Does Oliver have a 2” ALUMINUM receiver that can replace the 1.25 receiver for a 2” bicycle rack, on my 2022 Elite II?

[Vic and Wanda Shumate]

I have a 2” adapter that increase it from a 1.25 to 2” but it adds another 7-8 inches out.  Just looking for a simple fix……I will be calling Oliver service on Monday but was hoping for some experienced suggestion that would work….thanks!

[dewdev]

Some people here have removed the insert in the Oliver receiver that then makes into a 2" receiver but that leaves for very thin walls on the remaining 2" receiver.

You could remove (unbolt) the 1.25" receiver and buy a 2" receiver but then you need to figure out how to attach the 2" receiver.

I had a welder weld ears on either side of the new steel receiver and then drilled new holes to mount the receiver on the frame. I used some small backer plates under the frame for the bolts to go through. Then painted the steel receive with a silver paint to match the frame. 

[John E Davies]

A 2” aluminum receiver would work IF the walls were not made thinner - simply removing the inner sleeve as others here have done is very unwise from a strength perspective. Some of the very few RV rated rack brands like 1-Up USA use an internal lock that would literally destroy an aluminum part! If I were to do it, I would buy this very strong steel unit and through bolt it on top of the Oliver cross beam with a heavy insulating pad to reduce corrosion. The part will rust and you will have to repaint it regularly!

Ultra-Tow Step Bumper Receiver - Class II, 3500-Lb. GTW, 2in.

The risk with using an actual tow rated unit is that somebody might actually hook up a trailer to it! I would remove any labels at least and maybe add an Oliver label about 150 pound weight limits. The safety chain openings could be cut off, but in reality they would make a great location for a BIG intimidating cable bike lock. Like this one… Master Lock 8156DPS High Security Cable with U-Lock

This is how these racks should be built by Oliver IMHO. The aluminum small opening is a joke in many ways. It just makes people mad. I think it is due to potential liability.

John Davies

Spokane WA

[Trainman]

3 hours ago, John E Davies said:

A 2” aluminum receiver would work IF the walls were not made thinner - simply removing the inner sleeve as others here have done is very unwise from a strength perspective. Some of the very few RV rated rack brands like 1-Up USA use an internal lock that would literally destroy an aluminum part! If I were to do it, I would buy this very strong steel unit and through bolt it on top of the Oliver cross beam with a heavy insulating pad to reduce corrosion. The part will rust and you will have to repaint it regularly!

Ultra-Tow Step Bumper Receiver - Class II, 3500-Lb. GTW, 2in.

The risk with using an actual tow rated unit is that somebody might actually hook up a trailer to it! I would remove any labels at least and maybe add an Oliver label about 150 pound weight limits. The safety chain openings could be cut off, but in reality they would make a great location for a BIG intimidating cable bike lock. Like this one… Master Lock 8156DPS High Security Cable with U-Lock

This is how these racks should be built by Oliver IMHO. The aluminum small opening is a joke in many ways. It just makes people mad. I think it is due to potential liability.

John Davies

Spokane WA

That looks like the best idea I've seen yet, not sure if you can use U-Bolts, or drill holes, but either way should work fine, trainman, thanks, John

[ScubaRx]

14 hours ago, Vic and Wanda Shumate said:

I have a 2” adapter that increase it from a 1.25 to 2” but it adds another 7-8 inches out.  Just looking for a simple fix……I will be calling Oliver service on Monday but was hoping for some experienced suggestion that would work….thanks!

Nothing will convert very safely...

Oliver's gonna tell you that, from their standpoint, you should not use anything other than their 1-1/2" receiver.

[Patriot]

This has been discussed a lot on here and this info may help you with your decision. I inquired with Oliver Service prior to this modification. I was told by the person I spoke at Oliver that Oliver has not had any reports of the bike racks failing with this configuration failing as long as you are under the 150# weight limit which we are.
I had two independent aluminum engineers look at this mod and both agreed it was safe as long as you do not exceed the weight limit. Olivers concern is an owner overloading the receiver hence the smaller stock receiver. 
Just know that Oliver does not endorse the 2” receiver modification on their bike racks.

That said, there are quite a few owners that have their bicycle racks configured this way with thousands of miles on their Oliver with bikes attached. We have not had any issues to date.
See attached thread -

 

 

[Steph and Dud B]

29 minutes ago, Patriot said:

Oliver has not had any reports of the bike racks failing with this configuration failing as long as you are under the 150# weight limit which we are.
I had two independent aluminum engineers look at this mod and both agreed it was safe as long as you do not exceed the weight limit.

That's not really the point. The concern isn't that the receiver will fail. The issue is that there are no 1.25" bike racks certified by their mfg for mounting on the back of a towed RV. The actual concern is that a 1.25" rack itself would fail from the bouncing around it gets on the back of the trailer. (And Oliver would wash their hands of that since they didn't supply the bike rack.)

[Vic and Wanda Shumate]

Thanks for all the input, I get the picture lol FYI, I’m attaching pics of the rack I purchased, it’s the MARVOWARE bike rack from Amazon…..Great rack, very solid etc, just needs a 2” receiver……I have it attached with a 1.25” to 2” receiver adapter and it sticks out too far plus, I would never haul the bikes with this set up!!!……the pics are for Information only and the adapter will NOT be used.  The reason for my post, I needed to see what others have done! Lol  I hear the term punch out the existing 1.25” Oliver receiver and turn it into a 2” receiver!!!  How and/or who has done this and how do you punch out the 1.25” to make it into a 2” receiver!?   I should have read about this before purchasing the MARVOWARE rack and went with a USA 1up….too late! Lol 🤷🏼‍♂️Thanks for any additional info on the punch out of the 1.25” Oliver existing receiver?   

 

[Trainman]

11 hours ago, Vic and Wanda Shumate said:

Thanks for all the input, I get the picture lol FYI, I’m attaching pics of the rack I purchased, it’s the MARVOWARE bike rack from Amazon…..Great rack, very solid etc, just needs a 2” receiver……I have it attached with a 1.25” to 2” receiver adapter and it sticks out too far plus, I would never haul the bikes with this set up!!!……the pics are for Information only and the adapter will NOT be used.  The reason for my post, I needed to see what others have done! Lol  I hear the term punch out the existing 1.25” Oliver receiver and turn it into a 2” receiver!!!  How and/or who has done this and how do you punch out the 1.25” to make it into a 2” receiver!?   I should have read about this before purchasing the MARVOWARE rack and went with a USA 1up….too late! Lol 🤷🏼‍♂️Thanks for any additional info on the punch out of the 1.25” Oliver existing receiver?   

 

Rad Mimi's, good choice, we carry ours here, trainman

[Sak]

There is this Yakima Stage Two 1.25" that is approved for RV, not sure it's approved for travel trailers. I am not using this one myself. I'm probably going to swap out the 1.25" hitch to 2" because my TV has 2" receiver and it would be cheaper if I can use the bike rack on both TV and the Oliver.

• RV Tested and Approved to 60 lbs. per bike
• Off-Road rated to 36lbs per bike

[Vic and Wanda Shumate]

1 hour ago, Trainman said:

Rad Mimi's, good choice, we carry ours here, trainman

My Rad expand 5’s folds but I also have a cover on the bed to haul other camping supplies so not a lot of room for the bike whether it’s folded  or upright! Getting a 2” receiver installed I think is the way I need to go…..thanks, we will see……

[Steph and Dud B]

8 hours ago, sak said:

There is this Yakima Stage Two 1.25" that is approved for RV

Wow, good catch! I've never seen that before.

[John Dehne]

We use the Thule bike rack, Really like it. Has a removable adapter 2” to 1-1/4”  fits close to the hitch to help eliminate the cantilevered force on the hitch witch is only rated for 150# weight and a 24” length. We load the bikes on the two closest mounts to stay as close to the 24” as possible. 
 

Its would be nice if Oliver redesigned the rear bumper and storage area  to add a extra 7” to allow for the bike rack and bumper to line up to keep the lines looking good and help protect the top of the spare tire cover with the bumper. Safe travels from Hull 901 in MD.

[John E Davies]

1 hour ago, John Dehne said:

Its would be nice if Oliver redesigned the rear bumper and storage area  to add a extra 7” to allow for the bike rack and bumper to line up to keep the lines looking good and help protect the top of the spare tire cover with the bumper. 

That is an interesting idea, but I would not count on it. It would mean extending the trailer frame and the upper and lower flat sheets, and that would be expensive if it were done to every unit made. Structural aluminum, especially the great big 2x5” rectangular beams, is very expensive. I wonder what percentage of sales includes a bike rack…. Maybe 10%? I personally would not want the frame to go back any further, it can already drag, and that would make the “departure angle” even worse.

You can always remove the cover completely and store it if you are worried about scarring the gel coat while loading a bike. But that requires relocating the license plate stuff to over the left lights (where it actually should go). I really don’t know why they chose to position it right in the center …. ?

John Davies

Spokane WA

[John Dehne]

Excellent points as usual John. 

[John E Davies]

FYI, I just took these pics showing pedal clearance with the handlebar resting on the rear window glass.

This is a custom rack that is not elevated like many “plug-in” types.

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

[Ollietime]

This is discouraging, I will be picking up our Elite-2 in August and am just now discovering that my 1.25 bike rack will not be an option. Why wasn't that explained to me when I was putting my build-sheet together? My Swagman XC2 bike rack is not RV approved, I didn't even know that was a concern. The only approved racks are 2" shafts and the Elite-2 has a 1.25 receiver. Ugh! If I can't use the 1.25 receiver what good is it!

[Ralph Mawyer]

This doesn't really solve the e-bike problem, but I've been using an older version of this for a bit.  Usually with only one mountain bike though.  Solid and no issues, but very little weight overall.

 

https://yakima.com/products/backroad?_ga=2.144402486.228756506.1658330164-2035143651.1658330164

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Ollietime said:

If I can't use the 1.25 receiver what good is it!

I totally agree. OTT needs to put a good 2 inch receiver on and then tell the trailer buyers the limitations. A 1.25 hitch is ridiculous. 

[Sak]

21 minutes ago, Kirk Peterson said:

I totally agree. OTT needs to put a good 2 inch receiver on and then tell the trailer buyers the limitations. A 1.25 hitch is ridiculous. 

Or at least has an option for me to buy without preinstalled 1.25 receiver, just the 2x5" beam so I can install 2" receiver by myself later.

[BeauDog]

1 hour ago, Kirk Peterson said:

I totally agree. OTT needs to put a good 2 inch receiver on and then tell the trailer buyers the limitations. A 1.25 hitch is ridiculous. 

Yes, couldn't agree more with this sentiment.  Oliver apparently had an issue in the past with some fool doing something stupid with the original 2" factory receiver, so now they are making it very difficult for all subsequent customers to figure out how to carry their bikes.  Seems to me a clear disclosure by Oliver as to the limitations of a factory-installed 2" receiver would save many good customers some misery.   

[Ollietime]

Here's something I just spotted here on the Oliver website...   

Lets Go Aero BikeWing 1.25"   ....I haven't been able to affirm that it's "RV Approved."

[Ollietime]

But wait, there's more...

• Rated for vehicles including motorized RV and off-road use; not approved for trailer use including travel trailers and fifth wheels.

https://www.rvupgradestore.com/Let-s-Go-AeroBikeWing-2-Two-Bike-Carrier-Rack-p/b01311.htm

[SeaDawg]

I don't carry bikes, but I feel your pain.

A carefully worded weight restriction,  including "no trailer connection" from their legal team might just allow them to offer the 2" hitch again. Maybe.

One bad apple (that we know of...) spoils... it for everyone. 

Keep asking, folks.

People who buy the best trailer tend to buy better bikes and better bike racks, imo.

 

[Steve Moore]

Good morning everyone from Canada ! My wife and I just ordered an Elite 1 for pick up in May of 2023. The plan was to add the 1.25 hitch add on to carry our bikes. After reading all the forum posts I’m not so sure that’s a good idea. Our bikes are just touring models that don’t weigh much, and I don’t want to store them in the bed of our Tacoma. Can anyone recommend a rack that they’ve successfully used ? Thanks very much.

 

Steve Moore

Brockville, Ontario