Travel trailer approved 1.25” hitch mount bike rack

[SeaDawg]

Since we rarely carry bikes, I'd say oooh, tiny dog on the hunt. 

Me? I'd never want an expensive bike up in front of my truck. Period. Covered,or uncovered.  For many reasons.  Expensive bikes on a front hitch, not in my wheelhouse. Other opinions may vary. 

Front hitch for backing trailer into odd situations,  absolutely .

 

[Patriot]

12 hours ago, ScubaRx said:

I have asked this question before, and no one has ever answered. I am not sure if that is because no one knew the answer or just weren’t interested enough to reply.
 

Why not use a front receiver that can be bought for any full-size pick up for barely over $100 and carry the bikes there? They will all support up to 500 pounds and they are all 2 inch receivers so any bike rack would work. In addition, the front receiver has multiple other uses. I actually don’t see how anyone gets by without having a front receiver.

Steve,

I think your front receiver is a good idea for many uses especially parking an Oliver in a tight garage or storage place. I had briefly given a little thought to the front receiver as a bike carry location. We cover our bikes to keep the brand name out of sight and also to keep them clean. My biggest concerns were how much air flow would the bike cover block from our engine bay with the bikes covered and carried up front. It may be negligible or maybe not. The other concern was would the cover block any of my front lights with the bikes covered. Not sure of this out come either. My third concern, which really should be my first concern, is I really don’t care for how bikes look mounted on the front of any vehicle.  Just me. 😄

So rather than go through the throws of installing the front receiver knowing I would likely never carry our bikes up front, the decision on my current configuration was easy. With the 1Up USA Super Duty bike rack with the bikes covered, my rear Ollie lights are lawful and very visible. I had my bride follow me up the road in our car while I pulled the Ollie with our bikes loaded as seen in the pic. All good on running lights and brake lights, and turn signal visibility. I also have a good view of the bikes from the Ollie rear camera. 12,000 miles running this set up, all good. This is an old photo, I have since added the 1Up license plate relocation plate to the rear of the rack.

Have fun at Q!

- David

[MAX Burner]

48 minutes ago, Patriot said:

My biggest concerns were how much air flow would the bike cover block from our engine bay with the bikes covered and carried up front. It may be negligible or maybe not.

Hey, @Patriot:  I hear ya, brother...  100%!

However, just FYI, back in the day, we actually carried (get this) two Honda Trail 90's on a custom front rack mounted to the RAM 3500 while towing the AS.  Ok, it was certainly "double-butt ugly" - but never an issue functionally or operationally.  Totally doable - never any cooling concerns.  I always thought of what amount of damage would be generated by a deer-strike right down the snot locker...?  Oh, well - that deer strike did happen while towing but many years later which is another story...

Regarding OTT lights while carrying bikes - as you may recall, we use the 1Up also.  My concern was with the visibility of the upper lights on either side and thought,  "the more the better."  So, we added an LED strip light as an auxiliary safety feature on the flip-down rear bumper.  Both RED and ORANGE, the LEDs are clearly visible even during daytime towing hours.  Turn signals and emergency flashers are ORANGE, running lights are RED, brake lights are bright RED.  The mod is tied into the 7-pin harness in the port-side aft garage compartment.  There's a post on it somewhere - but, essentially, we copied John Davies design.  Works great.  Solid mod.

Cheers from "The Q"!

[Jason Foster]

On 1/17/2024 at 9:33 AM, MAX Burner said:

Hey, Jason:

That's some fairly restricting criteria, brother!  You may need to consider moving up to a 2" receiver - if possible on your new rig.  If you can do that, then recommend looking into the 1Up system.  They have various models, designed and made in the US, and high quality.

They're one of the most "bomb-proof" racks we've found available, IMO.  Just north of 8k miles since installed last year (80% of those miles with bikes attached) - we've not had any issues.  Rock solid on the 2" receiver with or without bikes aboard.

In any case, if you find a rack that meets your specs, please share that source!

Cheers!

That is a beefy bike rack.  I like it.

[Jason Foster]

On 1/18/2024 at 7:43 AM, Patriot said:

We cover our bikes to keep the brand name out of sight and also to keep them clean.

Your TV is a F350 Diesel Lariat Tremor pulling a $100k trailer.  They know.

[Jason Foster]

On 1/17/2024 at 7:19 PM, ScubaRx said:

I have asked this question before, and no one has ever answered. I am not sure if that is because no one knew the answer or just weren’t interested enough to reply.
 

Why not use a front receiver that can be bought for any full-size pick up for barely over $100 and carry the bikes there? They will all support up to 500 pounds and they are all 2 inch receivers so any bike rack would work. In addition, the front receiver has multiple other uses. I actually don’t see how anyone gets by without having a front receiver.

I have a front hitch on my Ranch Hand bumper.  I tried mounting the bikes on it and they were way over the top of the hood obstructing my field of view.  Another reason I won't mount in front, my bumper already sits 18 inches beyond the front of the truck, add a rack and two bikes and I've just extended the front of my TV farther forward than I am comfortable with.  According to the NHTSA, in 2019 there were 2.8 million front collisions vs 1.5 million rear.  That would mean I would double the risk of smashing my expensive bikes with it mounted in the front vs the back.  Another issue would be bugs on my bikes.  If I cover them, I will obstruct the air from entering the radiator.  In Texas, that could be disastrous.  

Finally, it just looked ugly.   😛

[Patriot]

7 hours ago, Jason Foster said:

Your TV is a F350 Diesel Lariat Tremor pulling a $100k trailer.  They know.

Ya think? 🤣

[Patriot]

8 hours ago, Jason Foster said:

That is a beefy bike rack.  I like it.

It ought to be beefy for $750. Then add the optional license plate relocation kit. https://1up-usa.com/product/license-plate-holder-2-0

We really like our 1 UP Super Duty rack, like anything you pay for quality.  USA made. 🇺🇸
https://1up-usa.com/product/2-super-duty-double

[Jason Foster]

1 hour ago, Patriot said:

It ought to be beefy for $750. Then add the optional license plate relocation kit. https://1up-usa.com/product/license-plate-holder-2-0

We really like our 1 UP Super Duty rack, like anything you pay for quality.  USA made. 🇺🇸
https://1up-usa.com/product/2-super-duty-double

I will need to replace the dinky trailer hitch Oliver decided to put on my trailer though. 
 

My wife’s bike has full fenders on it. I wonder if the clamping mechanism will work on that. Their website doesn’t show another option. 

[Steve Morris]

5 minutes ago, Jason Foster said:

My wife’s bike has full fenders on it. I wonder if the clamping mechanism will work on that.

I ended up getting one fat tire kit to space the side pieces out far enough to clear the fender stays. My bike has an aluminum rear fender, so I use the optional foam roller to clamp down the rear. Deb’s has plastic fenders, so the foam roller deforms it when clamped down. I ended up adjusting the longer, thinner fat tire clamp so that it slides underneath the fender. 

[Patriot]

16 minutes ago, Jason Foster said:

I will need to replace the dinky trailer hitch Oliver decided to put on my trailer though. 
 

My wife’s bike has full fenders on it. I wonder if the clamping mechanism will work on that. Their website doesn’t show another option. 

Not sure if this photo helps or not. The rack that engages the tire does allow some adjustment for fenders. (Arrow points to the adjustment holes) We have a set of Trek 920 touring bikes with full fenders and also this set of Specialized “Rolls” which have full fenders. I trust the way 1Up secures the bikes, however I still use a back up Velcro strap on each wheel securing the wheel to the 1Up rack where the wheel and tire are secure in the rack. Just incase for some reason the rack ratchet mechanism should fail.
In this pic I don’t have the Velcro straps on, but it shows where I install them. Hope this helps.

 

[Jason Foster]

47 minutes ago, Steve Morris said:

I ended up getting one fat tire kit to space the side pieces out far enough to clear the fender stays. My bike has an aluminum rear fender, so I use the optional foam roller to clamp down the rear. Deb’s has plastic fenders, so the foam roller deforms it when clamped down. I ended up adjusting the longer, thinner fat tire clamp so that it slides underneath the fender. 

My wife’s bike has the plastic fenders.  How secure does it feel clamping underneath?

[Jason Foster]

Thank

52 minutes ago, Patriot said:

Not sure if this photo helps or not. The rack that engages the tire does allow some adjustment for fenders. (Arrow points to the adjustment holes) We have a set of Trek 920 touring bikes with full fenders and also this set of Specialized “Rolls” which have full fenders. I trust the way 1Up secures the bikes, however I still use a back up Velcro strap on each wheel securing the wheel to the 1Up rack where the wheel and tire are secure in the rack. Just incase for some reason the rack ratchet mechanism should fail.
In this pic I don’t have the Velcro straps on, but it shows where I install them. Hope this helps.

 

 

Thanks for the picture. It does help. My has a Magnum Nomad. It has fat tires and full fenders like your. The velcro straps are a good idea. The front tire doesn’t look like it will be a problem but the rear tire is covered. I thought about removing the fender but the wife handed me divorce papers so i backed off. Lol

[rich.dev]

1 hour ago, Jason Foster said:

My wife’s bike has full fenders on it. I wonder if the clamping mechanism will work on that. Their website doesn’t show another option. 

@Jason Foster look at the Quikrstuff bike rack as well. Like I said in a previous post, Cal Phillips was the inventor of 1Up and now works with QuikrStuff which is really a redesigned 1Up with some improvements.  

Here are some questions and answers from the QuikrStuff website that also covers the fender issue....#7 down from  the "Specs and Fitment Questions" From your above picture of your wife's bike this should work!

[Jason Foster]

30 minutes ago, rich.dev said:

@Jason Foster look at the Quikrstuff bike rack as well. Like I said in a previous post, Cal Phillips was the inventor of 1Up and now works with QuikrStuff which is really a redesigned 1Up with some improvements.  

Here are some questions and answers from the QuikrStuff website that also covers the fender issue....#7 down from  the "Specs and Fitment Questions" From your above picture of your wife's bike this should work!

I will have to look at it on my computer later. Hard to see it really well on my phone. I like the quick adjust feature for different size tires and the key lock mechanism. 

[Steve Morris]

I couldn't attach photos before. Here's what I have on the back of each bike. The first one has the plastic fenders, and the second aluminum. The third photo is from before I moved the clamp under the fender, and I used a portion of a pool noodle to help support the fender. I still permanently performed it. Hers snow more secure than mine. With the Magnum shown above, I'm not sure that you could get high enough on the tire for adequate downward force, nor does it look like there's enough room to slip the spindle underneath. Would probably gave to clamp from above with the foam roller like I did.

[Jason Foster]

9 hours ago, rich.dev said:

@Jason Foster look at the Quikrstuff bike rack as well. Like I said in a previous post, Cal Phillips was the inventor of 1Up and now works with QuikrStuff which is really a redesigned 1Up with some improvements.  

Here are some questions and answers from the QuikrStuff website that also covers the fender issue....#7 down from  the "Specs and Fitment Questions" From your above picture of your wife's bike this should work!

This looks like a good rack.  However, to get it for two bikes, it will cost $1200 as opposed to $730 for the 1up.  Is there more to this rack than meets the eye for it to be almost twice what the other one is?

[Jason Foster]

8 minutes ago, Steve Morris said:

 With the Magnum shown above, I'm not sure that you could get high enough on the tire for adequate downward force, nor does it look like there's enough room to slip the spindle underneath. Would probably have to clamp from above with the foam roller like I did.

I think it will work as long as it clamps the wheel above the axle line and where the wheel starts to curve back toward the bike.  I will also use velcro straps.  I think it will work.

[rich.dev]

21 hours ago, Jason Foster said:

This looks like a good rack.  However, to get it for two bikes, it will cost $1200 as opposed to $730 for the 1up.  Is there more to this rack than meets the eye for it to be almost twice what the other one is?

From what I can tell, and for my personal needs, even with the improvements the QuikrStuff is a nice rack but not $500 better than the 1UP Super Duty! The real shining point of the QuikrStuff is how modular it is. Here are a couple good videos.
 

 

 

[snakeriveridaho]

On 1/17/2024 at 6:19 PM, ScubaRx said:

Why not use a front receiver

We tried that for a while on our last truck. The bikes got filthy and the blocked the headlight some. We definitely didn't like having the bikes there. Covers on the bike would have blocked the headlights too much, 

We uses the heavy duty 1-UP rack on the back of the trailer for 2 bikes. We also had a Rhino Rack Backbone mounting system put on the roof of our four-door truck. This is a great way to carry your bikes. We used the 1UP trays up there to carry four additional bikes. If I had to carry more than that, we put the lightest two bikes (16-18 pound road bikes) on the Oliver's beds with a heavy blanket on them and under them for a total 8 bikes. We have never had problems with any of these carrying methods. The only ones that tend to get dirty are the two bikes on the back of the trailer. 

Kirk