Bike Rack

[rosco5 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close rosco5]

Hi All,
Thought I would start a new thread re my recent bike rack accessory purchase.

This is not my first bike rack as I have tried a few others trying to get away with doing it cheaper. Some were fitted to earlier Prados as well so here is the scoop:

1) Had one that fits over the spare wheel. Good that the bikes moved with the door so access was great in to the rear cargo, however the bikes moved around too much, it had limited capacity and sometimes the bikes even started to turn on the spare wheel going from horizontal to 45% angle.....scary.

2) Had a tilt version which allows the unit to tilt down so you can open the rear door. This is heavy and awkward and you still find yourself stepping over the bikes to get in to the rear door.

3) If you are carrying bikes a lot on holidays and stop to get access to the rear cargo section, spend the money on a swing arm design which allows the bikes to be swung completely clear from the Prado rear door on a self supporting receiver hitch mounted arm. This is suitable if you are not towing anything as well.

We got a Thule Trailblazer, and whilst quite expensive compared to the others, I found it great to use. There may be other manufacturers of a similar design. But basically it allows for the bikes to be swivelled easily and well clear of the rear door quite quickly.

As we did not want to take a trailer due to the fact we are in and out of populated areas, shops etc while on holidays, this was a great accessory.

Regards Ross

[McBAIN Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close McBAIN]

g'day ross,

got any pics?

[rosco5 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close rosco5]

Pic

This is the only one I have so far

[IRON-PAWW Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close IRON-PAWW]

In the interests of keeping all the Bike Rack stuff together I've resurrected this old thread.

Some time ago I purchased a Rhino-Rack Swagman Bike carrier. It does the job very well but one thing I notice about a lot of bike carriers is that with bikes loaded your number plate gets covered up. Considering it is a big no-no to have your number plate concealed I just wondered if anyone had had trouble with the law concerning this. Here's a pic of bikes loaded.



I find that the "fold down" functionality of the rack a downside of it though. This is where you can basically pull a pin and lay the bikes on the ground to allow access to the rear of the car. Very awkward as you need to support the bikes as you do this. The bikes will twist in their mountings as you lay the whole assembly down horizontally. They really need additional support to stop this happening.

[Kevin Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Kevin]

Re the number plate, while I haven't had any problem with the law, in QLD at least, you can get an accessory number plate, which can be attached to the rear of the bike carrier, from the transport department for around $30.

[lc120_man Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close lc120_man]

Swagman XP comes with optional light/number plate carrier which you can use
http://www.rhinorack.com.au/AccSubCateg ... 91_13.aspx

[siukalo Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close siukalo]

I have got that number plate holder for the rhino swag man. It is a pain in the butt to use. You have to unscrew the bike rack number plate with 2 butterfly screw, washer and a spring washer to remove or mount the bike everytime, gets a bit fiddly. However having said that, I am in NSW, with the cops around here and the pope, if I don't have it I probably get pull over as soon as I drive out my drive way.

[IRON-PAWW Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close IRON-PAWW]

Geez, I never thought to check if Rhino actually had a solution for the problem!! Should have done more research! Thanks for the tip guys I'm going to look into it. Fiddly or not, with my luck concerning being pulled over for small things I'm getting it!

Do you guys mean you can get an actual 3rd number plate? I thought you couldn't do that? Like, any number plate has to be attached to the car itself. Similarly you couldn't have a car without a number plate actually attached to the rear bumper etc, meaning you couldn't remove the rear one from the car and put it on a temporary holder.

[Kevin Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Kevin]

Do you guys mean you can get an actual 3rd number plate? I thought you couldn't do that? Like, any number plate has to be attached to the car itself. Similarly you couldn't have a car without a number plate actually attached to the rear bumper etc, meaning you couldn't remove the rear one from the car and put it on a temporary holder.

It is specifically called an "Accessory Number Plate" and is intended exactly for this purpose.

[Schaffer Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Schaffer]

Went on a trip with some guys form work. There where two fellas who wanted to do the track (Border Track from Pinnarro to Border Town) on mountain bikes. THey gave up as the track is pretty hard going on a bike. The rack that was on my mates car carried the bikes through most of the track on the first day until the rack gave way.

This is the best picture I have of it:

Obviously wasn't on the trip to take photos of a bike rack

The rack failed at two points. The first was a locking bolt near the two bar through the main upright that ripped through the steel. The second point where it failed was the right angle with the cross arm at the top of the main upright sagged down under the weight of the two mountain bikes.

Of the two bikes, one of them was a fairly expensive lightweight jobby and the other was just a cheap basic heavy bike. No damage to the LC and only slight scuffing to the paint on one of the bikes as it was a sandy environment.

I guess I don't think that there would be a bike rack out there designed to take bikes along on a real track where there is a reasonable amount of pounding from the weight of the bikes over variable terrain.

[siukalo Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close siukalo]

If you have read the manual that comes with any bike carrier, they specificly say NOT DESIGN FOR OFFROAD use. As for the cross arm, it happens to me as well on normal seal road. I just tighten the nuts more and it solves it. Never had taken that rack offroad.

If you want to go offroad with bikes, I think your best bet is those roof mounted ones with the front wheel taken off the bike like rola ones.

[buggrd Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close buggrd]

Just Bought a Std 3 up Mac Rack (non tilt, non anything) as an interim for $25 off E-bay...
Ordered Bike Plate from RTA $33 (3 weeks delivery)
Basic Stop/Tail/License trailer lamp is $8 + plug + cable for night time travels....any tips on a LED brand ??
"Tow Ball spanner" $12 - it also has the correct size for Original toyo hitch pin bolt !

Wasn't too much of a pain in the @$$ for the boss to remove the hitch/bikerack complete to get access to the scooter smaller bike and food inside the back on a recent outing to the local park (school Hols).

P.S. Girls Kids bikes - 16", 20" & bike rack *%$#@!~ !!!!! (take the ute)
$20 for conversion bar........

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

I gave up on the overhead style once we had three full sized mountain bikes to cart around. Too much money hanging off the temporary support between the seatpost and the stem. Especially since all the seatposts are quick releases. Tying the bikes down was a pain and they still bounced around too much and were always getting damaged.

This is what I ended up with. The rack mounts out of the towbar hitch carrier. Strong, not too heavy for one person to fit and supports the bikes off the wheels and crank. No problems over rough ground.







I fitted lights and the accessory plate since you cannot see anything behind the bikes and it is just not worth the trouble if you get stopped. Accessory plate in Qld is $56 from memory. Lights were the cheapest things I could find and the bracket is some off cut Z purlin screwed into the bike rack.

Two quick release tie downs from the stem and seat stay and you are ready to go in 10 minutes.

If anyone is interested in the manufacturer pm me and I will send you the link.

[nordic venture Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close nordic venture]

mjrandom, that cycle rack sure looks good, but can you access the rear without having to remove it? if not, is it easy and quick to remove from the tow ball?

at the moment i carry the 2 kids bikes on a carrier fitted to the spare wheel and our 2 mountain bikes on the roof. the snag is that you need to be an olympic gymnast to get 'em up there and the all up height is 2.90M.

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

The rear door can open with the bike rack in place (no bikes obviously) as the door clears easily. Two people can remove the whole thing from the tow hitch with bikes on (total weight probably 55kg), just remove the trailer plug for lights and remove the hitch pin. Or remove the first or all the bikes. With the inner bike off the door opens enough to get inside. These options are inconvenient if you are stopping mid journey but you still have access from the inside. The 'beak' style or overhead bike carrier was worse because it was not possible to remove the carrier and bikes together if you had to and with the rack in place the door couldn't open very far even when empty.

I am very happy with the rack we have. I used it yesterday when I rode a trail to check it out for a weekend group ride (hmmm lots of mud and creek crossings, it is going to be a very messy Sunday :lol: ) and then transported three bikes around last night. Got home and 10 minutes later bikes and rack off.