Bike Racks

[alta825]

Anyone using the Northshore Rack in conjunction with an Aluminess rear bumper with the spare tire and the deluxre rear box swingouts? The pictured Ruenel setup above doesnt look quite as 'bulky' as the Aluminess versions. Can you lower it enough to get access to the back of the van?

[carringb]

Originally Posted by alta825

Anyone using the Northshore Rack in conjunction with an Aluminess rear bumper with the spare tire and the deluxre rear box swingouts? The pictured Ruenel setup above doesnt look quite as 'bulky' as the Aluminess versions. Can you lower it enough to get access to the back of the van?

The Reunel is about the same overall size as the Aluminess, but the big difference is Reunels have a built-in hitch receiver, which effectively puts it rear-ward more than most hitch receivers.

Also very important, the Reunel is rated for 6,000 pounds of Tongue weight (20k total), Class-3 receivers are only good for 500 pounds, and some class 5's go up to 1200 pounds. 4-downhill hikes, on a heavy rack, with an extension could put the effective tongue weight over the rating of a Class-3 receiver.

[alta825]

No problem on the tongue weight. Running the DrawTite Class V with a 1200-1500lb rating. Just curious to the rack fitment since my hitch is below the bumper vs built in like my old Ruenel

[Peppy]

There's an adapter on my Reunel that raises the rack up a little and pushes it out a little more. I have complete access to the back of the van when I fold down the rack. Even without the adapter there would still be room to open everything.

[Shredmobile]

Originally Posted by alta825

No problem on the tongue weight. Running the DrawTite Class V with a 1200-1500lb rating. Just curious to the rack fitment since my hitch is below the bumper vs built in like my old Ruenel

What is the clearance you need from hitch to clear the box? I will measure mine northshore 4-pack rack that is on my SMB and let you know what i think.

I have the rear door ladder and keep the rack in the 3rd pin position and it has plenty of clearance. There is also enough room to keep bikes on, lower the rack and access the back of the SMB.

I would like to know how this works as well because i looking at getting the aluminess bumper with tire swing arm.

[rltilley]

I mainly travel with two bikes on the deluxe box but got this rack for the fat bike or when I need to carry more than two bikes. It clears the tire & box with a hitch extension & I am able to access the rear doors with the rack folded down.

I've since replaced the racks on the box with 1up racks that will fit the fat bike so now this just gets used when I need to carry more than two bikes. I leave the hitch extension in since it also acts as a nice step.

[trquinn]

rltilley - is that a custom bike rack you made for the top of the deluxe box? It does not look like the aluminess rack (which they don't make anymore). From the pictures it looks like you mounted two short pieces of Thule or similar track to the box. Just curious if that is what you did and if that has worked out well. I want to eventually get an aluminess bumper so I can mount my spare (so I can get bigger tires) and two bikes like you did.

[rltilley]

That was installed by Sportsmobile and it is just short Thule bars on there. So far it has worked out great. The box needs to be reinforced in order to handle the added weight but it carries my 38 lb fat bike along with another bike without issue. Only problem is I need a step to get bikes on & off. I have better picture of the mounting here:

https://roberttilley.smugmug.com/Car...le/i-VgrnnZB/A

[dirtanddogfur]

What reinforcements were done to the deluxe box to accommodate the rack on top? I looked at your pictures. I wasn't exactly sure what I was looking at.

[rltilley]

Originally Posted by dirtanddogfur

What reinforcements were done to the deluxe box to accommodate the rack on top? I looked at your pictures. I wasn't exactly sure what I was looking at.

You can somewhat see in the pics linked to below. There is an internal bracket to keep the box from twisting due to the added weight. SMB originally had the bracket on the outside of the box & it wasn't mounted with bolts through the swing arm tubing. When I visited Aluminess to get some other work down they noticed and fixed it for me. They way it was could have caused issues. You can see where the bracket used to be in the last link below.

https://roberttilley.smugmug.com/Cars/Sportsmobile/i-cPfpqcF

https://roberttilley.smugmug.com/Cars/Sportsmobile/i-GHGVQSG

https://roberttilley.smugmug.com/Cars/Sportsmobile/i-GVwQ6hx