I have two tracks/rails for Thule towers mounted to the top of my Aluminess Deluxe Box. I'm mounting the towers and bars now and am looking for some pictures of Thule bike mounts you are using for two bikes. Any pictures of what works well would be great! I have attached a photo of the rails and one tower to show what I'm talking about. Thank you!
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05' Tan SMB 4x4 6.0L Diesel E-350 EB-50 Rock Crawler Trailer
Re: Aluminess Deluxe Box mounted bike rack examples
Here's mine:
It's the same as your setup only with Yakima stuff. It works pretty well.
Here's a thread with some pics showing how we transport ours. The Yakima racks cantilever out pretty far so I made a support out of a 4x4 and wrapped it with bike tube to waterproof it. To secure it I screwed big flathead screws at the same width as the long groove under the Yakima rack and slide the support under the racks until its snugs over the tire- it anchors it well without movement, you can see it in one of the pics in the link.
Re: Aluminess Deluxe Box mounted bike rack examples
Hello,
As a tip for you and anyone else out there that uses this type of bike rack setup, we HIGHLY recommend you reinforce the box for all the leverage the bikes create. You will want to install a backing plate where the box mounts to the swing arm as well as below the tracks of the bike rack. If you have any questions about this please feel free to call 619-449-9930 us or e-mail us aluminess@sbcglobal.net.
Re: Aluminess Deluxe Box mounted bike rack examples
Thanks for the info! We made it from Carbondale to Silverton, Durango, Buena Vista and back over Indpendence Pass using the support idea under the rear wheel tray. It was much easier to load than climbing up to the roof every time. I can see the need to reinforce the box so I'll reach out separately to you on recommendations there. Hope you had a great 4th! Cheers.
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05' Tan SMB 4x4 6.0L Diesel E-350 EB-50 Rock Crawler Trailer
Re: Aluminess Deluxe Box mounted bike rack examples
I wanted to add this here too...We recently upgraded our rear bike rack layout and wanted to share it. We used 1 Up USA roof racks and came up with an interesting way to support the cantilevered portion above the spare tire in the rear- sway bar bushings! When they are rotated with the flat part over the tire the box/ bikes swing out without problems but when they're rotated they're very snug on the tire with zero sag and they're very solid- we love how secure they are! I check the box every time the bikes are loaded and have no signs of wear.