Hitch Mounted Bike Haulers

[MotoMan]

Originally Posted by Woody_393

Looks good man! Let us know how it works when you get back.

For sure let us know!!

[VET393]

Can you give specs for this. Can you tow something esle with this attached?
I would like to get one. But I need the spec sheet if possible.

[Keetoman393]

I had one before buying my trailer and I just wanted to say, be careful. these put a lot of weight on the rear of the vehicle so it will handle differently. It made things very uneasy feeling when I had my XTerra. My Tundra doesn't know it's back there but lighter vehicles, beware.

[t miller]

hope toyota made the trip

[Orido]

Well I had my bike on my 3rd gen 4runner on one of those carriers all day yesterday and was very surprised how well it held up. Very sturdy little toy, rock's a little when you hit speed bumps unevenly, but other than that, very convenient! Mine only cost me 150 bucks used, very happy with it.

[VAL]

I bought one last night. Thanks for the contact.


Edit 9:56 am

Crud! I just realized that I am going to have to modify it. I will be using it on my Ridgeline when I have two other bikes in back, this means the tail gate will be down. Dooooooh I will have to extend the part that goes in the receiver and gusset the begeebers out of it. Man, I was so happy last night, not having to rent a trailer every time my son brings a friend. Oh well, jerry rigging is my middle name.

[dellaquila]

Well I made the trip with no incidents whatsoever. Even though the tightening bracket was crooked like you saw in the pictures, it never loosened up in the 800+ miles from st louis to nashville to pa and then the 700 from pa back to st louis. I really didn't notice it was back there at all, even with my raptor in the bed of the truck, except for the loss of power of course. I have a 3" suspension lift on my tacoma though and it has some pretty stiff leaf springs, not sure how the stock springs would hold up. i have lots of pictures of it all loaded down at home, i'll post them up tonight. i usually have a hard toneau cover on my truck and get 18-19 mpg (i check every tank and have a spreadsheet, don't laugh). with the 400ish pound fourwheeler and 220ish YZ off the back, i still managed to get 14 at the worst and 16 at the best through 5 1/2 tanks of gas during the trip. my average on the way from here to nashville was 77 mph, nashville to pa was 76, and pa back to st was 72 mph (no rush to come back to work), so it really didn't slow me down at all, just cost me a little more in gas. so yeah, it was definitely well worth the $199 I paid the the half hour it took to assemble it. i locked the hauler to my truck's hitch and then put a lock through the front tire rod, which you'll see in the pictures. i'm really happy with it since i can haul both toys with my little truck now and still get decent gas mileage. pics to follow......

[Woody_393]

That's awesome! Can't wait to see the pictures.

I can guarantee you would not have gotten that well with a trailer in tow.

[Orido]

here are some of mine

[dellaquila]

here are the pics

[Woody_393]

Looks great.

[VAL]

Your stuff is tooooooooooo clean!

[dellaquila]

Originally Posted by VAL

Your stuff is tooooooooooo clean!

Not anymore! I did clean the bike up a little today so I could swap master cylinders and replace the float drain o-ring, but it'll get muddy again tomorrow hopefully!

[cowboyona426]

Originally Posted by dellaquila

i usually have a hard toneau cover on my truck and get 18-19 mpg (i check every tank and have a spreadsheet, don't laugh). with the 400ish pound fourwheeler and 220ish YZ off the back, i still managed to get 14 at the worst and 16 at the best through 5 1/2 tanks of gas during the trip.

That's about the same mpg I get with my F250 Powerstroke Looks like a nice hauler, but I'm curious why the tightening bracket was crooked compared to your hitch?

[DRGSin393]

Jimbo...did you end up getting one of these?

[dellaquila]

Originally Posted by cowboyona426

That's about the same mpg I get with my F250 Powerstroke Looks like a nice hauler, but I'm curious why the tightening bracket was crooked compared to your hitch?

the tightening bracket isn't deep enough to fit over the lip on the hitch like is intended, so when i tighten the bolts it wants to slide off the hitch. luckily for me it catches and starts to torque down before it pops off completely, so it still does what it's supposed to, just not the right way. if i take a drill and make some indentations where the bolts hit the hitch i think it'll solve that problem.

[MotoMan]

Originally Posted by DRGSin393

Jimbo...did you end up getting one of these?

No not yet, but I probably will, I would just love to be able to go riding and take the pacifica.

[yamrider31]

Originally Posted by dellaquila

well i got my hitch hauler in the mail today and assemled/installed it tonight. i haven't loaded the bike yet since i'm not leaving until tomorrow, but i think it's going to work very well for what i wanted. it seems to be built really well, everything lined up perfectly... the only thing i'm not a fan of is the tightening bracket since it doesn't work with my hitch very well. it's not deep enough for the bolts to clear the flange part of my hitch, you can see what i mean in the pictures. it's tight right now and seems solid, but i think with the weight of the bike adding torque it'll move the bolts and it'll be able to wiggle around. i'll let you know how it goes though. i may take a drill and make some indentions where the bolts hit so they can't move around when tightening them. here are some pictures of the parts and then my assembly/installation. there aren't directions, just some pictures, but it's a straightforward assemly if you just lay it all out and do it piece by piece.

the parts


starting to go together


closeup of the truss-like supports


the tightening bracket from below. you can see on the right side where the bolt started out when i was tightening, then it slowly moved under torque. that's where i might make some indentions to help keep them in place while i torque the bolts down if it doesn't work out this way.


you can see how far it sticks out in this one, it's about flush with my mirrors, so not too bad. the bike shouldn't be any wider than the hauler.


all installed and the ramp in place up front


i'm taking it to nashville tomorrow then 700ish miles to pa from there on sunday, so i'll let ya'll know how it holds up! trial by fire, my favorite kind.

I like

[VET393]

I have all my parts made just need to assemble. Maybe this weekend I will get welded up. I'll post pics when I do this.

[DRGSin393]

Originally Posted by VET393

I have all my parts made just need to assemble. Maybe this weekend I will get welded up. I'll post pics when I do this.

so you ended up making your own?? cool, cant wait to see it.

I ended up buying one but my problem is the tighteneing plate doesnt fit on my receiver. The receiver sits too close to the van's under body so theres no room on the top side for it to slide on. there is some play when the carrier is installed, can anyone tell me if that will that be a problem? if not, Ill leave it alone.

any solutions to my dilemma? Ive thought about drilling a hole on one side of the receiver and threading it in order to install a bolt which I would tighten down. give me a tooth and some dental tools and I can jerry rig with the best of them but when it comes to things like this...doh!!