Carrying a medium sized bike

[dzzz]

Many people have back surgery from slipping in the bath.

 

[whatcharterboat]

There is a company here called Hitchmate.com.au

They do fairly standard type racks that plug into a 2" reciever. The offroad / heavy duty rack utilizes 3 recievers. It's not shown on the website but they have an optional removable winch arm that clips into the end of the rack and pulls the bike up the ramp. Really simple and easy.

 

[spencyg]

Many people have back surgery from slipping in the bath.

This comment just killed some of my brain cells...

 

[4x4 explorer]

Harbor Frieght which I usually don't buy from has a pick-up truck crane that's very heavy duty and sells for less than $100. It comes with a hoist arm that has a hand winch and hydralic cylinder. That whole set up slips over a steel tube that allows it to rotate 360 degrees. I ditched the hand winch and replaced it with an electric version. I cut off the top 24" of the base tube that the crane arm rotates on and welded it inside the 3/16" steel tubing exhaust stack. I made a sleeve out of the exhaust stack tubing that covers the crane base when it's not being used. You need to pay particular attention to how you mount the exhaust stack to the side of the truck. I fabricated threaded plates using weld nuts on the back side. Holes corresponding to the weld nut positions were drilled into the truck side panel allowing the plate to sit flush on the panel. The plates were then welded to the panel. I've had the tire which weights almost as much as a motorcycle up and down several times and the set up works good. I've attached a picture of the truck. If there is more interest I'll take some close up pictures and post.

 

[jesusgatos]

VERY cool.