Jairon Posted November 6, 2020 Share Posted November 6, 2020 (edited) Does anyone know the width of the new bike rack bumper? I'm curious to know if it is less than 4.5 inches. I'm sure someone has discussed this but I've lost track given the number workarounds I've looked at over the years on the forum. A couple of these RV bumper hitches appear to be a possible solution to the 1.25" receiver. It looks like this might fit around the bumper. If the width of the bumper is too large, we could redrill 4 new holes. Some type of spacer would be needed to separate the steel from the aluminum. The additional length of the bolts would need cut down to allow the storage compartment to swing open. Thoughts from the more informed would be greatly appreciated. Oliver will not fabricate one for me despite asking nicely and offering to pay. 🤨 I really don't understand why. Edited November 6, 2020 by Jairon 2019 Toyota Land Cruiser 2021 Oliver Elite II, Hull #748 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E Davies Posted November 6, 2020 Share Posted November 6, 2020 (edited) That is a 2”x5” wide beam, you can tell because of the size of the adjacent supports, which are square 2”x2” outside diameter tubes. In comparison, here is a 2”x4” beam, I used that size for my rear rack. I would have gone wider if I could have found the material locally. I don’t see any issues with mounting that steel receiver to the Ollie beam, though I do suggest you replace the unknown hardware with stainless and self locking nuts. And do use an insulator of some kind, as well as silver antiseize compound on the threads. It sure would be nice if you could find a stainless steel receiver, that painted plain steel one will always be a little disappointing, and prone to dribbling rust streaks onto your rack. In your shoes, I would try to find a fabrication shop that would custom build me a stainless one with a flange, like this: That would never rust or need repainting, and it would look 100% absolutely sexy cool.....! Finally, there is no need to sandwich the outside of the beam so that the hardware is visible, you can drill large holes underneath the beam to allow access to the nuts. This is plenty strong for your application, and much cleaner looking than external ubolts or through bolts. More pics here: .... https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/3263-how-to-move-the-factory-cargo-tray-to-a-rear-rack/ If my memory is correct, Pete “Bugeyedriver” had a very cool stainless bike rack custom fabricated, I think it had a welded up receiver. PM him and ask for pics and advice. .... https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/profile/17-bugeyedriver/ Good luck, start a complete thread on your project with pictures please. John Davies Spokane WA Edited November 7, 2020 by John E Davies 1 SOLD 07/23 "Mouse": 2017 Legacy Elite II Two Beds, Hull Number 218, See my HOW TO threads: Tow Vehicle: 2013 Land Cruiser 200, 32” LT tires, airbags, Safari snorkel, Maggiolina Grand Tour 360 Carbon RTT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jairon Posted November 7, 2020 Author Share Posted November 7, 2020 Thanks for the dimensions, John. Your frame looks better than the one from the Oliver factory 😜 I was hoping to find some solution that I could home game, even if it looks ugly. I've asked my sales rep if I could purchase the rack without the receiver bolted on. Assuming they get back to me and are OK with my request, I'll need to find some type of solution. Thanks again for the insights. 1 2019 Toyota Land Cruiser 2021 Oliver Elite II, Hull #748 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim_Oker Posted November 7, 2020 Share Posted November 7, 2020 (edited) This is a bit of a tangential bike rack thought, but I've been pondering how to transport our bikes inside the trailer. I'm not concerned about getting the inside greasy or such - though when on road trips in our camper van we put our bikes on a hitch mount rack (a nice Yakima one that easily swings out of the way of the rear end doors), when doing day rides near but not from home, we typically just bungie the bikes inside our van, and I've seen zero chain grease end up on anything in the van. We'd just need to be careful (more for the bikes' sake) getting them in and out of the door and down the hall to their mounts. I will wait until we have the van at home to sort this fully out, but one notion I want to ponder once I can get in the van and poke around a bit is perhaps cutting one of these to fit down on the floor in the hall and then find a way to anchor the ends such that we can very easily pull this off and put it back on without having any annoying hardware jutting above the floor surface (yes, one more setup and takedown detail when getting to and leaving camps... we're used to this with bikes anyway): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BT7HWE/?coliid=I282OB1WE7OEOT&colid=17RWTP1C3DA5J&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it I don't love the idea of having the bikes on the trailer's bumper, for reasons a former Yakima rep has described well in other bike rack threads here. Being a fan of finding multiple uses for space in a space-constrained glamping vessel (e.g. that microwave? it's also a small pantry cabinet!), I want to explore harnessing the hallway in this way. Edited November 7, 2020 by Jim_Oker 1 Jim and Yanna, Woodinville WA 2004 Ford E250 camper conversion Oliver Elite II hull #709 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim_Oker Posted November 7, 2020 Share Posted November 7, 2020 Or perhaps more like this: https://www.amazon.com/Swagman-Pick-Truck-Bike-Rack/dp/B00I25NI4K/ref=pd_vtp_468_3/145-7381968-3440240?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00I25NI4K&pd_rd_r=d4858d57-3e6e-4126-83fc-9a6763bf0b36&pd_rd_w=OAwUp&pd_rd_wg=9vH9e&pf_rd_p=4f2ab3e8-468a-4a7c-9b91-89d6a9221c29&pf_rd_r=58JSHK6HB9XK78CZBT4Z&psc=1&refRID=58JSHK6HB9XK78CZBT4Z Jim and Yanna, Woodinville WA 2004 Ford E250 camper conversion Oliver Elite II hull #709 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray and Susan Huff Posted November 7, 2020 Share Posted November 7, 2020 5 minutes ago, Jim_Oker said: This is a bit of a tangential bike rack thought, but I've been pondering how to transport our bikes inside the trailer. I'm not concerned about getting the inside greasy or such - though when on road trips in our camper van we put our bikes on a hitch mount rack (a nice Yakima one that easily swings out of the way of the rear end doors), when doing day rides near but not from home, we typically just bungie the bikes inside our van, and I've seen zero chain grease end up on anything in the van. We'd just need to be careful (more for the bikes' sake) getting them in and out of the door and down the hall to their mounts. I will wait until we have the van at home to sort this fully out, but one notion I want to ponder once I can get in the van and poke around a bit is perhaps cutting one of these to fit down on the floor in the hall and then find a way to anchor the ends such that we can very easily pull this off and put it back on without having any annoying hardware jutting above the floor surface (yes, one more setup and takedown detail when getting to and leaving camps... we're used to this with bikes anyway): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BT7HWE/?coliid=I282OB1WE7OEOT&colid=17RWTP1C3DA5J&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it I don't love the idea of having the bikes on the bumper, for reasons a former Yakima rep has described well in other bike rack threads here. Being a fan of finding multiple uses for space in a constrained glamping vessel, I want to explore harnessing the hallway in this way. We built a fork mount for our pickup bed when we towed a 5th-wheel. Transporting bikes in the bed with the fifth-wheel hitch, considering the turning radius of the trailer, requires a bit of customization. The fork mounts are inexpensive - less than $20 if you don't prefer name brand (Thule, Yakima, etc) and can be mounted to whatever works in your situation. We attached ours to a 2x6 that spanned the width of the bed, placing it up against the cab-end, then secured the bikes with straps to keep them in place. I have seen fork brackets mounted to the front rail of the pickup bed; if you are opposed to drilling holes in the bed, fork mounts attached to a tension bar (made specifically to keep cargo from sliding in the bed) would work well. Google bike fork mount pickup bed DIY for inspiration. Ray and Susan Huff Elite II Twin "Pearl" - Hull#699; delivered December 7, 2020 2013 F350 6.7l diesel Super Duty 4x4 long bed crew cab 1UP-USA Heavy-duty bike rack 2017 Leisure Travel Van Unity Twin Bed (sold) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim_Oker Posted November 7, 2020 Share Posted November 7, 2020 5 minutes ago, Susan Huff said: Google bike fork mount pickup bed DIY for inspiration Thanks yes that's how I arrived at the links shared above (also using "van" in place of pickup bed, and a few other search phrase variants). Wood is another alternative to the sorts of "beams" I linked above - in any of these cases the key will be finding a nice simple and visually and mechanically way to be able to securely and temporarily mount the beam for travel and then quickly remove it for living. But yeah there are a lot of options for those little fork mount places, and for wheel mounts as well. I would also want to have a handy and also unobtrustive way to keep the rear ends of the bikes from shifting side to side while traveling. Such as an anchor for guying out to each side, or another place with wheel straps for holding the rear wheels down (though I don't love putting sideways stress on the wheel rims!). Jim and Yanna, Woodinville WA 2004 Ford E250 camper conversion Oliver Elite II hull #709 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jairon Posted November 7, 2020 Author Share Posted November 7, 2020 This looks like it would work well mounted on the existing oliver bumper/bike rack with different hardware: https://www.gowesty.com/product/made-in-usa/4335/front-mounted-2-hitch-receiver-for-gowesty-plate-steel-bumper I can't find the plate dimensions but it looks to be 4 inches. 3 2019 Toyota Land Cruiser 2021 Oliver Elite II, Hull #748 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BackofBeyond Posted November 7, 2020 Share Posted November 7, 2020 1 hour ago, Jim_Oker said: Thanks yes that's how I arrived at the links shared above (also using "van" in place of pickup bed, and a few other search phrase variants). Wood is another alternative to the sorts of "beams" I linked above - in any of these cases the key will be finding a nice simple and visually and mechanically way to be able to securely and temporarily mount the beam for travel and then quickly remove it for living. But yeah there are a lot of options for those little fork mount places, and for wheel mounts as well. I would also want to have a handy and also unobtrustive way to keep the rear ends of the bikes from shifting side to side while traveling. Such as an anchor for guying out to each side, or another place with wheel straps for holding the rear wheels down (though I don't love putting sideways stress on the wheel rims!). Amazon yourself a couple of the cheap fork mounts - there are two sizes - (axel width) make sure you get the correct size. Mount them to whatever platform you want - 2x6, 2x4, aluminum tubing, etc. . Then with similar sized platform at the rear, you can can use eyelets, conduit straps, whatever you want, and tie/secure the rear wheels to the platform - bungee, rope, or those neat padded wire ties, again - what suits you. The bike frames are now parallel - The front is secured, the rear is secured. Were it me, it would be between the beds, rear wheels facing the front of the trailer. Use the same cool padded wire ties to tie the front wheels (removed to mount the forks) to the rear wheels - perfect storage . HD has the wire tie thingies in multi colors and lengths. You can figure out how the secure the bikes from moving around - fore and aft, I know what I use, but, that's me. Or you could just use padding to keep mm in place.. But they will move forward, trust me. I found out one trip.. I secure a portable ac/dc freezer/fridge between our twin beds, secured from sliding forward, plugged into a DC outlet. This works well for traveling. RB 1 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" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim_Oker Posted November 7, 2020 Share Posted November 7, 2020 (edited) 51 minutes ago, BackofBeyond said: Amazon yourself a couple of the cheap fork mounts - there are two sizes - (axel width) make sure you get the correct size. Mount them to whatever platform you want - 2x6, 2x4, aluminum tubing, etc. . Then with similar sized platform at the rear, you can can use eyelets, conduit straps, whatever you want, and tie/secure the rear wheels to the platform - bungee, rope, or those neat padded wire ties, again - what suits you. The bike frames are now parallel - The front is secured, the rear is secured. Were it me, it would be between the beds, rear wheels facing the front of the trailer. Use the same cool padded wire ties to tie the front wheels (removed to mount the forks) to the rear wheels - perfect storage . HD has the wire tie thingies in multi colors and lengths. You can figure out how the secure the bikes from moving around - fore and aft, I know what I use, but, that's me. Or you could just use padding to keep mm in place.. But they will move forward, trust me. I found out one trip.. I secure a portable ac/dc freezer/fridge between our twin beds, secured from sliding forward, plugged into a DC outlet. This works well for traveling. RB Yes, we're thinking along the same lines. Thanks for your great thoughts! So what is it that you use for preventing the fore/aft movement? I know it's not unusual to just anchor the rear rim down to another rail/platform. I could probably get OK with that but I do know that bike wheel rims are meant to handle great radial forces but not so much for lateral forces. This leaves me tempted to guy out the frame (e.g. from near the seat tube/top tube junction) out to anchors on the sides beneath the twin beds (where I was hoping this would reasonably fit). What sort of platform do you use, and do you just count on the weight to keep the whole assembly on the floor and the width of the platform to keep it from shifting sideways? I do worry about bouncing on potholed roads and would like to devise a way to keep the platform(s) down on the floor... Edited November 7, 2020 by Jim_Oker 1 Jim and Yanna, Woodinville WA 2004 Ford E250 camper conversion Oliver Elite II hull #709 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jairon Posted November 7, 2020 Author Share Posted November 7, 2020 (edited) Another option when flipped upside down: https://www.amazon.com/Buyers-Products-SBH2-Receiver-Opening/dp/B007CVH6SO/ Another higher priced option: https://www.amazon.com/Ranch-Hand-RHU001BLB-Receiver-Tube/dp/B00C7OKVTC Edited November 8, 2020 by Jairon 1 2019 Toyota Land Cruiser 2021 Oliver Elite II, Hull #748 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BackofBeyond Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 15 hours ago, Jim_Oker said: Yes, we're thinking along the same lines. Thanks for your great thoughts! So what is it that you use for preventing the fore/aft movement? I know it's not unusual to just anchor the rear rim down to another rail/platform. I could probably get OK with that but I do know that bike wheel rims are meant to handle great radial forces but not so much for lateral forces. This leaves me tempted to guy out the frame (e.g. from near the seat tube/top tube junction) out to anchors on the sides beneath the twin beds (where I was hoping this would reasonably fit). What sort of platform do you use, and do you just count on the weight to keep the whole assembly on the floor and the width of the platform to keep it from shifting sideways? I do worry about bouncing on potholed roads and would like to devise a way to keep the platform(s) down on the floor... I'll try to visualize my thoughts; If using a 2x6 (I would) cut it to fit closely to the width between the walls beneath the beds, (padded if you want- thin carpet, ) locate the fork mounts accordingly on the 2x. The rear 2x - similar - but I don't think you need one. In my experience, the rears don't move much on or in a trailer, esp. if you secure the front. If you are doing two bikes, angle the rear wheels to where they come together, tie together with the wire thingies. Where the rubber meets. It's a double twist - done. I carry my road bike in the bed of my truck like this (under the topper.) As I have a lot of rope rigging experience from my kayaking days, I like to use 1/4 inch or so poly/nylon rope. If you look at the platforms under the beds, the lip overlaps the walls by a few inches. I drilled an appropriate sized hole from the top down (its two layers) in the location I needed. Thread one end of the rope through the hole, tie a knot on the top end, (hole is same size as rope) and make a loop on the bottom end. Do both sides - you now have a location to tie off almost anything side to side.(and fore/aft) It is easily removed, and not really noticeable. Don't like rope, Mount a smaller hardware bracket underneath - same results. I use this to secure my portable freezer - works very well and its KISS. 1 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" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E Davies Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 (edited) Jim .... You must design any bike carrier for the worst case scenario, which is the total failure of your system. Are you prepared to trash the cabin interior if the bikes and their mounts bounce around unsecured for a few hours? I’ve carried bikes in a number of ways including inside a regular van, but would never for a second try that inside the Ollie, ignoring the fact that they get gross sometimes and will significantly block access to the beds, service items and storage. Where do you put them when you want to stay out of bad weather? Take a nap at a busy rest stop or overnight at a sketchy Walmart? Repairs to gelcoat are extremely time consuming and costly and it is very difficult to make them match.... I guarantee that it would crush your heart to open the door and discover the bikes tangled up in the smashed remains of your bath mirror. At the very least install a second camera inside so you can make sure they don’t come adrift. If I were forced (at gunpoint) to do this I would install a permanent second cargo floor in back, through bolted to the sidewalls, with flush aircraft tie down tracks from here. .... https://www.macscustomtiedowns.com/collections/track/products/versatie-aluminum-track-recess-mount-flanged-series-4-240012 .... if you simply want great adjustable tie downs away from the floor, regular tracks could easily be mounted to the sides of the bed platforms. I installed individual anchors in my closet but they are for really light use because the hull structure is weak there. I have considered installing tracks on the street side platform to secure cargo like my ARB fridge and plastic crates in place of the mattress, but I never got that far. One big reason I wish we could buy a “Propane Appliance Delete” option is that you could use the space freed up on the tongue for a strong cargo tray suitable for two ebikes or a small motorcycle. Please start a thread about your project with pictures if you get it figured out. John Davies Spokane WA Edited November 8, 2020 by John E Davies SOLD 07/23 "Mouse": 2017 Legacy Elite II Two Beds, Hull Number 218, See my HOW TO threads: Tow Vehicle: 2013 Land Cruiser 200, 32” LT tires, airbags, Safari snorkel, Maggiolina Grand Tour 360 Carbon RTT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray and Susan Huff Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 20 hours ago, Jim_Oker said: This is a bit of a tangential bike rack thought, but I've been pondering how to transport our bikes inside the trailer. I'm not concerned about getting the inside greasy or such - though when on road trips in our camper van we put our bikes on a hitch mount rack (a nice Yakima one that easily swings out of the way of the rear end doors), when doing day rides near but not from home, we typically just bungie the bikes inside our van, and I've seen zero chain grease end up on anything in the van. We'd just need to be careful (more for the bikes' sake) getting them in and out of the door and down the hall to their mounts. I will wait until we have the van at home to sort this fully out, but one notion I want to ponder once I can get in the van and poke around a bit is perhaps cutting one of these to fit down on the floor in the hall and then find a way to anchor the ends such that we can very easily pull this off and put it back on without having any annoying hardware jutting above the floor surface (yes, one more setup and takedown detail when getting to and leaving camps... we're used to this with bikes anyway): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BT7HWE/?coliid=I282OB1WE7OEOT&colid=17RWTP1C3DA5J&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it I don't love the idea of having the bikes on the trailer's bumper, for reasons a former Yakima rep has described well in other bike rack threads here. Being a fan of finding multiple uses for space in a space-constrained glamping vessel (e.g. that microwave? it's also a small pantry cabinet!), I want to explore harnessing the hallway in this way. When we had a 5th-wheel we carried our rigid kayaks inside. The sit-in stacked on top of the sit-on-top and top; foam blocks underneath. I don't recall how we secured them, but never had a problem - except they made it hard to access the fridge! Ray and Susan Huff Elite II Twin "Pearl" - Hull#699; delivered December 7, 2020 2013 F350 6.7l diesel Super Duty 4x4 long bed crew cab 1UP-USA Heavy-duty bike rack 2017 Leisure Travel Van Unity Twin Bed (sold) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim_Oker Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 (edited) BoB - thanks for the specifics, particularly on how you secure your freezer. John - I do take your warning to heart. Frankly with respect to this thread and on the topic of planning for failures I'd also point back to the warnings I suspect you've seen from the Yakima bike rep about putting the bikes on the rear of the trailer. On top of all the crap that gets on bikes while on a rear rack... Yeah I suppose the resulting damage from failure there may be more to the bikes than to the trailer in case of rack system failure, so at least there's that, but I'd prefer to start with location that has less forces in play - closer to the trailer wheels would in that respect be better than out at the end of the moment arm as the trailer pivots vertically around the axles. Inside our van is another option I'm pondering (the feedback is pretty instant if the attachments there go wrong) but the inconvenience factor while traveling would be a few meaningful steps higher than if they're inside the trailer. Another option is to buy a truck andn put them in the bed under a cap but price is just one of multiple reasons that's also not high on my current list of options to ponder. And yeah I've thought about the inconvenience of having them in the trailer hallway. Locking them to the hitch the same way one might lock them to the rear rack for a night in a sketchy spot is pretty simple. One of my requirements for how we'd position them would be to ensure we could navigate around them if needed during the day (i.e. to get something from a cabinet or to use the bed for a nap -perhaps we'll start wanting to do that but it's never happened yet in 15years of van based road tripping). Any place where I'd put our bikes requires some significant tradeoffs frankly. Life consists of many risks. Thanks for helping me think out the relevant risks here. Edited November 8, 2020 by Jim_Oker 1 1 Jim and Yanna, Woodinville WA 2004 Ford E250 camper conversion Oliver Elite II hull #709 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim_Oker Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 And yes, I'll start a dedicated thread if I pursue this angle. Sorry for the hijack of this thread 🙂 1 1 Jim and Yanna, Woodinville WA 2004 Ford E250 camper conversion Oliver Elite II hull #709 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E Davies Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 (edited) The basic drawback to carrying in the back of the Ollie’s cabin is that in the event of a collision, or even a hard stop, the mass wants to shoot forward, hard. All the stress is on your mounts and their attach points. I had a rear drawer failure (due to lack of proper latches) and the entire thing broke free and ended up against the bathroom door, with its contents everywhere. This was through normal towing dynamics, not even a panic stop..... In a truck bed, or on the back of the trailer, the load is restrained in that direction by the structure. The same issue exists with roof carry, in a bad collision the bikes rip off the roof and become projectiles. Yes, if they are on the back and things go bad, you lose rack and the bikes, but they will end up away from your direction of travel (and possibly under another vehicle.) So many factors, you just have to make a whole lot of compromises, and keep a very close eye on whatever method you decide. John Davies Spokane WA Edited November 8, 2020 by John E Davies 1 SOLD 07/23 "Mouse": 2017 Legacy Elite II Two Beds, Hull Number 218, See my HOW TO threads: Tow Vehicle: 2013 Land Cruiser 200, 32” LT tires, airbags, Safari snorkel, Maggiolina Grand Tour 360 Carbon RTT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim_Oker Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 4 minutes ago, John E Davies said: keep a very close eye on whatever method you decide Yes, when carrying the bikes on the hitch mount rack on our van, whoever is driving always makes a mental note of exactly where the bikes are when starting out, and checks that they're still right there periodically while driving. Long ago, we had a strap on one of those trunk mount racks loosen and fortunately by the time we finally noticed the only damage was a beveled bike tire from having been slightly touching the pavement while the wheel rotated. Our current rack is much more secure but for sure you never know. Your notion of an internal trailer camera makes some good sense if we go this way. And though the braking forces will be the biggest factor, I would also not want to underestimate the vertical and side to side forces in whatever design I may use. I've been impressed at what not-well-secured payload items can bounce around when going even at a very modest pace on some of the more potholed roads in the Cascades. In a similar vein I'd suggest anyone putting bikes on the rear bumper hitch of the trailer have a rear view camera. The vertical forces there will be significant even in normal driving. As the Yakima rep explained, much more so than on the bumper hitch of a truck/van/car. Jim and Yanna, Woodinville WA 2004 Ford E250 camper conversion Oliver Elite II hull #709 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jairon Posted November 8, 2020 Author Share Posted November 8, 2020 Jim, if you wanted to get really crazy, something like this *might* work inside the trailer: https://www.1up-usa.com/product/van-tray/ You'd need to get really creative with a floor mount if you didn't want the horizontal mounts running across your floor though. A bike rack on the front of your TV or trailer seems a heck of a lot easier though 😁 1 2019 Toyota Land Cruiser 2021 Oliver Elite II, Hull #748 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim_Oker Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 Thanks. I don't love that sort of wheel mount that puts the sideways stresses on a few points on the rims. Fork mount seems more sensible though it does require removing the front wheel and mounting it (which can be done with a hub-attach mount). As I explore this I'll be looking at how the plate/platform that would lay on the floor could be both securely mounted for travel and entirely removed and stashed for camping. I have a few notions I will want to sanity check once I have my trailer. It's not clear to me that this would need to be a lot harder than those other choices once set up. But we all likely have different tradeoffs in mind and choices are a beautiful thing 🙂 I don't think there's one right method for everyone (though the reverse is not true - there are for sure some wrong methods =8-O) Jim and Yanna, Woodinville WA 2004 Ford E250 camper conversion Oliver Elite II hull #709 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patriot Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 (edited) Here is what we use, as we are avid cyclists. So keeping it fairly simple and straight forward, we added a topper to our TV keeping our bikes clean, dry, and out of view of prying eyes. A bike rack on the rear of the Oliver would require us to remove the bikes and then reload them into our TV to go ride a bike trail or tour a local town or sight see, not logical. Naturally if your TV is an SUV or Van this is not an option then your left with hanging bikes off the back of your Ollie, just not something we care to do. We can easily pack our bicycles, Gen, Yeti Tundra cooler and all camp set up gear with room to spare. Edited November 9, 2020 by Patriot Spelling 2 2020 OLEII - Hull #634 aka- “XPLOR” 2021 F350 6.7 liter Diesel Lariat Ultimate Tremor North Carolina 🇺🇸 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jairon Posted November 9, 2020 Author Share Posted November 9, 2020 I love these but I don't have a truck... yet. 😁 https://www.gearhacker.com/best-mountain-bike-tailgate-pad-review/ 1 2019 Toyota Land Cruiser 2021 Oliver Elite II, Hull #748 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim_Oker Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 4 hours ago, Jairon said: I love these but I don't have a truck... yet. 😁 https://www.gearhacker.com/best-mountain-bike-tailgate-pad-review/ I see lots of trucks w/o pads but with bikes held this way on I90 heading toward the Cascades from the Seattle greater metro area. All mountain bikes so far. Do people carry road bikes this way too? If I had a truck I'd probably do something similar to Patriot, including the top. Jim and Yanna, Woodinville WA 2004 Ford E250 camper conversion Oliver Elite II hull #709 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BackofBeyond Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 8 hours ago, Jim_Oker said: I see lots of trucks w/o pads but with bikes held this way on I90 heading toward the Cascades from the Seattle greater metro area. All mountain bikes so far. Do people carry road bikes this way too? If I had a truck I'd probably do something similar to Patriot, including the top. I have never seen a road bike transported in this manner. As you said - all MTB. Patriot - exactly - simple fork mount - works very well. KISS. Thanks for the pic. I carry my MTB's outside, the Felt roadie - under the camper top. 1 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" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jairon Posted November 9, 2020 Author Share Posted November 9, 2020 8 hours ago, Jim_Oker said: All mountain bikes so far. Do people carry road bikes this way too? They work with road bikes too. I think there is just a large overlap with truck people and mountain bikes. 😁 2019 Toyota Land Cruiser 2021 Oliver Elite II, Hull #748 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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