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