Yakima bike rack

[Baran]

Here is my plan so far. I have the low rider mounts and 48" crossbars. I have 2 raptor bike racks on them I want to get the megawarrior basket with extension and and longer bars. Then I would like to get two of the vipers bike racks and place them as far out on the bars as possiable giving me a total carrying load of 4 bikes. two mounted ontop of the megawarroir basket and 2 mounted on the Vipers on the sides of the basket. I would then finish it off with 4 of the light mounts on the front of the basket, one on each side and 2 on the rear of the basket.

one question I have is the low riders attached to the stock rust rack and was thinking about getting the megawarrior basket extension this would bring the total length of the basket to around 72". would this be to much overhang. i'm thinking it would extend to somewhere over the moon roof but not sure.

I could replace the lower rider mounts with the gutter mounts but this would mean that I have to not only toss my 48" bars but also all 4 lowriders, about $300 worth of parts.

Anyone tried this setup or somewhat close to this? thoughts , ideas?

Thanks

below are pics of the setup I have now.

P.s. ARB winch bumper is inbound.

 

[Ricshaw driver]

Sorry to hijack but any difficulties loading a bike on top of your lc? I have the lowrider bars and am contemplating the hitch mount vs the top mount racks.
thanks

 

[Baran]

this is one of the main reasons that i'm looking into the Vipers. they have the front fork mounts. if you notice in the pic above I have the Raptors . These are very stable once you get the bike locked in place but it is a royal PITA to load them by yourself...With the vipers you just have to get the front fork in the axle clamp and the rear wheel in the tray and it will hold it self up untill you are able to tighten it down.

I'm going to get the longer bars and the vipers for the outside and this should make it a lot eaiser to transport one or two bikes on a weekly basis but once every couple of months or so i need to move 4 or more bikes to the trail head. in this case I will have a 2nd person to help hold the bikes in place while loading on the center raptors... then again I hope to have this be a mute point someday when I have the dual swing out bumper with the Ladder from 4x4 labs.

if you transport you bikes moslty by yourself dont make the mistake I did ..if you get a rack mount ,get a viper. cruisers are just to tall. It will really be something getting them up there when I get my 6" lift going on but again hope to have the rear ladder by then.
HTH

P.s. check out my newly paited gloss black rattle can painted center caps and also my newly installed color matched wiper blades. KAPOW! you know you like'm
-Baran

 

[Lugboot]

ooooooh . . . color matched . . . .

I'll try to get a pic up for you of my setup when it's loaded this week. IMHO, I would skip the lowriders if possible since the raingutter towers will take a greater amount of weight, which you'll probably be throwing up there if you get a MegaWarrior. You can usually source raingutter towers used pretty easily, too, since most cars no longer use them and a lot of people have them laying around collecting dust these days. I got a set for a case of beer--gotta love mountain bikers.

I'll be running a Blacktop Pro 21 roof box on mine (21 cubic feet, 3 feet wide) plus 3-4 bikes on the outside of the towers on SteelHeads on 78" crossbars. The Steelheads will be flipflopped to fit the bikes closer togerther. Obviously don't try to wheel with this setup!

BTW--take another look at Steelheads, even if you have disk brakes. I believe they are cheaper than the Vipers and you can still fit disk brakes by taking a pair of visegrips or pliers and bending in the lip of the wheel tray to clear the brake caliper. I've done this on all the Steelheads I own and can mount up my disk brake bikes with no problem. I've even had friends cut notches out of the wall of the tray to fit their disk brakes with no ill effect to the tray.

One more thought--if you want to keep your wheels on, take a look at the AnkleBiters, too. They grip the crank arm and are easier for one person to load. I have one of them as well.

Good luck!

 

[Fly Rod]

First off: sell the low riders and bars. Take the factory rack off. That will serve multiple purposes. One it will give you an excuse to buy the stuff you need. Second it will get rid of the pos factory towers. I just did this on mine and it ended the pooling of water in the second row seating when it rained. My tower mounting nuts were loose or non existant. The paint was also worn through to the metal under the feet.

Now that you have a clean slate you can buy the gutter mounts and build you system.

When I was racing mountain bikes here is how I set up. I used three bars on top. This allowed me to run four bikes. Two on the front two bars and two on the back two bars. Wheel carriers on the back bars and a basket on the front bars.

In your case this would allow to go as long as you want with the extension. It will also keep more basket space open for stuff. Spreading the load over three bars also improves load carrying capacity. Consider getting wheel carriers to keep the crud out of the back of the truck. Just make sure the skewers are tight and tie the wheels so they don't spin.

Buying the longer bars will not cause a problem if you are running larger tires or a lift. When stock there may be risk of head/bar interaction after you put the ARB on. You will be very happy with the fork mount racks. I use the Steelhead racks and they are bomber. They are far easier to load on a tall rig.

 

[FirstToy]

I really like hitch mounts for suv's. top is pretty inconvienent, esp mt bikes.

hitch is more aero (better mpgs), you dont have to worry about peeling the cap back on drive thrus or low overhangs, super easy to load

One great thing on the 80 is the nice, tall interior. I can put bikes inside which is the best if you have the space.

 

[e_parise]

Im getting the Mega-load warrior with the 2 extensions to make it a full-size rack. Then fabbing the 1A towers to make it super low profile and snug to the roof. 4 light mounts and Im good to go. I also have the yakima hookup which holds two bikes in trays and goes in the receiver. But i work at a local bike shop and my high school budget is the only reason Im going with the yakima roof rack instead of an ARB.


I had 3 king cobras on top but i recently caught a power line in town and destroyed the rack. 80 is fine, bike is solid, too bad for the rack. But yakima is sending another one out no charge

 

[Rookie2]

I also have the yakima hookup which holds two bikes in trays and goes in the receiver. But i work at a local bike shop and my high school budget is the only reason Im going with the yakima roof rack instead of an ARB.

I had 3 king cobras on top but i recently caught a power line in town and destroyed the rack. 80 is fine, bike is solid, too bad for the rack. But yakima is sending another one out no charge

So why are you guys so intent on going with a roof top system? The hitch version seems so much easier to deal with and you don't have the problem of eventially hitting something.

 

[jmvar]

love my hitch rack. It is thule's knock off of the sportworks rack.

This things is solid and has no problems carrying heavy 3 downhill bikes. I have not had the chance to put 4 downhill bikes on there but I will report back when I do.

In this pic i loaded the bikes in the 2 center trays and had plenty of room to open and get stuff in and out of the back.

 

[zukatude]

Is there a hitch rack that holds 2 adult sized bikes and 2 smaller kid sized bikes?

 

[Baran]

I think that for myself the rear hitch is not going to be an option when you have rear swing out bumer, tire/gas can carrier. I like the idea of doing away with the low riders and going with 3 or 4 cross bars and guttermounts. I wish ARB made more options for there rack as far as add-ons go.

As for removing the factory rack. I don't really have a need to. I belive the tower gutter mounts will clear it and the truck has only ever been in southwest arizona so I'm pretty sure rust is not an issue. be more of a pain to remove than I think it would be worth.

I may just try to Ebay the gutter mounts and crossbars to take some of the bite out of wasting $ on the lowriders.

I will look into the ankel biters and steal head mounts also.

 

[Rookie2]

I belive the tower gutter mounts will clear it

If you talking about the Yakima A1 towers, yes they everything fine.

I may just try to Ebay the gutter mounts and crossbars to take some of the bite out of wasting $ on the lowriders.

You can definitely save some cash buying these items on Ebay.


Rookie2

 

[GeoRoss]

I hear where you are coming from. I have a Yakima 4-bike hitch mount. I can't use it as is with the 4x4Labs bumper. However, with a minor bit of fabbing, I will be able to make it work. I think.

I think that for myself the rear hitch is not going to be an option when you have rear swing out bumer, tire/gas can carrier. I like the idea of doing away with the low riders and going with 3 or 4 cross bars and guttermounts. I wish ARB made more options for there rack as far as add-ons go.

As for removing the factory rack. I don't really have a need to. I belive the tower gutter mounts will clear it and the truck has only ever been in southwest arizona so I'm pretty sure rust is not an issue. be more of a pain to remove than I think it would be worth.

I may just try to Ebay the gutter mounts and crossbars to take some of the bite out of wasting $ on the lowriders.

I will look into the ankel biters and steal head mounts also.

 

[Fly Rod]

So why are you guys so intent on going with a roof top system? The hitch version seems so much easier to deal with and you don't have the problem of eventially hitting something.

First off, I only ride XC bikes not downhill. Weight is not a big factor for me as my current ride is @ 23 lbs. Overhead collisions are something I can control by using my brain. A rear end collision is something I can't control. I don't want to have a $5,000 bike, or two, hanging out back for the next brain dead idiot to crush. Or worse yet having a 30 year old classic crushed. Just my personal preference.

 

[Baran]

LOL my wife is going to kill me... I just droped the $1200 or so to get the ARB and AC dryer skid plate and now I'm looking at spending cash on some kind of rack system. when I "already have a an f'n bike rack". then I think i will do the slee drawers. I would like to do the outback lift someday and cant forget a rear bumper along with the snorkel ..larger tires. dual batts. sliders,gears, Laptop, GPS, bla bla bla, she is never going to forgive me

I tell her though well could be worse I could be blowing it on bicycles of wich I have 5 that are > $2000 each. or guitars of rifles.... god how do they put up with us?

I remember thinking when i first brought my 80 home ...hummm lets see what mods are avaiable for it. little did I know.

thanks for all the advice with the rack ideas.

 

[jmvar]

Is there a hitch rack that holds 2 adult sized bikes and 2 smaller kid sized bikes?

the tray that holds the rear wheel on my thule rack slides in order to adjust for wheel base. I would take the kid's bikes into a thule dealer to see if it will hold the smaller wheels.

You can also try one of yakima's or thule's other hitch rack's, I mainly got the one I have because it is the easiest to fit all style of downhill bikes with weird frames. My specialized bighit does not work well with the racks that hold the bike at the frame.

let me know if you have any other questions

 

[e_parise]

you know, both thule and yakima make a 2" extender hitch. thats what i use with my kaymar

 

[Baran]

I think I might just go with the ARB and get 4 of the axel mounts and weld them on the front of the arb. or maybe two on the front and two more off set on the back and then just have bungie cables for the rear tires.


any one else have any ideas on how to mount 4 bikes on an ARB rack ...I know I could just stack them on it but with the cost of the bikes I transport this is not an option.

 

[Fly Rod]

I think I might just go with the ARB and get 4 of the axel mounts and weld them on the front of the arb. or maybe two on the front and two more off set on the back and then just have bungie cables for the rear tires.


any one else have any ideas on how to mount 4 bikes on an ARB rack ...I know I could just stack them on it but with the cost of the bikes I transport this is not an option.

Mount the scewer mounts to a 2x10. Then tie or clamp the 2x10 in place in the basket. I did this for a while when I was camping alot. Pulled the 2x10 out to free up space when I didn't carry the bikes. Also keeps your nice ARB original, if that is important to you. You can also look for the 1/2 trays for the rear tire. You could easily fab a rail to carry them.

 

[Lugboot]

... I tell her though well could be worse I could be blowing it on bicycles of wich I have 5 that are > $2000 each. or guitars of rifles.... god how do they put up with us?

I remember thinking when i first brought my 80 home ...hummm lets see what mods are avaiable for it. little did I know.

thanks for all the advice with the rack ideas.

Here's a solution--make sure her bikes are more expensive than yours. Then she can't say much! We bought my wife a custom road bike and a top-end Trek Fuel 100 . . . my road bike is only worth about $300 and my mtn bike is about $2000 less than hers! So now I have a 29er SS as well . . . and more to come .. .

So why are you guys so intent on going with a roof top system? The hitch version seems so much easier to deal with and you don't have the problem of eventially hitting something.

I tow a pop-up on some trips as well. Can't rely on the accessibility of a hitch. I'll get a pic up of the loaded rig from this past weekend's 24-hour race.