For those of you who run a bike rack on top of your aluminess bumper

[seal]

As in one on top of the storage box

I’m curious what you use to load/unload. Currently I have fold flat stool that gets me up about 10 inches. This gives me just enough reach when loading the bike but after a long ride I struggle to get a FS MTB up. it seems like it’s inevitably going to give me a pedal to the face or twisted ankle.

Before I start carrying a 2 foot stepladder, I figured I would ask in case I’m overworking something. A hitch mounted step seems 50-50. It would either work great or if for any reason you can’t do it in one swift motion your going to get hurt.

[Twoxentrix]

I've been toying with all kinds of ideas the last several years to accomplish basically the same.
We have two 60lb e-bikes which are becoming increasingly harder to lift high enough for a rear bike rack - and not interested in an extended hitch rack which would push 2 bikes past the Aliminess box & tire on an EB (and I wanted something I could do solo.)
I Even worked with a 2 separate fabricator's on several occasions but couldn't come up with a viable way to mount a 'hoist mechanism" which would still allow the rear doors to open. So, conclusion was it had to be a temporary solution which could be easily removed & set-up.
Then I came across these (saved the links a while back) so figured I'd share to see if they interest you - the first one really has some promise if you reshape the lift bar to grab the lower portion of the bikes frame, and looks like it would be easy enough to break down to store in my Thule roof box:
https://www.amazon.com/VEVOR-Mounted...2727103&sr=8-5

Other 'options' I contemplated:
https://www.temu.com/ul/kuiper/un9.h...SABEgLLAPD_BwE
https://www.temu.com/ul/kuiper/un9.h...yABEgK4zPD_BwE
https://www.vevor.com/davit-crane-c_...SAGEgIipfD_BwE

[seal]

Originally Posted by Twoxentrix

I've been toying with all kinds of ideas the last several years to accomplish basically the same.
We have two 60lb e-bikes which are becoming increasingly harder to lift high enough for a rear bike rack - and not interested in an extended hitch rack which would push 2 bikes past the Aliminess box & tire on an EB (and I wanted something I could do solo.)
I Even worked with a 2 separate fabricator's on several occasions but couldn't come up with a viable way to mount a 'hoist mechanism" which would still allow the rear doors to open. So, conclusion was it had to be a temporary solution which could be easily removed & set-up.
Then I came across these (saved the links a while back) so figured I'd share to see if they interest you - the first one really has some promise if you reshape the lift bar to grab the lower portion of the bikes frame, and looks like it would be easy enough to break down to store in my Thule roof box:
https://www.amazon.com/VEVOR-Mounted...2727103&sr=8-5

Other 'options' I contemplated:
https://www.temu.com/ul/kuiper/un9.h...SABEgLLAPD_BwE
https://www.temu.com/ul/kuiper/un9.h...yABEgK4zPD_BwE
https://www.vevor.com/davit-crane-c_...SAGEgIipfD_BwE

Oh wow and I thought mine was heavy, my bike is around 32 pounds, forget about lifting a 60.

I cant tell from your pics but is the top of your rack higher than the top of the bike in its stored position? If it is I wonder if you could fabricate a U shaped frame that pivots on the rear end of your rack. So in its storage position the U would be flipped towards the front of the van and sit on top of the rack rails, than flip it over and you have mounting points for one of those hoists to pull your bike up to the ceiling for storage. Even if the top of the rack is lower than your max required lifting height the frame could have an offset that raises the height. Only downside to that is when its in the storage position it would take up space on your rack.

[jim v.]

I found a used AMP Bed Step 2 on Craigslist and mounted it to the bottom of my storage box (used a piece of aluminum diamond plate to reinforce the bottom of the box) - worked pretty well for me - still a bit of a pain, but manageable

[seal]

Originally Posted by jim v.

I found a used AMP Bed Step 2 on Craigslist and mounted it to the bottom of my storage box (used a piece of aluminum diamond plate to reinforce the bottom of the box) - worked pretty well for me - still a bit of a pain, but manageable

That got my brain going, I have an idea now....thx

[Aldercrest]

Originally Posted by seal

That got my brain going, I have an idea now....thx

I’m tall enough that I can load the bikes on the rack (barely). I did have to buy a small folding stepladder in order to load kayaks on top of another car. It’s also useful for loading skis and poles in the rooftop box in that car.