Tongue Mounted Bike Rack?

Discussion in 'Other Gear & Equipment' started by Long Truong, Aug 15, 2022.

  1. Long Truong

    Long Truong Junior Ranger

  2. JohnC

    JohnC Ranger

    I would be concerned about just how much tongue weight you are adding. And by the photo I saw I wonder just how easy or not it would be to mount the bikes. I also don’t think I’d like the wind pressure on the bikes since they would be above the height of the vehicle while being positioned east/west relative to the car being north/south. Roof mounted bikes always line up the other way.

    Too many potential issues for me.
     
  3. Ken & Peggy

    Ken & Peggy Moderator Staff Member Donating Member

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  4. Long Truong

    Long Truong Junior Ranger

    How many bikes do you carry? 2 or 4?

     
  5. Ken & Peggy

    Ken & Peggy Moderator Staff Member Donating Member

    2 bikes, each about 25 to 30 lbs I'd guess. Plus the weight of the Yakima carrier, which is likely another 50#. I should weigh these things so I know for myself.

    Edit: pretty close on the rack wt., it's 49#.Yakima HoldUp Hitch 2 Bike Rack

    So that's 110 additional pounds of tongue weight for the bikes. Our new tow vehicle has a max towing capacity of 5,000 lbs, so a tongue weight cap of 500# or so. 390 after bikes. I may find a scale now to see where we land...
     
    Last edited: Aug 16, 2022
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  6. Long Truong

    Long Truong Junior Ranger

    Unfortunately we have a 1 1/4" receiver and I guess they don't make the dual receivers for that size probably because of torque or something?
     
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  7. Ken & Peggy

    Ken & Peggy Moderator Staff Member Donating Member

    Oh that's too bad. It has worked pretty well for us.
     
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  8. Ken & Peggy

    Ken & Peggy Moderator Staff Member Donating Member

    New tow vehicle is a Honda Passport EX-L AWD. 5,000# max tow capacity. We've been on a shake down trip to see how it tows, etc. and it did just fine. I don't do anything much over 65mph while towing and it feels like the trailer's not back there. I learned early on about locking the galley - you only forget to do that once... ;)
     
    Last edited: Aug 17, 2022
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  9. Kevin

    Kevin Ranger

    Thanks! The mid-sized unibody AWD SUVs coming out and/or unibody AWD pickups are a great combo for towing CI, imho.
    Kind of a sleeper but highly functional utility, same engine, trans, just more cargo room ready to go! Near identical mpg.

    Honda Passport vs Honda Ridgeline - CarGurus

    Did u get tow pkg? With aux trans cooler. Or is that only on the Ridgelines?
     
    Last edited: Aug 20, 2022
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  10. Ken & Peggy

    Ken & Peggy Moderator Staff Member Donating Member

    I just added the trans cooler. Only the Ridgeline has it included. The coolers are in short supply like so many things these days. I had to call several dealers in the greater Chicagoland area (including NW Indiana) to find one. We're all set now for a trip to MN next week and then on thru the U.P. to S.W. Michigan and home..
     
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  11. Dmitry

    Dmitry Novice

  12. JohnC

    JohnC Ranger

    I use a 1up rack on the back of the 560. Upon arrival the bike and rack come off. If the bike needs to be transported I just attach the rack to the car hitch and load the bike. The rack itself takes less than a minute to load or unload.
     
    Kevin likes this.
  13. Dmitry

    Dmitry Novice

    Another solution is to have a front receiver hitch installed, and mount the bicycles on it. Sure, you won't be able to see much, if you are driving a Subaru, but it will look badass!
     
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  14. rmbrowder

    rmbrowder Junior Ranger

    After trying all sorts of options (bike on CI roof, bike on CI hitch, bike on front mounted TV hitch, bike on roof of TV, folding bike inside CI) I am using a One Up on the CI receiver then moving the One Up to a duel receiver on the TV, if needed.
     

    Attached Files:

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  15. Kevin

    Kevin Ranger

    Ya, thats my plan too...or leave bike at home!
     
  16. Ken & Peggy

    Ken & Peggy Moderator Staff Member Donating Member

    It DOES affect our turning radius, to the point of the rack contacting the LP tank during our first trip with that setup. I'm sure it happened while backing into our campsite. Luckily no damage, but now requires 'eyes on' when in those situations.
     
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  17. rmbrowder

    rmbrowder Junior Ranger

    Yes, had to take the front receiver off to make room for the Warn winch. (I had to put a skid plate insert on the front receiver to avoid “full stops” on rutted roads.)
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Sep 1, 2022
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  18. Kevin

    Kevin Ranger

    Burly!
     
  19. Ken & Peggy

    Ken & Peggy Moderator Staff Member Donating Member

    I think I've found a solution to the issue of mounting a bike rack over the tongue of the trailer. We've been doing this for several years now with decent success, but the issue of the rack contacting the propane tank when turning tightly is a problem. We had a hitch mounted on the back of the trailer, but found that to cause a fair amount of fish tailing.
    What I found that I think is going to work is a hitch made by Patriot Hitches. It can be raised or lowered to accommodate your setup, and it gives us the clearance needed to keep the bike rack above the tank. We're heading out tomorrow for a few days at a fairly close-by campground that we have never made it to before, so I'm excited to see how this new setup does.
     
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  20. gregangsten

    gregangsten Junior Ranger

    I've been using a double receiver setup for a few years for the bike rack and it works well enough. An annoying thing however is that the lever to release the trailer from the ball hits the bike rack mount when you want to disconnect the trailer at the site, just enough to prevent release. This means I have to remove the bike and disconnect the rack before I can disconnect the trailer, then remount the rack and bike to go somewhere with it. Irritating. It looks like one could get enough separation with this setup end that problem.
     
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