MTB rack options: adding hitch to swing arm? (1 Viewer)

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Jun 4, 2015
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Reno ,NV
Hi Everyone,

After a decade of resisting, mostly do to cost and not needing another expensive hobby, I finally went ahead and purchased a bike! I've been having a great time but at the moment can't bring my bike on my 80. I have a 4x4 labs dual swing out bumper and need to keep my current setup as it is rather complex with a bunch of electronics wired through it. Has anyone welded a 1.5 inch receiver to a swing arm to cary bikes?

Any other ideas?

THanks!

Dan
 
I’ve still yet to see a person running the bike rack 4x4Labs makes. They only have a couple of far away shots of it in use. Have you looked into them @DanMedeiros ?
 
Bike mounts that bolt on to the spare tire mount have always intrigued me


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I’ve still yet to see a person running the bike rack 4x4Labs makes. They only have a couple of far away shots of it in use. Have you looked into them @DanMedeiros ?
I saw the labs version but I would hate to switch out my can carrier. I use it constantly at work and it has a bunch of wires attached through it including my backup camera
 
I saw the labs version but I would hate to switch out my can carrier. I use it constantly at work and it has a bunch of wires attached through it including my backup camera
Can you weld a receiver to the underside of the basket? Then fabricate a rack to fit the receiver. Might stick out a bit far or create a significant leverage load if you mount several bikes though. How many bikes do you need to carry at a time?

I did something similar on mine. I built a rack that clamps to the step of the 4x4 Labs ladder on my swingout. It required me to remove the front wheel, which was fine for awhile, but once I moved to a bike without a quick release and the rest of the family began MTBing I moved to the Northshore rack that @Marco Lau suggested.
I'm now in the process of fabricating a new rack for the swingout ladder to carry just two bikes. I'm using the DIY handlebar hooks available from Lolo Racks:
Most Versatile Single Bike Rack — Lolo Racks The best vertical 6 bike rack! - https://loloracks.com/store/hook

Ladder rack:
Labs Rack.jpg


Northshore:
northshore cruiser.jpg
 
A few folks have done what you describe. Stole these pics from John Watson from the radavist. 2” receiver welded on to a Labs bumper.
0614DE61-54EF-47A4-92C0-7A81F4BD618E.jpeg
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Take a look at this thread that I posted a while back. I ran this setup until I bought a 100 with a hitch. The spindle itself seems up to the task, but the long square tube seems to flex quite a bit. Didn’t lose a bike, but it’s probably not “my” preferred way to do it...

 
Can you weld a receiver to the underside of the basket? Then fabricate a rack to fit the receiver. Might stick out a bit far or create a significant leverage load if you mount several bikes though. How many bikes do you need to carry at a time?

I did something similar on mine. I built a rack that clamps to the step of the 4x4 Labs ladder on my swingout. It required me to remove the front wheel, which was fine for awhile, but once I moved to a bike without a quick release and the rest of the family began MTBing I moved to the Northshore rack that @Marco Lau suggested.
I'm now in the process of fabricating a new rack for the swingout ladder to carry just two bikes. I'm using the DIY handlebar hooks available from Lolo Racks:
Most Versatile Single Bike Rack — Lolo Racks The best vertical 6 bike rack! - https://loloracks.com/store/hook

Ladder rack:
View attachment 2742483

Northshore:
View attachment 2742484
I just need to carry one or two bikes at most. I was thinking of welding a receiver to the base of the swingoutv
 
A few folks have done what you describe. Stole these pics from John Watson from the radavist. 2” receiver welded on to a Labs bumper.
View attachment 2742604View attachment 2742605
I welded up a 100series 4x4 Labs bumper for a friend and welded on a stinger just like this for his mountain bike. He said he got a lot of flak in the 100 series forum saying it wouldn't be strong enough but in real world use he had no issues with his bike rack and bike on the swing arm.
 
I welded up a 100series 4x4 Labs bumper for a friend and welded on a stinger just like this for his mountain bike. He said he got a lot of flak in the 100 series forum saying it wouldn't be strong enough but in real world use he had no issues with his bike rack and bike on the swing arm.
That seems nice and simple. I'd like to have the bike up pretty high for clearance.


Do you think it would be strong enough for a tray to carry a cooler?
 
My 1up is loaned out to a friend this week but I'll share a photo of my setup next week. I just use an extension in the receiver on the bumper. It interferes with the swing aways but is not that big of a deal.
 
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I’ve made due with this Hollywood rack. Takes a little longer to mount and unmount the bikes but is the lightest setup for 1 or 2 bikes and still allows full swingout. I still would like to try welding a 2” receiver to the Slee swingout arm and go with a real mtb hitch tray rack.
 
The Dissent has a swingout with an additional 2” receiver. This give you any ideas?

FD8649CE-4117-45E0-B827-2BA7933DFB81.jpeg
 
This thread in the bike forum has a lot of interesting info in it. There are some pretty nice custom setups in there.


I've experimented with a number of options myself. I don't currently have anything mounted to my swingouts, but that is the end goal. Having obstructed access to the back gets old fast.
 

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