Bike rack weight limits

[Patriot]

The Oliver LEll owner I have spoken with the same rack and mod actually carries (2) much heavier ebikes with a total weight on the rack of 130#. He recently put 1000 hard miles on his Ollie with bikes loaded and there are no visible signs of aluminum fatigue, cracking etc. Zero issues with the 1Up Super Duty rack which is encouraging news.

This mod is absolutely worth keeping an eye on for sure. Just like all the other inspection checklist areas on the Ollie, I will inspect it before, during and after a trip.

A great question would be with over 800 plus Ollies on the road, how many actually use the bike rack and for those that do how many catastrophic failures have occurred with the bike rack?  I have not read about any reported failures which is a good thing!

[Patriot]

1 Up USA “Super Duty” bike rack installed. A fine product including fit and finish.

Mounted to Oliver bike rack.

Rack folded up when not in use.

 

[Patriot]

Added a “Yard Trash XXL bike cover and elastic cargo net to snug the cover up to the bikes. This should help keep the bikes clean. No issues with real tail light visibility even with these covers on.

 

[Patriot]

I installed the 1Up USA a license plate relocation kit. Nice quality and now zero visibility issues with my plate. We will leave this bike rack permanently  installed on our Ollie. We like taking our bikes when we  travel. 

Rack deployed -

 

Rack stored or when not in use -

[John E Davies]

On 9/29/2021 at 5:05 PM, Patriot said:

 

Why did you decide to paint those parts? What primer/ paint did you use? Is there any rack motion at all at the connection? Thanks.

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

[Patriot]

5 hours ago, John E Davies said:

Why did you decide to paint those parts? What primer/ paint did you use? Is there any rack motion at all at the connection? Thanks.

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

The rack arrived exactly as pictured, I did not paint anything. There is no motion in the rack connection, it’s a very solid mount. 

[John E Davies]

52 minutes ago, Patriot said:

The rack arrived exactly as pictured, I did not paint anything. There is no motion in the rack connection, it’s a very solid mount. 

I meant the sleeve, which is u-bolted to the Ollie rack….. it sure looks black to me.

I’m glad there is no motion, that is very good.

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

[topgun2]

JD - 

I believe that it (the color) is being caused by the lighting in the photo.  Note the color of the aluminum where the "1up" sticker is located - much the same color as you are referring to on the sleeve.

Bill

[Patriot]

59 minutes ago, topgun2 said:

JD - 

I believe that it (the color) is being caused by the lighting in the photo.  Note the color of the aluminum where the "1up" sticker is located - much the same color as you are referring to on the sleeve.

Bill

Bill, JD,

That is correct, lighting in the photo caused it to look a shade darker. 

David 

[Steph and Dud B]

This looks like a Catch-22. Oliver says to use an RV-approved bike rack. Our carbon-fiber bikes require wheel support, no hanging by the frame. But every RV-approved wheel support rack I've found has a 2" receiver bar.  So, either I knock out the 1.25" liner in the Oliver hitch or I use a non-RV-approved rack. The good news is our bikes are very light so maybe the non-RV rack would be adequate?

Cargo basket and riser hitch preclude bikes between truck and trailer. Truck bed is full. Don't want them in front, getting pummeled by wind and rocks. 

[dewdev]

Steph and Dud B:

Thule has a wheel supported bike rack that can be ordered for either a 2" or 1-1/4" receiver.

[Steph and Dud B]

1 hour ago, dewdev said:

Thule has a wheel supported bike rack that can be ordered for either a 2" or 1-1/4" receiver.

Thanks. I'll check that out.

 

Dudley

[GAP]

1 hour ago, dewdev said:

Steph and Dud B:

Thule has a wheel supported bike rack that can be ordered for either a 2" or 1-1/4" receiver.

The problem is that all bike racks (I've found) that are "RV approved" require a 2" receiver.  If you use an adapter for a 1.25" receiver, it voids the RV delineation.  I was told by service at Oliver that the chocking down of their receiver was a result of some dummy using the older 2" receiver to tow a car behind the trailer.  I understand their concern but the stickers they currently attach to the receiver area clearly states the weight and usage limitations.  By supplying a 1.25" receiver, Oliver is charging $800 for a unit that should not be used for what it is intended to do.  Safe or not, they are minimizing their liability by maximizing ours

[John E Davies]

On 10/25/2021 at 8:24 AM, GAP said:

The problem is that all bike racks (I've found) that are "RV approved" require a 2" receiver.  If you use an adapter for a 1.25" receiver, it voids the RV delineation.  I was told by service at Oliver that the chocking down of their receiver was a result of some dummy using the older 2" receiver to tow a car behind the trailer.  I understand their concern but the stickers they currently attach to the receiver area clearly states the weight and usage limitations.  By supplying a 1.25" receiver, Oliver is charging $800 for a unit that should not be used for what it is intended to do.  Safe or not, they are minimizing their liability by maximizing ours

That is a pretty harsh statement, but I happen to agree with you 100%. Stickers can easily be removed in a few minutes, Oliver should instead provide a proper heavy wall 2” receiver, and STAMP or LASER ETCH DEEPLY the weight and use limitations into the top surface of the receiver. Then let the user decide what to plug in there. An owner may say, “Oh, the label came off, I did not know!” It is pretty hard to say that with deep cut letters, you would literally have to grind them off…..  Let the customer accept all liability for what gets plugged in…. just like this coupler.

I personally think that the receiver part should be stainless steel, but at this point in the discussion, that is splitting hairs.

As a side note, IMHO somebody stupid enough to tow a car or trailer behind an Ollie will just add an extra step down adapter anyway, regardless of the receiver hole size. Making an engineering change like this one based on one fantastically dangerous customer makes no sense to me at all.

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

[Geronimo John]

Oliver can't fix STUPID.  So why treat all of as if we are?  I'm with you JD!  

[Ray and Susan Huff]

I've posted this previously, but in case you haven't seen it.  We use this hitch with our F350 towing an Elite II.  Hitch is rated for 7,500#.  This will not work if you have the tongue accessory box on the trailer.  Only once have we had a radius turn clearance issue, but it is easily solved by folding the rack up (which can be done with the bikes still loaded), or you can take the bikes off the rack and fold it up, if necessary.  Bikes stay relatively clean mounted here.

Love the 1up rack!  They have been back ordered till ????, like many bike related items, but appears they might be available now.

https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Hitch-Ball-Mount/Curt/D210.html?feed=npn&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Google | Shop - Trailer Hitch Ball Mount&adgroupid=87631909362&campaignid=1672411804&creative=404001588902&device=c&devicemodel=&feeditemid=&keyword=&loc_interest_ms=&loc_physical_ms=9033074&matchtype=&network=g&placement=&position=&gclid=Cj0KCQjwlOmLBhCHARIsAGiJg7n_j802euDcIl-x6KSaMrvyZn-hx-pLJJ9H28PEt8ZK0_qMt23ZmSQaAguyEALw_wcB

[Steph and Dud B]

Thanks. That does look like a nice setup.

[ScottRicki]

Thought I would share my solution to the bike rack receiver saga. We use the 1-Up for two bikes. I used a Curt bumper receiver with a sheet of rubber to isolate the iron from aluminum, with neoprene washers under stainless nuts on bottom. The hole patterns seemed far enough away from Oliver holes to not weaken the beam too much. I considered adding a 13 inch long  aluminum plate on bottom as a giant strengthening washer but decided that might be over engineering (as I have accused  of by my wife frequently). The wide receiver plate also adds strengthening across the Oliver holes. Initially I was going to cut off the upright tabs but the paint job on the receiver is too good to destroy.  

[John E Davies]

1 hour ago, ScottRicki said:

Initially I was going to cut off the upright tabs but the paint job on the receiver is too good to destroy.  

 

That looks like a great solution to me. But go ahead and follow your instinct; cut off the ears and grind them smooth. As it is now, it shouts TRAILER HITCH. See above comments about morons towing stuff behind their Ollie. You don’t want to tempt a future owner! I really like the Duplicolor ceramic caliper paint, it requires no primer and once cured, about a week) it is tough as nails. It goes on beautifully and flows out smoothly. 

John Davies

Spokane WA

[ScubaRx]

On 10/27/2021 at 3:07 PM, John E Davies said:

As a side note, IMHO somebody stupid enough to tow a car or trailer behind an Ollie will just add an extra step down adapter anyway, regardless of the receiver hole size. Making an engineering change like this one based on one fantastically dangerous customer makes no sense to me at all.

 

John, I agree with all you’ve said but the world is filled with idiots and apparently there is one among the owner’s because that is exactly the reason that the engineering change was done. 

[Skigator]

Hi ! 

Picking up our Ollie 2 at end of this coming Dec . Will be bringing our bikes on an older bike rack that fits a 2 inch receiver .  We have added the 1.25 in rear bumper accessory receiver as one of the options .  Would like to find an ‘ after market ‘ 2 inch receiver.  Any ideas from the forum ?  Thanks .  

USAF retired , Washington county , NY 

Cheers ! 🤟🎣🐟

Gator 

[BBL]

On 9/29/2021 at 7:05 PM, Patriot said:

1 Up USA “Super Duty” bike rack installed. A fine product including fit and finish.

Mounted to Oliver bike rack.

Rack folded up when not in use.

 

Patriot - did you use the "stock" Oliver receiver or did you take the 1.25" off and replace it with a 2"?  Really like this setup and while we normally carry our bikes under the truck topper, this would be a nice option to explore.

Thank you for the detailed post.

Brian

[Patriot]

On 9/1/2022 at 4:32 PM, Brian and Brandelyne Lewis said:

Patriot - did you use the "stock" Oliver receiver or did you take the 1.25" off and replace it with a 2"?  Really like this setup and while we normally carry our bikes under the truck topper, this would be a nice option to explore.

Thank you for the detailed post.

Brian

Brian,

I used the stock Oliver receiver and have had zero issues. We had the 1.25 insert removed by a local machine shop.

Hope this helps!

Patriot

[BBL]

Absolutely it helps, thank you and nice setup!

Brian

[Carl Hansen]

I too had a machine shop remove the insert for our two inch bike rack. It has been rock solid.