Bike rack durable enough for overland travel?

[Tom B]

I put a RTT up top and need to find a new place for the bikes on my 100 series LC. Preferably a robust tire mounted carrier.

Lately I've been packing the bike inside, but I would like to find an external solution for the obvious reasons. I have a Slee swing-away tire carrier (35" spare) that makes it difficult to use my old hitch mounted carrier. The hitch carrier swings out in the same direction as the Slee, making it impossible to open the rear with it on, and I would need to get a receiver extension to permit this bike carrier to clear the tire carrier. In addition, even if I were to find a new hitch mounted bike carrier that swings out to the left, I am concerned about the durability of these models over the long haul. Plus, there's the dramatically decreased departure angle.

Does anyone have experience with a bike carrier I could mount to the center of my spare that is durable enough for overland travel? I'm guessing I'll have to fab a special bracket up for my Slee carrier, but that's okay if the carrier will work.

 

[Topmounter]

I'm sort of wondering the same thing. I haven't put a bumper w/ rear tire carrier on my LC yet however.

I'm not a fan of the rear racks where the bikes hang by the top-tube, so I'm wondering if the Thule 916 T2 - 2 would leave enough space for the spare tire. I know the rack is plenty sturdy as far as bike racks go. I guess worst case, you could run the 2 bike add-on to space things out a bit and if you needed to put 4 bikes on it, stick the spare inside or back underneath (if you haven't stuck an aux tank under there). I'm also curious what that Thule does to the departure angle with the higher-than-stock receiver on the Slee rear bumper. I can't imagine you would want to do any serious wheeling with the rack on the back.

I always prefer sticking the bikes inside, but for multi-day trips that isn't always feasible and I'm done with the PIA of putting bikes on the top. I have a Yakima box on top right now, but I'm considering going with a RTT.

 

[jatibb]

ive thought about mounting a reese hitch adapter (1-1/4" to 2") on a plate that would bolt behind the spare in the hub area. then you could use a hitch mounted rack. up high and stable. any welder (or you) could weld a plate to the end of the adapter.

 

[ntsqd]

The man that invented the "Cool Tool" and originated the Retrotec frames used to hang his bikes off the rear of his tour bus. He used 'Bike Tight' type fork drop-out clamps and only the front wheels & tires went inside the bus. I don't think he ever had any straps for the rear tires.

On an LC it just might be possible to do something similar off the rear of the rack. Though I would figure out some method of keeping the rear tire(s) in place.

 

[Topmounter]

The man that invented the "Cool Tool" and originated the Retrotec frames used to hang his bikes off the rear of his tour bus. He used 'Bike Tight' type fork drop-out clamps and only the front wheels & tires went inside the bus. I don't think he ever had any straps for the rear tires.

On an LC it just might be possible to do something similar off the rear of the rack. Though I would figure out some method of keeping the rear tire(s) in place.

Oh wow, I was just remembering that Retrotec rig from back in the day when I still worked at a bike shop. Not sure it was the same vehicle, but I remember someone from Retrotec stopping by and having the bikes hanging off the back vertically.

I think the rear spoiler mounting holes should be strong enough to support a custom bracket with a couple bike tights mounted to it. You'd need mount some sort of wheel trays to the bumper to hold the rear wheels. I wouldn't trust the factory plastic spoiler to be strong enough, but you could make something similar in metal.

The biggest disadvantage I can see is losing all access to the rear hatch as long as the bikes are mounted, but I guess with the receiver bike rack you're going to have the same issue since you won't be able to swing the spare tire carrier out to access at least the upper hatch.

I saw an FJC today with the Thule receiver rack on it and there is plenty of room for the rear mounted spare tire.

 

[Tom B]

Thanks for the ideas guys. I'm going to explore some of them and see what I can come up with. I'm installing a Milford cargo barrier in a few weeks, so I'll be forced to come up with a solution if I want to keep riding and camping with the LC.

 

[T.Low]

Have the Yakima version of that Thule

I've got the Yakima version of that Thule system. It seems plenty strong. I need to make a rear bumper that swings a tire mount to the driver side, and has a receiver holding the bike mount that will swing the entire bike rack to the passenger side so I can access my rear doors.

The first picture shows the bumper still has plenty of clearence as the back of the bike carrier scrapes just enough to make some noise. I have a "Hidden Hitch, with the reciever mounted just tihgt under the bumper. (Van has 4-5 inch spring lift in rear).

This trip was 100 miles off pavement from Winthrop Washington to Chelan wa. (I rode the last 25 miles while she drove the van ahead to get pizza!) Bikes get dusty as hell back there. Bring brushes and lube for drive train.





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