How all do you carry your bikes......

[ttora4runner]

I was just wondering how all you carry your bikes on/in your vehicle?

I currenty have a Thule rack that attaches to the rear hatch of my 4runner but it has cause paint damage do to the straps rubbering on the paint where it attaches to the hatch.

I'm thinking about building an interior one using the fork attachment piece (can't think of the correct name for it)and attaching to a 2x4 bolted down to the floor using the interior attachment points alreay in place. With that piece attached to it.

Then just removing the front wheel and attach the bike to it via the fork mount.

 

[BikinCO]

I have used all types over the past 20 years. I used a 2x4 mount on the inside of my Disco and my F250. It works well and is the most secure but it takes up a lot of room. I am currently using a hitch mount Thule T2, which I like a lot. I have not used it on my Jeep yet, as I just put the receiver on it. I have used it on my F250 and Honda Odyssey. I swings down enough to lower the tailgate on my truck and to raise the hatch on the van.

 

[Christophe Noel]

Racks like the Thule T2 are probably the most useful system if they fit your rig. Many vehicles have spare tire issues that make many hitch racks tough. I always prefer to roof carry my bikes, but the obvious challenge there is the occassional tree or Mr. Burger in rural Colorado with the low drive through....just saying...

A roof system is ideal for longer trips. A hitch system is often best for short hops to the trailhead.

 

[IntrepidXJ]

I have a carrier that mounts to my rear tire carrier. Slides on and off very easily/quickly. It also keep the bike up high to help keep it out of danger when exploring the backroads.

 

[Corey]

When I had my '90 Toyota Extracab I carried them inside the bed under the canopy with a fork mount thing mounted to a railroad tie, no lie
It worked great.

Then when the kids got older I put them all on top using Yakima Lockjaws.
Those were nice as you did not have to remove the front tires.

I used that setup on the roof too when I got my '91 4Runner.

I just picked up a new Specialized Rockhopper Pro a few weeks back, and a roof mount is out since I have a roof top tent.
The shop suggested a very rugged Thule T2 hitch mounted rack that can take the abuse of off roading very well.

Here are some pics the day I picked up the bike.

At the position it is in my rear door will not open, but you pull a pin and the rack will slide down to the ground.
Not shown (no pic) is you can swing the rack up flush with the rear door when not using the rack.
It is very heavy duty, and fully adjustable.
Not a cheap rack, I think I paid $325 with 10% off buying the bike.
http://centercycle.com/itemdetails.cfm?libid=52512
http://www.thuleracks.com/product.asp?dept_id=8&sku=916

More images here including it folded up.
http://www.etrailer.com/p-TH916.htm

The guy who sold me the bike at the shop had an older one made by someone else, then Thule got the rights to it to build it.
Thule's version is much lighter and less prone to rust like his was.
His had rust on it, the Thule has much more alloy in it than heavier steel like his.

Great rack though, I really like it.

PS, it does indeed just clear my 285x70x17 spare tire too.
Nothing from the rack hits the tire at all.
The shop was pretty surprised, and they said it mates very well with my factory hitch.
They thought I might have to have an extension welded on to clear the tire, but it worked out perfectly.

 

[Silver dude]

Yakima hitch rack

Roof rack is to tall for trees on Midwest expeditions.

Inside the cab is nice but, I have to break the bike down and it takes a large volume of interior space.

My plan is that once I fab a tire carrier I will fab it with a 2" hitch in the center bore of the wheel. I would them create a loop to hold the bikes that fits in the hitch. In the off time I would get one of those light up hitch covers to use as a third brake light.

 

[TCM]

I only carry bikes on the roof. My current setup is a Yakima fork block bolted to the floor of my roof Rack, not the typical fork block that clamps to Yakima or Thule style bars. I also use a wheel fork for the front wheel which resides right along side the bike. Nothing else is as secure and rattle free as the good old fork mount. The bike is never damaged and neither is the vehicle. In my experience this cannot be said for the various hitch, trunk and spare tire mounts. Plus I am intolerant of having to move the bikes out of the way to access rear cargo as is required by many of the "off the back" style mounts. The down side of a roof carry is wind resistance resulting in lower fuel economy and increased clearance height. That said, I very rarely need to remove the bikes to get under a low hanging branch in my usual stopping grounds of Colorado and Utah, maybe once every 5 trips or so.

 

[ttora4runner]

Thanks for the replies guys.

For those with the bike's on the roof rack, how hard is it to get bike up on top? I've seen a step that goes on the tire to help put the bike up there does anyone use that? Have you notice any increased drag or reduction in mpg?

I know when I had a Thule roof rack on my camry it reduced the mpg some.

The hitch version is a consideration.

My old setup on my camry:

 

[FurthurOnTheFly]

Certainly not trying to freak anyone out here, but Corey you might want to take a good look at your new rack. There is a thread on the mountain bike forums about a local AZ guy who had a failure with this rack (and not the first) and ended up totally losing his bike as it came flying off on the highway. Probably lucky no one was killed!!

This is the part in question:

And here is a picture of the failure:

This pic is NOT from his car, so obviously this has been some kind of issue with this design, not just his rack.

We are looking into getting a rack that we can share between the two trucks and right now we are leaning towards this: http://www.thuleracks.com/product.asp?dept_id=8&sku=912

 

[Corey]

Thanks Heidi.
That was the old company Sportworks.
My sales guy had that one on his Scion toaster car.
His was about four years old and plenty of rust.

Thule bought the rights to copy it from what I was told, and mine uses more alloy than steel.

Hopefully Thule has that problem worked out since the rack is redesigned from that older Sportsworks model.

Do you have a link to the thread on that forum?
__________
Edit
Looks like Thule bought out Sportworks too.
http://www.mtbr.com/cat/accessories/bike-rack/sportworks/transport-t2/PRD_364974_98crx.aspx
The review is mixed as it contains reviews for both the discontinued Sportworks Transport T2, and the redesigned Thule T2 like I have.

Most reviews look very positive though.

And here are reviews to the actual Thule T2 after buying out Sportsworks and redesigning the rack.
http://www.mtbr.com/cat/accessories/bike-rack/thule/t2/PRD_416010_98crx.aspx

 

[crawldit]

I'm a member of that forum and read the same thread the other day. Here's a link http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=531427

 

[Corey]

Member there too, I am Corey52, just joined a week back.

Yes, that rack is not the Thule like I have, but the older Sportworks one.
But AZ who posted did have the Thule.

I am going to look into how to beef mine up in that area.
Do not want my brand new Rockhopper Pro doing an imitation of a shuttle launch.

 

[FurthurOnTheFly]

Member there too, I am Corey52, just joined a week back.

Yes, that rack is not the Thule like I have, but the older Sportworks one.
But AZ who posted did have the Thule.

I am going to look into how to beef mine up in that area.
Do not want my brand new Rockhopper Pro doing an imitation of a shuttle launch.

Ya I was going to say the guy who had the recent failure was a Thule. Hopefully its just a fluke, but its enough to make me nervous!!

 

[Howard70]

On the Roof!

As long as I remember to avoid low branches, I prefer carrying bikes up out of harms way....although it doesn't do much for fuel efficency!

Howard Snell

 

[77blazerchalet]

Cheapo Thule generic for hatchbacks. Works great after using two bits of packaging tape to secure the lower hooks to the hatch. (1977-era Raleigh 5-speed, needs a couple of lower gears...)