Travel trailer approved 1.25” hitch mount bike rack

[Paul and Santina]

Is anyone using the Yakima StageTwo premium tray 1.25” hitch bike rack that is

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

I know this forum has already addressed the issue that there are no 1.25” bike racks on the market specifically “travel trailer approved”, and Oliver won’t convert the bike rack hitch from 1.25” to 2”, so I don’t want to re-open that can of worms.

BUT, the above Yakima might work, and I would dearly love to know whether anyone has tried it on their Oliver yet?

[snakeriveridaho]

12 minutes ago, Paul and Santina said:

RV Tested and Approved to 60 lbs. per bike

Hello, 

I'm not sure "rv approved" indicates "trailer" approved. 

Kirk

[John E Davies]

I looked around at Yakima's website and did not see anything, you should email them to make sure a travel trailer is included in that general RV approval statement. I do know that SOME Yakima products like my Rocket Box are not rated for "off-road' and the warranty terms specifically say that that is anything rougher than a smooth graded gravel road. So potholed forest roads are "off-road". 😉

Reopening that receiver worm can anyway: it makes no sense at all to a normal person to buy an $850 (!!!)  bike rack with less than desirable features, as a compromise, simply because it will fit the small Ollie receiver. It makes far more sense to spend less for a wonderful 1-Up Super Duty Double rack ($665 shipped in silver) and simply change the receiver so that it works. It is a far better rack than any Yakima, and debatably better than the other good e-bike rated racks like the Kuat. The 1-Up is designed and sold here in the USA, has individual spare parts available, stellar customer service, and it can be added to with more bike trays or a cargo tray. But only two bike trays for off-road, max 75 pounds per bike. This too small receiver issue is so VERY frustrating, ain't it? It makes you want to storm into the Oliver headquarters and give somebody a good shaking 😉

John Davies

Spokane WA

[routlaw]

I concur on John Davies comments about the 1-UP Bike racks, we have one. All other racks on the market look like toys compared to the 1-Up. There really isn't any comparison IMHO. Very heavy duty and also a bit heavy too but works well, easy to use. Very well engineered. 

[snakeriveridaho]

16 minutes ago, John E Davies said:

it makes no sense at all to a normal person to buy an $850 (!!!)  bike rack with less than desirable features, as a compromise, simply because it will fit the small Ollie receiver. It makes far more sense to spend less for a wonderful 1-Up Super Duty Double rack ($665 shipped in silver) and simply change the receiver so that it works. It is a far better rack than any Yakima, and debatably better than the other good e-bike rated racks like the Kuat. The 1-Up is designed and sold here in the USA, has individual spare parts available, stellar customer service, and it can be added to with more bike trays or a cargo tray. But only two bike trays for off-road, max 75 pounds per bike. This too small receiver issue is so VERY frustrating, ain't it? It makes you want to storm into the Oliver headquarters and give somebody a good shaking 😉

I agree John! After many bike racks, the only one I would consider buying is the 1UP. After we receive our trailer, we are planning on converting our hitch over to a 2" and using a 1UP bike rack. 

Kirk

[Paul and Santina]

Thanks for the advice folks. I certainly don’t want to be concerned about my bike rack falling apart as I merrily drive to the next campsite. But…convert the hitch to a 2”? I guess I’ll go back through the forum and look for details. Not thrilled about making a conversion myself (my goal in retirement was to reduce the # of projects, and enjoy the great outdoors). I suppose I’d need to find a good metal shop, etc. BTW, we have 2 relatively light, not electric, bikes (a Townie and Trek).

[snakeriveridaho]

22 minutes ago, Paul and Santina said:

Not thrilled about making a conversion myself

I am with you on that! I will be using a local fabricator to get the job done. 

Kirk

[John E Davies]

FYI, this is important, the 1-Up and some other expensive racks like that Yakima Stage 2 have a proprietary locking mechanism to stop play (rocker stopper).  The 1-Up rack is made primarily of aluminum, yay, but it uses a steel stinger which has a great big stainless steel ball that cams out and locks to the inside of the female receiver. It is extremely effective! BUT you need a steel receiver, because it will literally destroy an aluminum one, plus there would obviously be dissimilar metal corrosion worries.

That rack is used with my Land Cruiser, I don’t have a square receiver my Ollie. I mentioned this part in a different thread, but I will do again here. I would simply bolt on this unit to the top of the factory cross bar, with an insulating pad between the two parts. It would probably be cheaper than having a shop fabricate one from raw steel. And this has a pretty powder coating, the shop would just spray it with some rattle can enamel without bothering to prime it. So you would end up redoing it yourself in a year.  😀

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

John Davies

Spokane WA

[Paul and Santina]

14 minutes ago, John E Davies said:

FYI, this is important, the 1-Up and some other expensive racks like that Yakima Stage 2 have a proprietary locking mechanism to stop play (rocker stopper).  The 1-Up rack is made of primarily of aluminum, yay, but it uses a steel stinger which has a great big stainless steel ball that cams out and locks to the inside of the female receiver. It is extremely effective! BUT you need a steel receiver, because it will literally destroy an aluminum one, plus there would obviously be dissimilar metal corrosion worries.

I mentioned this part in a different thread, but I will do again here. I would simply bolt on this unit to the factory cross bar, with an insulating pad underneath it. It would probably be cheaper than having a shop fabricate one from raw steel. And this has a pretty powder coating, the shop would just spray it with some ratlle can enamel without bothering to prime it. So you would end up redoing it yourself in a year.  😀

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

John Davies

Spokane WA

Great! That makes the most sense to me. The rocker stopper seems like a key structural component. So, unbolt Oliver’s wee 1.25” receiver, drill 4 new holes through Oliver’s Al crossbar, place a thin sheet of neoprene to form a gasket between the steel Ultra-tow 2” receiver above and Oliver’s Al crossbar to prevent Fe-Al corrosion, secure the Ultra-tow 2” receiver using SS through bolts, order a 1UP 2” Heavy Duty Double and, budda bing, I’m good to go. I suppose I should use bolts that are a slightly smaller diameter than the hole diameter to limit Al-Fe contact, or put a plastic sleeve in the hole, or wrap the bolts in neoprene tape, and use a rubber washer between the SS washer/bolt and Al crossbar.

Thanks for the assistance.

[John E Davies]

On 7/29/2022 at 2:44 PM, Paul and Santina said:

Great! That makes the most sense to me. The rocker stopper seems like a key structural component. So, unbolt Oliver’s wee 1.25” receiver, drill 4 new holes through Oliver’s Al crossbar, place a thin sheet of neoprene to form a gasket between the steel Ultra-tow 2” receiver above and Oliver’s Al crossbar to prevent Fe-Al corrosion, secure the Ultra-tow 2” receiver using SS through bolts, order a 1UP 2” Heavy Duty Double and, budda bing, I’m good to go. I suppose I should use bolts that are a slightly smaller diameter than the hole diameter to limit Al-Fe contact, or put a plastic sleeve in the hole, or wrap the bolts in neoprene tape, and use a rubber washer between the SS washer/bolt and Al crossbar.

Thanks for the assistance.

I don’t recommend the Heavy Duty rack, I am not sure it is even RV rated. You need a Super Duty. 

I think you need a really stiff material as insulator pad, so it does’t flex at all. Oliver uses some rubber like sheet between the support arms and the top of the sewer compartment, and they say that they haven’t seen loose bolts, but to be safe I would find a plastic sheet that won’t try to squeeze out.. 

The stainless hardware is fine but adding rubber washers and sleeves in addition is overkill unless you plan to tow through battery acid. Oliver doesn’t use that with their hardware. Though they do add aluminum sleeves in one place, where the Bulldog coopler bolts go through the tongue. 

John Davies

Spokane WA

[Ollietime]

It sure is getting expensive to haul a couple of bicycles around. I sure do miss my banana seat and goose neck handlebars!

[BeauDog]

On 7/29/2022 at 2:00 PM, John E Davies said:

I would simply bolt on this unit to the top of the factory cross bar, with an insulating pad between the two parts. It would probably be cheaper than having a shop fabricate one from raw steel. And this has a pretty powder coating, the shop would just spray it with some rattle can enamel without bothering to prime it. So you would end up redoing it yourself in a year.  😀

John, I like this idea.  I wonder how the spacing of the holes would be relative to the existing 1 1/4" receiver holes?  Too close could be problematic, right? 

[Clowdstryfe]

On 7/28/2022 at 4:14 PM, Paul and Santina said:

Is anyone using the Yakima StageTwo premium tray 1.25” hitch bike rack that is

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

BUT, the above Yakima might work, and I would dearly love to know whether anyone has tried it on their Oliver yet?

On Yakima's website they have a file (attached) that defines what an RV is in their terms. It does specify a travel trailer. 

Did you purchase the Yakima Stage 2?? If so, how has it held up during your travels?? 

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