Two Inch Hitch-Mount Bike Rack Receiver

[TimD]

Our 2021 OEII came with a 2" hitch mount rack receiver but the installation was (in my view and with respect to a lot of other good work done by the prior owner of our trailer) not quite up to 'factory standard'.  In fact the U-bolt-based attachment method distorted the receiver shape just enough to make installation, and especially removal, of our 1Up hitch rack next to impossible.   So I sought to improve upon it.

After some research I settled on a receiver ostensibly designed for use on certain Lexus GX460 models:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BRKR1Q4X

Drilling and attachment was straightforward given a drill press, a decent 1/2" bit, appropriate measuring tools, and a center punch.  The aluminum is relatively soft and drilling oil was not used.  I have not been able to get all the chips out of the interior, but did not try too hard to remove an end cap and access the box section beam interior that way.  The hardware is 3 1/2" x 1/2" stainless with stainless and yellow zinc washers.

We have not tested the setup on the road yet, but static fitment went fine.   The receiver and backing plate are fairly heavy; according to the retailer, about 10 pounds.  This item is designed for towing, when attached to a GX460; it is likely overkill for this application, but that's OK by me.   A side benefit is the receiver has safety chain mounts through which a cable lock could be passed.

I discussed this with Jason and he indicated the factory were considering offering a 2" receiver option moving forward.  Our bike rack is 2", our cars and TV have 2" receivers, and use of an adapter was not appealing to me.  

In hindsight I might have painted it white, or silver 😀

Enjoy!
Tim

Edited March 27 by TimD

[Ronbrink]

Most receivers I’ve seen are mounted on top, seems the bottom-mount (shown in the first pic) would impede opening of the rear compartment. The hitch and backing plate look very solid; the chain holes may prove useful, but a locking hitch pin will serve the same purpose. Nice mod!

[TimD]

As mounted the rear compartment / bumper clears the back of the receiver by about 1".  😀   The receiver has a raised surround about 3/16" high, so I positioned the receiver far enough aft so that the raised portion is not atop the beam.  It would be possible to move the receiver forward, but not by much, in which case it might or might not interfere with the rear compartment / bumper swing.

Thanks!
Tim

 

[Ronbrink]

On 3/27/2024 at 3:27 PM, TimD said:

A side benefit is the receiver has safety chain mounts through which a cable lock could be passed.

I see now where the holes can serve in securing the bikes with cables or even chain. Please post a pic of your setup with the rack and bikes mounted, thanks.

[TimD]

I will get to that next time we have the rack on the trailer.  Might be a while.

Thanks
Tim

 

[TimD]

Following up now.  No bikes, obviously.

Tim

 

[Wayne and Karen]

Tim,

I have been looking for some time to install a 2 inch hitch receiver on the back of my trailer and the modification you have done is exactly what I was looking for. I have a welder/fabricator that is ready to do my install in the next few weeks.

Can you tell me the dimensions of the aluminum that you used for this modification and how thick it is? Assuming the thickness is only around 3 inches if you were using 3.5 inch bolts but wanted to confirm.

 Thanks 

Wayne 

[MAX Burner]

On 3/28/2024 at 5:35 AM, Ronbrink said:

Most receivers I’ve seen are mounted on top, seems the bottom-mount (shown in the first pic) would impede opening of the rear compartment.

Excellent point, brother!  I'm thinking why not turn the OEM crossbar upside down so the receiver is on the bottom - that way one could access the spare w/o taking apart the rear assy.  But then the bumper may not clear the receiver - need to look into this.

[ZLarryb]

Just a big thank you to Tim D for this mod. I installed it today, no issues and there is more than enough clearance to get to the sewer hoses.  I have a short trip this week before we head out for five weeks and will try it out.  Thanks!

[Minnesota Oli]

On 5/10/2024 at 9:31 PM, MAX Burner said:

Excellent point, brother!  I'm thinking why not turn the OEM crossbar upside down so the receiver is on the bottom - that way one could access the spare w/o taking apart the rear assy.  But then the bumper may not clear the receiver - need to look into this.

This does work as far as bumper clearing the receiver and now you have easy access to the spare.

 

 

Edited June 21 by Minnesota Oli
add 2nd pic

[mossemi]

@Minnesota Oli

I don’t remember you mentioning the license plate hold open stick mod.  Care to elaborate?🙈🙉🙊  Hope you are not affected too severely by the high water and dam trouble in your area.  Our prayers are with y’all!

Mossey

[MAX Burner]

2 hours ago, mossemi said:

I don’t remember you mentioning the license plate hold open stick mod.  

According to Jason E., that's another premium one-off upgrade offered to owners by invitation only - not a cheap date, I've been told.  Similar to OTT's handling of the one-off upgrade offered to increase the height in @Patriot's rain locker!

[Minnesota Oli]

4 hours ago, mossemi said:

@Minnesota Oli

I don’t remember you mentioning the license plate hold open stick mod.  Care to elaborate?🙈🙉🙊  Hope you are not affected too severely by the high water and dam trouble in your area.  Our prayers are with y’all!

Mossey

The  license plate mod was one of those that I wanted to keep for myself but I guess it's out in the open now.

 We had a total of 12" in two days, I live on 13 acres of land that you would call river bottom. Over the years that I have lived here I have built a half dozen water structures that deal with the large watershed that comes my way. My land is very soggy but no wash outs, thank God. Rapidan Dam is not that far from me it's on the Blue Earth River, so far it is still holding but a huge mess.  I have the Lesueur River going right by my property and it has crested today. There are a lot of people in my area who were badly affected by this weather so prayers are appreciated.

 

 

 

 

 

[Jim and Frances]

We just completed this mod ourselves.  Has anyone heard whether the weight limit of the 2" option is greater than the 150 lb limit on the 1.5" receiver option?

 

[Ronbrink]

42 minutes ago, Jim and Frances said:

We just completed this mod ourselves.  Has anyone heard whether the weight limit of the 2" option is greater than the 150 lb limit on the 1.5" receiver option?

 

The upgrade to a 2” receiver is to accommodate use of a wider range of rack brands, not to raise Oliver’s stated weight limit.

[MAX Burner]

We've got one of the original 2" bike rack receivers that @ScubaRx primarily designed back in the day.  Our Super Duty 1Up rack weighs 47lbs and the two cruisers are roughly 30lbs each - taking us to 107lbs for the full load giving us a 40% margin before hitting the 150lb max weight design limit.  Personally, the receiver kit is beefy - I'm thinking it could take more than the stated max... but I'm not going to find out.

Ride ON!

 

[SeaDawg]

20 hours ago, Minnesota Oli said:

The  license plate mod was one of those that I wanted to keep for myself but I guess it's out in the open now.

 We had a total of 12" in two days, I live on 13 acres of land that you would call river bottom. Over the years that I have lived here I have built a half dozen water structures that deal with the large watershed that comes my way. My land is very soggy but no wash outs, thank God. Rapidan Dam is not that far from me it's on the Blue Earth River, so far it is still holding but a huge mess.  I have the Lesueur River going right by my property and it has crested today. There are a lot of people in my area who were badly affected by this weather so prayers are appreciated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you are doing ok. I saw the news on the collapse of one house, near the Rapidan dam. Please stay safe, and keep us posted.

[Steve Morris]

13 hours ago, MAX Burner said:

Personally, the receiver kit is beefy - I'm thinking it could take more than the stated max... but I'm not going to find out.

I’ve got 160 or so on mine. In over 7000 miles of carrying the bikes, it hasn’t loosened or wiggled more than the day I installed it.

 

Edited June 27 by Steve Morris

[Patriot]

Something to consider is a XXL Yard Stash cover. It really helps keep our bikes clean and dry. No issues with rear light visibility. 👍🏻
 

 

We recently added these Aventon class 3 Pace 500.3’s STs in “Basalt” color or putty gray to our stable with the current free extra battery promo going on. If you test ride one, you may will quickly come down with a permanent big smile and severe case of the “wanties”.  Aventon nailed it on the torque sensor. They reeeally are a blast to ride!
We ordered our bikes from our LBS before the recent $200 tariff price increase. I highly reccomend purchasing through a local bike shop and NOT online for many reasons, most importantly if you need any warranty work. We have an excellent relationship with the owners of our local shop which is a huge plus.
These bikes come with a solid 2 year warranty and very positive reviews on YouTube and individual owner reviews. Pedal On!! https://www.aventon.com/products/pace500-3-step-through-ebike?variant=43302187827395

Had the shop install these prior to pick up - https://tannusamerica.com/?tw_source=google&tw_adid=696203111208&tw_campaign=21175368863&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwm_SzBhAsEiwAXE2CvylXQsoLuEG60SH7YcvO73R0ySnlJ67FAjHIGwI4OVw3xpDThyf2NBoCjnsQAvD_BwE

Edited June 27 by Patriot

[MAX Burner]

Gee....  which bike is Kathy's and which one is Dave's?

[Patriot]

54 minutes ago, MAX Burner said:

Gee....  which bike is Kathy's and which one is Dave's?

Art,

Does the seat stem give it away? 😄

[MAX Burner]

Maybe just a little, Dave!  😜

[TimD]

Hi folks, following up on this topic with some information we gained recently on hitch-mount bike racks used on travel trailers and RVs.

From above, it looks like @Steve Morris and @MAX Burner are both using 1Up heavy-duty racks.  Good plan!   As it turns out, not all hitch racks are 'rated' for use by their manufacturers for 'RV' or 'travel trailer' use, independent of whether they are capable of carrying e-bikes or not.  In the case of Yakima, with whom I spoke yesterday, 'RV use' means 'mounted more than 72" from the rear axle of the vehicle'.  In more general terms, a rack either is, or is not, designed to withstand the more extreme accelerations and displacements imparted upon it when hung out on the end of a long trailer or RV.

In case you are wondering, based on a quick measurement it is about 7' / 84" from the rear axle of our LE2 to the hitch mount.

The 1Up EquipD we have used, twice and on relatively short trips of 300 miles or less, is not rated for RV use, as one can see from the chart below (used without permission of 1Up but available on their web site, somewhat buried):

Fortunately, our 1Up EquipD has not failed - yet.  But for an upcoming trip we've borrowed a very expensive Specialized full-suspension e-MTB for my wife to use.  It is about 50 lbs., and this weight got me curious  about the load rating of the 1Up EquipD.  Which led me to this chart.   The thought of my friend's very nice, very expensive e-MTB bouncing down some New Brunswick, Canada secondary road and into the front of the following vehicle made me reconsider our plan. 😵

The very helpful Customer Service folks at 1Up confirmed that the EquipD was not intended for use on an RV or travel trailer, and might be subject to a failure of the vertical plates holding the greater rack assembly to the hitch tongue.  Further, the very helpful Customer Service folks at Yakima suggested that their HoldUp rack was somewhere between 'likely to fail' and 'might fail' when hung on the end of our LE2 and loaded with 80 lbs of bikes.   So the Yakima HoldUp on offer from a friend was disqualified as a substitute for our 1Up EquipD.

Until we can upgrade our rack  (probably to a 1Up HD rack), moving forward we won't be using the EquipD on the back of the LE2.  For this trip the bikes will go in the bed of the TV, using a fork mount, 2x10-based rack I fabricated in our driveway last night, while being devoured by mosquitoes.  We may still bring the EquipD with us, empty and on the back of the LE2, so that we can move it to, and use it on, the back of the TV for day trips away from base when the LE2 is detached.  Lifting the 50 lb. e-MTB into and out of the bed of the TV and securing it to the fork mount rack is a bit of a bear.

The rack sales specialist at our local REI had no understanding of 'RV / travel trailer' rack specifications, BTW.  YMMV.

Hope this helps further inform the bike rack discussion!

Tim

 

 

Edited August 6 by TimD

[Ronbrink]

2 hours ago, TimD said:

We may still bring the EquipD with us, empty and on the back of the LE2, so that we can move it to, and use it on, the back of the TV for day trips away from base when the LE2 is detached.

A similar QuikrStuff bike rack is mounted on the front of the TV when traveling; and used in like manner when at camp, as well as securement and protection. Our folding ebikes are transported under cap in the truck bed. 

 

 

[jd1923]

4 hours ago, Ronbrink said:

mounted on the front of the TV when traveling

Front of TV is always the better solution! You have them with you when detached and the extra front weight counter-balances the hitch weight.

Anybody with a 1.5” hitch want to buy an OTT built 2” hitch? PM me and I could bring it to the Texas Rally.