Mounting a bicycle carrier with a dual hitch receiver?

Cheryl74074

Has anyone tried something like this? We'd like to take our bikes with us while traveling, but we'd also like to unhitch the trailer and still have the bikes on the car. 

andyhe

I haven't tried that particular one.  I have the same issue and am considering this dual receiver extender which looks a little simpler... 

http://www.hitchsource.com/dual-receiver-extender-p-30399.html

( All the links are from hitchsource but do not take that as a recommendation, just a place that happens to stock what I'm looking at. )

Since I don't currently have a bike rack, I'm contemplating going with a longer standard ball mount (and I needed the six inch drop anyway) such as :

http://www.hitchsource.com/ball-mount-drop-1425-length-p-16322.html

and then go with a bike rack like this:

http://www.hitchsource.com/swagman-traveler-xcs-rv-tow-mount-rack-p-32070.html?manufacturers_id=23

I'm replacing the existing front trailer wheel with one that mounts on the side of the frame and swings up (because I want more ground clearance) so it won't be an issue for bike rack placement.

Someone in another thread posted a picture of their setup with a swagman but it was a different model and seemed to work well. I'll let you know how it goes with mine and I'm curious to see how your setup progresses. 

-Andy

Cyclonic

Yes, I have a Swagman rack that wraps around the drawbar.  You need an extended bar, at least 11", but it works very well.  Here is a shot:

Cheryl74074

Thanks Andy- that dual receiver extender looks good and reduces the number of moving parts that could create noise.

Cheryl74074

Nathan- I've never seen that. Thanks!

Lisa33

I used a setup similar to what you are considering, Andy. I was actually considering using that same Swagman rack, too. However, I decided against it, I think because it doesn't have the ability to tilt away from the back of the tow vehicle. The one thing I'll suggest that you consider is that the longer your drawbar assembly is, the more likely that you will bottom out on driveway aprons and the like. That's what happened to me, anyway.

andyhe

Good feedback Lisa.  Hmm... since I haven't bought the bike rack yet, perhaps I'll go for the dual receiver instead and get a bike rack that tilts away.  I'm out the cost of the long drawbar but that was under $30 and I would really rather not bottom out. 

andyhe

Oh wait... with the dual receiver it still pushes out the ball to what it would be with the longer drawbar, just it's two pieces rather than a single long drawbar.  So yeah, the fact that the bike rack doesn't pivot is an issue but either way I have to worry about bottoming out. 

The T@B bike rack solves both the bottoming out problem and the being able to get to the back of the truck but at $575 it's just a bit steep.  The only drawback besides the price is that it somewhat has the bikes blocking the view out the window.

radren

I was looking at the same kind of setup but my dealer said it would really change the tongue weight. Anyone have an issue with that set up?

Cyclonic

The Swagman rack does tilt away, just pull one of the pin, lift up a little and it will tilt away.

Cyclonic

Andy, another draw back of the T@B rack is that you cannot leave the trailer and track the bikes with you, say if a trail head is not near camp.

I have not had a problem with tongue weight with this setup, bit it does increase it. Move thing about the T@B is that tongue weight is easy to adjust by simply moving some items to the back of the trailer.

andyhe

Good points Cyclonic... thanks for info.