Overland Bike Rack Options?

[calicamper]

This is what I did for my old rig...
They swing out of the way and are high enough from the ground...
although a bit high it is not that hard to put them up there..

I like this set up. I recently saw a FWC camper with a Mt bike racked like that on the back. Nice clean set up no low hanging branches to worry about and its up high enough to avoid getting backed into in a parking lot etc. Agreed it seems to be a good way to go if you have the set up that allows for it.

 

[amo292]

These are some great looking systems, I'm jealous. Thanks for the pictures. I visited my local bike shop and checked out a few options today. The mechanic had a Kuat rack on his 4runner and that was a great looking system. To bad it was so expensive and wouldn't work with my tailgate. I actually just found some Thule big mouth systems on craigslist so Im going to grab them and give them a shot on Friday. The hight and negative views worries me but the price was to good to be true. Plus they come with 58" bars to make my rack finally match.

Thank you FlagRS for the tip! Those look excellent and I think it will work out really well. They even drop down far enough to access the tailgate! If these Thule big mouth racks don't satisfy me completely thats what I am going to go with.

 

[calicamper]

These are some great looking systems, I'm jealous. Thanks for the pictures. I visited my local bike shop and checked out a few options today. The mechanic had a Kuat rack on his 4runner and that was a great looking system. To bad it was so expensive and wouldn't work with my tailgate. I actually just found some Thule big mouth systems on craigslist so Im going to grab them and give them a shot on Friday. The hight and negative views worries me but the price was to good to be true. Plus they come with 58" bars to make my rack finally match.

Thank you FlagRS for the tip! Those look excellent and I think it will work out really well. They even drop down far enough to access the tailgate! If these Thule big mouth racks don't satisfy me completely thats what I am going to go with.

Kuat is just too much money for my tastes. Far plenty other decent options out there I'd rather spend the money on my bike or riding gear LOL

 

[upcruiser]

Every mounting possibility has its own issues. I have mounted to the back of my old Discovery, hanging vertically off the back of the basket similar to the 60 above. While it wasn't up in the wind and catching branches, dirt, dust, and mud completely ruined my drivetrain over the course of a 2 month trip, and I am pretty anal about keeping my bike clean. As mentioned earlier, fork mounts on the roof feel the most secure to me but in the summer, they become plastered with bugs and catch the wind. The hitch mounts are easiest to use but compromise your departure angle, and if this is your sole way to carry your bikes, and you bust your rack on a rock ledge or something out in the middle of nowhere, it isn't fun to have to figure a way to get them back. By far the best way to haul bikes is inside the rig out of the weather. Even if you are building a sleep platform in your Tundra, you can always design it to hinge in the middle so you can haul bikes on one side in the bed, then flip it over if you need to sleep more than one person. I am planning to do something similar in a Suburban we just picked up behind the second row of seats. I am totally over dealing with the abuse of keeping my bikes outside the rig.

 

[rayra]

That exterior rear stowage trail dirt problem was solved a long time ago -

Only half in jest. A gear bag for bikes which fits over two bikes and has built-in compression straps for bundling everythign up and keeping it from billowing or flapping around wouldn't be that hard to make. And look fairly decent. Use an expanding side panel much like leather briefcase / satchels, cinched with snap buckles that are integral with the ends of the larger compression straps.

Make it something akin to those spare tire big garbage bags that are so fashionable. Couple big zippers and out comes your pristine bike.

But it seems kind of silly to worry about dirt getting on something when you are playing in the dirt.

 

[upcruiser]

That exterior rear stowage trail dirt problem was solved a long time ago -

Only half in jest. A gear bag for bikes which fits over two bikes and has built-in compression straps for bundling everythign up and keeping it from billowing or flapping around wouldn't be that hard to make. And look fairly decent. Use an expanding side panel much like leather briefcase / satchels, cinched with snap buckles that are integral with the ends of the larger compression straps.

Make it something akin to those spare tire big garbage bags that are so fashionable. Couple big zippers and out comes your pristine bike.

But it seems kind of silly to worry about dirt getting on something when you are playing in the dirt.

Thats a pretty good idea. Well getting it dirty riding it is one thing, but traveling with the bike out in the elements for an extended period sucks. I usually have my bikes inside somehow in the crappy weather but this particular trip where I had the bike on the back of the Disco saw it hanging out in snow, rain, mud, dust, absolutely terrible weather and I had to rebuild the bike afterwards as the components were screwed, even my headset took a beating. I think the nail in the coffin was this muddy traverse of Wyoming towards the end where we took dirt west to east mostly and the routes where just complete mud. Was fun, but a total bummer for my bike.

 

[MANUCHAO]

upcruiser, you bring up a valid point.
This has happened to me only once, but boy did it do a mess on my bike, and the rig for that matter...!!

This was at Prudhoe Bay in AK some time at the end of June, 2009
Got cought on a snow storm while going through Atigun pass.
It started with rain, snow, rain....... by the time we made it to Prudhoe Bay it was 22F.
The mud was frozen solid and all components had to be replaced....

However, this was a one time incident.
But this made me not want to have a hitch rack any more..at least not for my overland adventures....
On inclement weather, I usually cover the chain and shifter on my bike with plastic and duct tape...
That's pretty much solve the problem...
On my upright set up, most of the weight is on the rear tire.
The fork is just to secure the bike....
To the OP you should try different set ups, and see what works for you.
I agree that inside is the best place for storage (out of sight, out of mind).
Real state IN my old rig is expensive.

Frank

 

[goodtimes]

I have an 8' long four-wheel camper on a short bed truck - so my options are pretty limited.

I ended up with a hitch rack mounted on the front of the truck. It does create a visibility issue, which was simple enough to fix - I mount one bike "backwards" so they are both pointed to the passenger side, then I pull the seats off of both bikes & stow them under the back seat in the truck.

 

[rayra]

That is a fine idea. Used to see RVs with front-mount bike racks, as well as city buses. Solves most of the road mess problem. So would a small whisk broom and a can of chain lube. Still not getting how some muck 'ruins' components. You do a little spot cleaning and preventative maintenance and you are good to go. Heavens to Betsy, how did I ever ride muddy motocross bikes and ATCs.

 

[MANUCHAO]

For me it was not the muck that messed up the bike components, but the stuff that is put on these roads to deal with ice during the winter.
By the time I got back home ('bout a month later) the chain was rusty and looked like a 50 year old worn piece of metal, so were the shifter cables..

In Co. They don't use salt in the winters, but some other stuff to keep the ice from forming. In the summer they also use something to keep the dust down on dirt roads.. roads look wet, but that stuff makes the dirt stick to your vehicle/bikes like tar.....

I learned to cover the shifters and take the chain off.......... easy peasy.....

 

[upcruiser]

For me it was not the muck that messed up the bike components, but the stuff that is put on these roads to deal with ice during the winter.
By the time I got back home ('bout a month later) the chain was rusty and looked like a 50 year old worn piece of metal, so were the shifter cables..

In Co. They don't use salt in the winters, but some other stuff to keep the ice from forming. In the summer they also use something to keep the dust down on dirt roads.. roads look wet, but that stuff makes the dirt stick to your vehicle/bikes like tar.....

I learned to cover the shifters and take the chain off.......... easy peasy.....

Yeah the mag chloride in CO is worse than salt. Made a mess of my FJ's wheels too. Nasty stuff.

 

[upcruiser]

That is a fine idea. Used to see RVs with front-mount bike racks, as well as city buses. Solves most of the road mess problem. So would a small whisk broom and a can of chain lube. Still not getting how some muck 'ruins' components. You do a little spot cleaning and preventative maintenance and you are good to go. Heavens to Betsy, how did I ever ride muddy motocross bikes and ATCs.

Oh trust me, I tried hard to keep it clean. Again, not an issue of a little bit of dirt, lol. Expensive bike components don't take constant moisture and dirt without issues with the mechanisms. I raced motocross, a motorcycle's components are less affected by being out in the weather than a bicycle's components. I am not saying don't haul your bikes on back of your truck, just pointing out potential issues from my experience. I have been mountain biking and toting the things around since '86 so I like to think I have a little bit of real world experience to share. I personally don't care what people do, but if we are here to discuss all the plusses and minuses of setups, it is good food for thought. It was one of the deciding factors for us in our most recent vehicle choice.

 

[mancub920]

Wire-spoke wheel brushes for cars work best, with natural fibers. The dirt/grime/grease simply doesn't stick to the brush like a nylon or plastic bristled brush. Just a pro-cycling pro-tip

 

[rayra]

I've used the stiff-bristle shoe-shine brushes before, but that got old fast. Coin op car washes became the norm. Blasted most of that off whenever I could. And the only other way was bag up whatever you didn't want totally polluted. IT was true off-roading and motocross, and true in desert convoys in the Marines. Everything gets turned into a powdered donut, much like that pic above.

 

[amo292]

The salt was a concern for me but then I remembered, I can't ride in the winter so the bike wouldn't be back there. That is unless I could swing a fat bike in the future. Up here in New England a couple feet of snow means your mostly snowshoeing not riding. The dust and mud worries me some but I can't really see it being a problem. As others have pointed out above a little preventative maintenance can go a long way.

One thought that I did just have tho was how I get charged extra in boat fares going home and to and from work for extra length... I may need to reconsider the hitch rack option for everyday use in the summer.