Exterior Expanda Bike Rack - Tow hitch mounted to rear bar

[paulpaul]

For anyone interested, we just finished making a tow hitch up for my expanda.
We welded a square hitch receiver underneath the rear bar, same size as a normal vehicle tow bar, and braced/gussetted it so it was nice and strong. We've painted it with Galvanising Primer, and paint so it matches pretty well.

The rear bar on these is only rated to 150kg, so you need to be careful not to load it up with too much stuff, but bikes generally won't come in at much more than about 15-20kg each plus the bike rack.

I just used my regular bike rack that goes into the hitch receiver on my car... Nice cheap way to get a bike rack on the van..

I'm located in Oakleigh in Melbourne if anyone wants one, $290 all up. Call 03 8564 0317 - Paul.

 

[Dobbie]

I'd be a little worried about the wobble effect on the back of the van.

Could be a good idea but they'd need strapping on very securely so they don't come loose or damage the van.

Our two bikes were mounted on a simple carrier on the rear bar and were last seen somewhere north of Longreach.

I don't want to discourage you but I'd try them out over dirt roads before trusting them on a longer trip.

 

[paulpaul]

I'd be a little worried about the wobble effect on the back of the van.

Could be a good idea but they'd need strapping on very securely so they don't come loose or damage the van.

Our two bikes were mounted on a simple carrier on the rear bar and were last seen somewhere north of Longreach.

I don't want to discourage you but I'd try them out over dirt roads before trusting them on a longer trip.

I'll be looking at something like this for the bike rack -

http://www.isi-carriers.com/

i'm quite sure the mount will be fine, but you need a pretty good quality rack for a 'caravan' application whether it's front or rear...