up the back of me at the lights more damage to his car than my bike rack. Any way just another option they are a heavy rack though the Thule would be lighter.

Andrew

Thanks for the replies. I'd thought about the spare wheel option but that's really only good for one or maybe two bikes, not four. The gripsport stuff looks good so I'll certainly talk to them about 4 bike options. I've also seen a couple of nice fixed hitch-mount ones. I was hoping to get something that would still allow access to the back but i think that's a forlorn hope. We have a mix of bikes, so the ability to take different tube shapes & sizes would be a big plus - looks like I've got some searching to do.

cheers, Andy

My solution for carrying bikes on the back of the fender was to cut off the top part of a standard tow ball mount bike carrier (vertical section and bike holder bit) and weld it to a flat plate that bolts on to the spare wheel mounted on the back door. My spare sits on a kaymar rear wheel carrier so you can swing this away to get in the back door. Shorter vertical secton means less movement than you get with the tow bar mount. Went round australia including off road Kimberly's etc with no probs. Even had a bloke follow me around town one day to ask me where I bought it. Made it years ago but have seen a commercial version recently may have been kaymar. Brilliant bit of kit even if I do say so myself. should have patented it!