Rugged Off-Road Hitch Rack

I seem to remember an Australian hitch mount bike rack that was super heavy duty and designed for off road use. It had a unique design that gave additional ground clearance. They had different models to account for spare tires and up to 4 bikes. Now I can't seem to find that thread or the company Anyone know what/who I'm talking about? They seem to be the best application for my truck.

Thanks.
 

chris_the_wrench

Fixer & Builder of Things
Not sure which one your referring to, but I have a Thule Revolver that I beat the crap out off and it's still working great. It swings away to the side with the bikes loaded giving nice access to my camper.

-Chris
 

ToolBox Guy

Adventurer
^^^^^^^ Sorry, did not add the quote from above.

When you get a chance, would you mind posting a couple of pictures with it set-up when your camper is mounted?

I have an odd combination of truck and camper, with the need to carry 4 bikes. Just trying to get as many ideas as possible. Thanks.
 

chris_the_wrench

Fixer & Builder of Things
Here's the best photos I have of it...

rack_closed.jpg


rack_open.jpg


But here's the link to the Thule website.

ProductImage.ashx

-Chris
 

olsen_karl

Adventurer
These are probably the most burly bike racks on the market: North Shore Racks --
http://northshoreracks.com/

Expensive though. And they won't hold road bike forks.

I have had a couple different hitch-mount racks. I prefer the ones that hold the bikes from the wheels, e.g., Thule T2. The ones that hang a bike from 2 parallel arms (like the one pictured above) don't work as well for full-suspension bikes; if you have road bikes or hardtail mountain bikes only, they're fine. And they're less expensive than the tray type racks.

I currently have a Kuat NV and a Swagman XTC4; the Swagman is a lot less expensive (around $250 shipped for a 4-bike rack), reasonably sturdy, but it does bounce around a bit on dirt roads. It lives on the camper fulltime, so I wanted something cheapish for that rack.
 

chris_the_wrench

Fixer & Builder of Things
I have had a couple different hitch-mount racks. I prefer the ones that hold the bikes from the wheels, e.g., Thule T2. The ones that hang a bike from 2 parallel arms (like the one pictured above) don't work as well for full-suspension bikes; if you have road bikes or hardtail mountain bikes only, they're fine. And they're less expensive than the tray type racks.


I use frame adapters for all my full suspension bikes, it's not the handiest but functions fine. My buddy morphed a Thule T2 and a Revolver together, and it came out pretty good. He has just used it for 2 bikes so far.

-Chris
 

Themightygoose

New member
I seem to remember an Australian hitch mount bike rack that was super heavy duty and designed for off road use. It had a unique design that gave additional ground clearance. They had different models to account for spare tires and up to 4 bikes. Now I can't seem to find that thread or the company Anyone know what/who I'm talking about? They seem to be the best application for my truck.

Thanks.

Here is an answer to your question. About 7 years late.....

http://www.isi-carriers.com
 

sumnrfam

Active member
Those ISI racks are fantastic. Here're a couple of shots from ours on our EarthCruiser that shows the departure angle potential. Extremely well made and ours reached New Mexico from Australia in 4 days!



clearance_2-X2.jpg


Howard,,, 2 questions ,, is that the 'mid-beam', or 'extended beam'?,, and tell us more about the bike cover please,, Thanks, Wade
 

Howard70

Adventurer
Howard,,, 2 questions ,, is that the 'mid-beam', or 'extended beam'?,, and tell us more about the bike cover please,, Thanks, Wade

Hello Wade:

We have three beams: 4x4x2 500/40 ["Mid Beam"?], 4x4x2 600/40 ["Extended Beam"?], and a 4x4x4 800/25 ["Extended Beam - 4 bikes"?]. In the photos above is the 4x42 600/40. Which beam we use depends on whether we're carrying bikes on a 2000 4Runner, 2004 Tacoma, or the EarthCruiser. The 4x4x4 800/25 is only used for three bikies or two fat bikes with 197mm rear spacing. In general I prefer the 4x4x2 600/40 over the 4x4x2 500/40 because it gets the bike(s) up higher and thus makes them less likely to suffer impacts in a parking lot from inattentive drivers or my careless backing (!). The higher placement also helps the departure angle away from the center of the vehicle (along the centerline the departure angle remains the same with either 40 degree beam).

We also have two different pivot bases: Compact High Profile and a Compact Straight Profile. If I was only mounting an ISIS rack on one vehicle at a time, I'd probably opt for the Compact High Profile as it gets the beam up a bit and thus helps with the departure angle of everything except for the receiver hitch. Sometimes we have racks mounted on the EarthCruiser and one of the other trucks simultaneously, thus I purchased the Straight Profile base to have more options.

The cover is a Cuckoo Cover. It's great for paved highways or short sections of dusty dirt tracks. On long dusty tracks the stretchy "lycra" material passes and traps enough dust that the bike may actually be dirtier than if it made the trip uncovered. The material won't stand up to mesquite, ocotillo, or cats claw. If the bike is well centered on the EarthCruiser that isn't a problem because most brush slides along the house and then misses the covered bike. If the bike is very close or extends beyond one side of the house the material will snag when brush slides past. It's as good as any cover I've encountered, better than some, but not exactly what I'd hoped. I wanted to close the bike up, drive 70 miles of bull dust, remove the cover and have a shiny, clean chain. That doesn't happen. I'm not sure I'd by another Cuckoo Cover - they are pretty pricey.

Howard L. Snell
 

Co-opski

Expedition Leader
Fantastic review of the Cuckoo cover Howard. That should almost be a different thread with the information on the abilities of the covers. I need them for protection of road grime and salt in the winter months.

I still am on the hunt for a good tray rack that swings away from the side, my camper has a rear door and most racks are very inconvenient.
 

Howard70

Adventurer
I still am on the hunt for a good tray rack that swings away from the side, my camper has a rear door and most racks are very inconvenient.

That may be hard to find. Is the camper door centered above the receiver? If the door is to one side or another, the ISI might work. First they pivot down to give access to tailgates, etc. But you have to lean or step over the bike which is effectively lying on it's side. Second - with one of the longer beams and an extended pivot base there can be reasonable space between the front of the mounted bike and the rear of the vehicle. The images in my previous post don't illustrate this (we've reconfigured our placement since they were recorded) but we're able to open the rear Aluminess storage box, place or remove stuff, etc. with the bike mounted (not pivoted down). We moved the box starboard as it's hinge is on port - now the opening of the box is accessible (we moved the spare tire to port). If your door is to one side or the other and it's hinge is inboard then you could open the door and possibly squeeze in. Due to the sharp angle of the ISI beams, moving the bike aft doesn't necessarily reduce your departure angle. If you measure the distance you'd need to get your door open and enter the camper, you could email ISI and see if they have a combination of beams and pivot bases that would work.

Howard
 

sumnrfam

Active member
Hello Wade:

We have three beams: 4x4x2 500/40 ["Mid Beam"?], 4x4x2 600/40 ["Extended Beam"?], and a 4x4x4 800/25 ["Extended Beam - 4 bikes"?]. In the photos above is the 4x42 600/40. Which beam we use depends on whether we're carrying bikes on a 2000 4Runner, 2004 Tacoma, or the EarthCruiser. The 4x4x4 800/25 is only used for three bikies or two fat bikes with 197mm rear spacing. In general I prefer the 4x4x2 600/40 over the 4x4x2 500/40 because it gets the bike(s) up higher and thus makes them less likely to suffer impacts in a parking lot from inattentive drivers or my careless backing (!). The higher placement also helps the departure angle away from the center of the vehicle (along the centerline the departure angle remains the same with either 40 degree beam).

We also have two different pivot bases: Compact High Profile and a Compact Straight Profile. If I was only mounting an ISIS rack on one vehicle at a time, I'd probably opt for the Compact High Profile as it gets the beam up a bit and thus helps with the departure angle of everything except for the receiver hitch. Sometimes we have racks mounted on the EarthCruiser and one of the other trucks simultaneously, thus I purchased the Straight Profile base to have more options.

The cover is a Cuckoo Cover. It's great for paved highways or short sections of dusty dirt tracks. On long dusty tracks the stretchy "lycra" material passes and traps enough dust that the bike may actually be dirtier than if it made the trip uncovered. The material won't stand up to mesquite, ocotillo, or cats claw. If the bike is well centered on the EarthCruiser that isn't a problem because most brush slides along the house and then misses the covered bike. If the bike is very close or extends beyond one side of the house the material will snag when brush slides past. It's as good as any cover I've encountered, better than some, but not exactly what I'd hoped. I wanted to close the bike up, drive 70 miles of bull dust, remove the cover and have a shiny, clean chain. That doesn't happen. I'm not sure I'd by another Cuckoo Cover - they are pretty pricey.

Howard L. Snell


Great info,, Thanks Howard ! much appreciated,

Wade
 

waveslider

Outdoorsman
In my search for a decent rack for our new truck, I came across the 1up Super Duty Rack. This is definitely going to fit the bill for us. Wade, I noticed a rather nifty "swing away" accessory on their website that might serve your needs.

Our application is slightly different than Howard's since our spare is centered on the back wall and has a hitch receiver mounted in the middle of it specifically to carry bikes. I will just need to have a "drop hitch" fabricated to lower it slightly.

Here is the link to the swing away accessory.

I like that bike cover Howard.


 

Howard70

Adventurer
I like that bike cover Howard.

It possibly looks better than it works for dusty, dirty tracks. During the last year we've completely abandoned covers and solved the "dirty bike" issues by moving ours to the front of the EarthCruiser. We'd seen Allan Anderson's set up carrying their bikes on the front of Fido & decided to give it a try. We'll never go back. The bikes ride better, get almost no dust or dirt on long stretches (100+ miles) off-pavement and we can see how they are doing at all times. I'm not sure it would work on a traditional truck with a hood, but who wants one of those anyway? :) There is less effect on approach angle than there was on departure angle, the bikes are out of our line of sight, etc. The disadvantages are:

1. Remove bikes and carrier to use front winch or tip cab. No big deal as we leave the bikes on the rack, pull the receiver "pin" (actually a 5/8" bolt), and slide the rack with bikes off and place them to the side. Takes 5 minutes.

2. Bikes diminish the output of the headlights as the light passes though the spokes & by the rims/tires. Again, not a big deal for us as we mounted driving lights on the rack that provide clear light with same pattern as headlights and we have the carrier set up so that we can move it to the rear receiver in 5 minutes (no adjustments required, just slide it off the front and slide it in the rear) in case we're told by a law enforcement officer that the bikes aren't allowed on the front. We anticipated this, but it hasn't happened in several months and 5,000 miles (NM, AZ, NV, CA, OR).

2nd_Day_PTII.jpg

We still use the ISI Carrier (the shortest beam with a 40º angle) and mount it to the winch bumper via a front receiver developed by EarthCruiser. While it took a lot of futzing to get the correct pieces together for a snug, tight fit we're happy with the switch.

Howard
 

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