Aluminum Camper Forum

Towing => Hitches => Topic started by: J_Westy on June 18, 2015, 02:56:39 PM

Title: Dual Hitch for Bike Rack
Post by: J_Westy on June 18, 2015, 02:56:39 PM
As I'm packing up for our NH & ME trip, I snapped some pictures of my dual hitch set up.

It's a Curt dual hitch that I modified with a threaded insert from Mcmaster-Carr so I could run a Drawtite hitch tightener. The tow bar in this thing is solid, so I couldn't use the "nut" that would normally go inside the "tube" of the tow bar.
http://www.etrailer.com/Locks/Lets-Go-Aero/63232.html (http://www.etrailer.com/Locks/Lets-Go-Aero/63232.html)
http://www.mcmaster.com/#91731a058/=xohgi9 (http://www.mcmaster.com/#91731a058/=xohgi9)

The hitch tightener for the tow bar is from stowaway2.com:
http://www.stowaway2.com/store/products/601/StowAway-Hitch-Tightener (http://www.stowaway2.com/store/products/601/StowAway-Hitch-Tightener)
I highly recommend these. They are simple and dead solid.

The bike rack is 1upusa. Awesome rack if you're not familiar with them. Last rack you'll every buy. They come in 1, 2, 3 & 4 bike versions and are really modular to do what ever you need them to do.
http://1upusa.com/ (http://1upusa.com/)

My 10.0 has an 18" longer tongue than normal (thanks to LivinLite for the customization) which, along with the long tow bar, gives me enough clearance for everything.

(http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b305/jeff_westy/Quicksilver10_0/IMG_0954.jpg)

(http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b305/jeff_westy/Quicksilver10_0/IMG_0955.jpg)

(http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b305/jeff_westy/Quicksilver10_0/IMG_0956.jpg)
Title: Re: Dual Hitch for Bike Rack
Post by: rideandfly on June 18, 2015, 02:59:15 PM
Neat looking rack!

It's great LivinLite extended the hitch for you!
Title: Re: Dual Hitch for Bike Rack
Post by: Paul on June 18, 2015, 05:49:47 PM
I do have a 1up usa rack for my roof they are very good
Title: Re: Dual Hitch for Bike Rack
Post by: J_Westy on June 18, 2015, 05:58:31 PM
Quote from: Paul on June 18, 2015, 05:49:47 PM
I do have a 1up usa rack for my roof they are very good

Sweet. I've heard they work really well for fat bikes.
Title: Re: Dual Hitch for Bike Rack
Post by: Paul on June 18, 2015, 06:20:01 PM
Yes they do, you need the spacer kit to fit a fat bike. I also have a thule t2 for my hitch with fat bike conversion kit but I have a rack on my fork and because of that I have a hard time to close it properly I almost lost my bike in the road so for now I will always put it on my roof, I wish I had the 1up usa for the hitch too because it's hard to get a fat bike on the roof I have to use a step ladder
Title: Re: Dual Hitch for Bike Rack
Post by: J_Westy on July 01, 2015, 09:47:17 AM
Adding a picture of the whole rig.

I think I'm going to add some shims to the dual-adapter and the tow bar next trip... Between the two, the slop in the receivers makes the whole thing droop more than I like.

(http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b305/jeff_westy/Quicksilver10_0/IMG_0963.jpg)
Title: Re: Dual Hitch for Bike Rack
Post by: Merlin on July 01, 2015, 10:12:04 AM
Looks like a fun trip coming up   :)
Title: Re: Dual Hitch for Bike Rack
Post by: Paul on July 01, 2015, 10:15:02 AM
You have a lot of bikes! And nice quicksilver it match your Explorer nicely!
Title: Re: Dual Hitch for Bike Rack
Post by: rideandfly on July 01, 2015, 11:10:59 AM
Fine looking rig!  Agree about matching color rig, too!