Bikes/Rear Road Armour Bumper/Aluminess Deluxe Box Help

[lactic]

I have been looking for an elegant solution for carrying my mountain bikes for over a year now and I'm ready to find a permanent solution.

Thus far, I have been using a elevated hitch extension and a cargo tray with bolt-on fork mounts from Rocky Mounts. While this holds the bikes well, I have to remove them every time I need to get into the back of the van. Major pain. Also, when doing light offroading, the extra length is definitely a hindrance.

Bad pic but you get the idea


Ideally, I would get rid of my Road Armour rear bumper and replace it with a Aluminess bumper with Deluxe box so I could mount a rack over the box/spare tire. That could get pricey though. Anyone want to trade bumpers?

The other option is to continue using my cargo tray but also purchase the Stowaway2 Swingaway steel frame. While this wouldn't help with my rear ground clearance issues, it would at least allow me into the back of the van.



Do you think I could make the Aluminess Deluxe box work with the Road Armour rear bumper? The right arm hinge seems quite beefy but still much shorter than the Aluminess hinge.

Pic of the right rear hinge of the Road Armour bumper


While I GREATLY prefer the stability of a fork mounted tray system, I am also reluctantly considering the Yakima SwingDaddy system. At least I could access the back and clearance would be improved.



I've searched the threads but figured I would make one last effort to solicit ideas before I pulled the trigger.

Thanks!

[jage]

Since this is a permanent mount could you weld/bold a swing arm directly to the bumper- about where your license plate is?

I'm guessing the Road Armor bumper is steel and therefore easy to work with. By going directly to the bumper you free up your hitch for recovery or other uses and you gain at least a few inches of clearance.

[oclv]

Lactic,
you and I have been in the same situation all year. As you know, we purchased the Saris Cycle On Pro. I am very happy with it. Nothing touches the bicycle frames. The bikes go on and off in seconds. I can open the passenger side rear door with the bikes off, and with a little messaging I can open the driver side rear door. My wife and I were in Moab in May and met another Sportsmobile owner. He had the Aluminess rear bumper. He had Aluminess do a swinging frame on the passenger side where the box would normally go. On this frame he mounted his fork mounted bike vices. He had rigged up a tray at the other end to hold the rear tire. This whole assembly would swing out of the way. It was a neat set up. When I am ready to buy a new bumper I think I will go this route. I can get him in touch with you if you need more information. oclv

[lactic]

Something like this? Sorry for using a pic of someones vehicle without permission but I've been looking at this as a solution for quite a while.

I see this an an ideal solution. I guess I just need to go find a good welding/fabrication shop. The rear bumper is steel so adding on should be pretty easy.

Jage- know of any good shops in Denver?

[outopawn]

Adam,

Here is some Pics of the box I puchased from Canyon Clan

The bike rack swings out with the box and when folded down is out of the way. Aluminess recomends that you do not leave the swing arm out when you have the rack loaded with bikes especially when you also have 5 gallons of fuel as well. It definelty does not rattle like most of the hitch mount racks I have had in the past. I do not know if you can adapt this box to your Road Armor bumper - might have to switch to Aluminess.

I am also able to load bikes even when I have my Trailer hitched up.









Steve

[jage]

Ken's Welding
(303) 289-5573
2555 E 70th Ave
Denver, CO

These guys redid my trailer spare mount repairs. Simple stuff but it was in and out the same day, clean work, nice guys.

[lactic]

Thanks Jage for that info!

Now I'm really brainstorming! If I went to a fab shop, I would consider running the bikes sideways across the back and somehow elevated over my existing box or add a larger deluxe box like the previous pic. Another option I was thinking was to create a "tilted platform" like the CRUDE drawings below and install bike trays. Kind of like a roof rack falling off the back of the van. I currently only use the rear box for firewood and garbage so it looks like it would still be functional.

That way, it would open with the passenger rear door, good clearance, and each one of the bikes would be accessible at any given time. It would be a little bit of a challenge to get them up and locked in but no more so that lifting the bikes into my rafters in the garage.

Thoughts? Anything I'm brainfarting about?

Side View


Back View


EDIT:

Apparently Aluminess is ahead of me on this thought process. Just pulled this off their webpage. Haven't ever seen this option before. Must be what oclv was referencing!



Or I can pick this up for $75, cut it down, bolt it to the existing basket and call it done...

[Greg In Austin]

Lactic,

For carrying the bikes vertically, check out the DraftMaster. At some point we will get one of these for carrying a tandem.

For another option check out the HollyWood sport rack; this is what we went with. We also did not want the bikes to be swinging around on a frame carrying rack. After talking to Yakima directly we determined that the racks we were looking at would not hold up off-raod; that is what Yakima told us. They recommended the Hollywood solution.

For yet another option for carrying the bikes across the back of the van, check out BadgerTrek.com

Good Luck

[BroncoHauler]

Lactic,

That new Aluminess solution is pretty sweet. I guess we need to have multiple swingarms now that we can change out when needed.

Did you notice that the pic shows it mounted on a non-Aluminess bumper? What's up with that?

I did see two pics of Blackeye's rig on their website.





Herb

[jage]

Lactic, I've got a box/fab project or two for the rear aluminess. If you're doing something fancy maybe we should get together and collaborate. You have any friends with a shop?