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New Bike Hitch Capacity?


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I would worry more about the bike rack, must be a special bike rack to hold that kind of weight. A lot of racks in small print will say do not use this bike rack on the rear of a trailer. Double check your manual.

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Grant  2022 GMC Denali 2500 HD 2019  Elite 11😎

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The problem is all that mass bouncing around at the end of that long skinny arm. Not good. I did read that the recommended Thule (?) standard bike rack for the Oliver mount has a 100 pound limit in this application.

 

My suggestion is to build a custom one without a central mount. Bolt the trays directly to the rack. Overland built a nice one with the excellent 1-Up Super Duty trays, which would work great for your ebikes. Remember you can always take out both battery packs to reduce the weight by 15 or 20 pounds and also to discourage thieves.

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

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SOLD 07/23 "Mouse":  2017 Legacy Elite II Two Beds, Hull Number 218, See my HOW TO threads: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/john-e-davies-how-to-threads-and-tech-articles-links/

Tow Vehicle: 2013 Land Cruiser 200, 32” LT tires, airbags, Safari snorkel, Maggiolina Grand Tour 360 Carbon RTT.

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We have ordered the bike rack with our new trailer because my wife wants to take her bike with her, I personally don't care to ride a bicycle that much anymore, but an E-Bike does sound like a option I might go with. Looking at the rack with the small 1 1/4" tube mount just is not to my liking, but changing it out to a 2" one looks very doable. It's just bolted on with U bolts by the picture as I have not seen this rack in person, but I see many options for a heavies duty bicycle racks then this one is. All being said, I will have to know the strength of the aluminum that Oliver used in there bicycle rack before I could make any decisions in modifying there rack. Keeping the weight as close to the trailer as possible is what you want, not stuck out 2-4 feet beyond the hitch mount.

 

 

 

trainman

2019 RAM 1500, 5.7 Hemi, 4X4, Crew Cab, 5'7" bed, Towing Package, 3.92 Gears.

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As others have stated, the new design with the smaller single mount is just not going to handle much weight, 100lbs sounds about right.  I  prefer the original rack mounting scheme Oliver offered. The current one has a similar frame mounting attachments which are quite sturdy. It would not take a lot of effort to fabricate a stronger mounting platform similar to the old system. I have a tandem Thule attached to the one on my Oliver.

20180724_101414.thumb.jpg.37207f8bcf66a358d217d1ea5ea296e7.jpg

 

It is very sturdy, and I am confident it will handle up to 150Lbs with no issues.

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Cindy,  Russell and  "Harley dog" . Home is our little farm near Winchester TN

2018 Oliver Legacy Elite II - 2018 GMC 2500 Duramax 

"Die young - As late as possible"
ALAZARCACOFLIDMTNVNMOKORTNTXUTWAWYd56201

 

 

 

 

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The old model bicycle rack does look and function much better then I think the new on will. Don't know why they changed, plus you have to remove the rack to get the spare off, what sense does that make and you still have to purchase a bike rack, more $$$$$'s to spend, you will have a $1000 tied up in a bike rack and I don't even care to ride. Well the wife gets her bicycle to ride when camping, I guess that's worth the $1000.

 

 

 

trainman

2019 RAM 1500, 5.7 Hemi, 4X4, Crew Cab, 5'7" bed, Towing Package, 3.92 Gears.

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more $$$$$’s to spend, you will have a $1000 tied up in a bike rack and I don’t even care to ride. Well the wife gets her bicycle to ride when camping, I guess that’s worth the $1000.

 

trainman

 

It sounds as if you really don’t like the idea of a bike rack.... have you considered just asking her if she is willing to buy a second (or replacement) compact folding camp bike that will fit in the truck? That would be a much more secure and out of sight way to carry it. Or carry her current one on a roof or front bumper rack. A front receiver is about $200.

 

Carrying in or on the truck allows you to transpot the bike to a nearby trail which is good.

 

Helping her go shopping for a brand new bike would show her how much you care for her. Have her test ride an ebike. If she gets one you can borrow it to zoom around on. They are a real hoot to ride.

 

https://electricbikereview.com/?s=Folding

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

SOLD 07/23 "Mouse":  2017 Legacy Elite II Two Beds, Hull Number 218, See my HOW TO threads: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/john-e-davies-how-to-threads-and-tech-articles-links/

Tow Vehicle: 2013 Land Cruiser 200, 32” LT tires, airbags, Safari snorkel, Maggiolina Grand Tour 360 Carbon RTT.

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Russell thanks! We purchased the original Oliver rack. We didn’t like that it is difficult to remove /install due to its weight & access to the back sewer connection is harder. But now that we want to change to heavy electric bikes knowing that this flat bed setup can carry 150 lbs is great news. And John Davies idea of removing the batteries is a good idea.

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Personally, I wouldn't worry about it, but the only places I can think that wouldn't be covered by the bikes would either be on the rack itself or up above the window.  A few of us have the license plates mounted to the side, but I think they'd be no more visible there.

 

The 1up rack on my truck completely covers the license plate when it's folded.  You can't even tell I have one.  But I've only gotten pulled over once, in Hohenwald.  I said I was going to Oliver and he said in that case no problem sir nice truck.  Not sure how far outside of Hohenwald that trick works.

 

 

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Well the wife gets her bicycle to ride when camping, I guess that’s worth the $1000.

Some days that's cheap for marital bliss.

 

Bobfirst  _ yea I agree, the rack does make the rear access harder - I've begun leaving the sewer pipe connected to the outlet, much easier now. I don't worry about the plate - never had a problem with similar blockage on other vehicles, guess one day it might come up.

 

As far as the difficulty installing/removing the rack - I took a flat file and removed a small amount of material from the "male" side of the R/L assembly. The square tubing corner edges were rounded, and all the  flat surfaces filed/planed down until the surfaces were "flat"

 

The tubing is somewhat concave, and as you remove material, it begins to flatten out. I coated them with waterproof grease, and stuck them in the female tubing.  I am happy with the results - the rack assembly slides in and out with to much effort.

 

As for the weight rating - its my swag - I'm about 200 - I've bounced up and down on the far rear of the thing - its very rigid - and the trailers suspension takes out some of the physics of the dead load. So that's why I estimated 150lbs.

 

RB

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Cindy,  Russell and  "Harley dog" . Home is our little farm near Winchester TN

2018 Oliver Legacy Elite II - 2018 GMC 2500 Duramax 

"Die young - As late as possible"
ALAZARCACOFLIDMTNVNMOKORTNTXUTWAWYd56201

 

 

 

 

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The new single hitch receiver bike rack has a limit of 100 lbs which would carry only 1 electric bike. Also the weight of an electric bike makes it difficult to lift high. The original two hitch receiver flat rack should carry two electric bikes & would easier to load/unload.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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So which rack can handle 150 lbs. the old style, or the new style, e-bike is looking better everyday.

 

trainman

 

The old style with the dual receivers.

Steve, Tali and our dog Rocky plus our beloved Storm, Maggie, Lucy and Reacher (all waiting at the Rainbow Bridge)

2008 Legacy Elite I - Outlaw Oliver, Hull #026 | 2014 Legacy Elite II - Outlaw Oliver, Hull #050 | 2022 Silverado High Country 3500HD SRW Diesel 4x4 

 

             801469912_StatesVisitedTaliandSteve08-23-2021-I.jpg.26814499292ab76ee55b889b69ad3ef0.jpg1226003278_StatesVisitedTaliandSteve08-23-2021-H.jpg.dc46129cb4967a7fd2531b16699e9e45.jpg

 

 

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  • 1 year later...

I am struggling with the same questions! Remember the 100/150 lbs weight limit includes the Bike Rack (1Up = 47lbs) plus the Bikes, an ebike is around 70 lbs with Battery (-7lbs if battery is removed) Let's do the Math, 150 lb limit- 47 lbs Rack, - 63 lbs for one e bike= 40 lbs to spare! No room for 2 e bikes.

The average weight of a normal Adult Bike is 21-29 lbs, so we could carry 2 regular Bikes without a problem. 

We need e bikes and are thinking of getting 2 Folding e bikes and carry one of them on the Bike Rack and the other inside our SUV. IMHO, this is the most practical solution for us, because it takes advantage of the Reserve Weight Capacity of both the Trailer/TV. 

BTW, several things to keep in mind when considering adding weight to the "Rear of an Trailer," be it a  Bike or Extra Cargo. Generally speaking, is much more than a simple question of, Will the Bike Rack Handle the Weight? The actual weight on the Trailer's Rear Axles and the Bike Rack Components can be is much higher than the real weight of the objects! This is because of the leverage, caused by the distance the item is behind the Rear Axle, in this case suspended behind the Bumper. In other words, the 100-150 lb limit is greatly multiplied! This is one reason why so many Bike Rack Manufactures make Heavy Duty Model for use behind Trailer. The forces are considerable!

Often this weight is underestimated and can lead to either component failures or a Serve Case of Trailer Sway and accidents!  

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