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Hitch Bike Rack recommendations?

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I bought a 1UP USA 2 bike rack, they’re top quality but pricey. Order it from them directly and ask for reversed side plate. It’s not a catalogued item. I found out about the side plates after I bought the rack and installed them afterwards. No extension needed and you can fully open rear after you lower rack into loading position. Now I bought it for my sons JK w/33” tires, so not sure if your planning on larger tires, then you might need an extension.
What exactly does the reverse side plate do? I'm having trouble visualizing that!

If I'm not lifted, is the normal rack okay with a hitch extention?

Edit: found a video. He blabs aimlessly for 6:45 seconds, but gets into it after that.

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I made this one and have the patent on it. It holds 4 bikes using a rubber compression bushing inside the seat tube. Just pull the seat out using the post clamp, the pick the bike up vertically and slide the bike on the rack ( into the bike frame). Turn the handle on the rack and the cam lock. The bicycle isn’t going anywhere. I have used this one for 5 years with no problems. This rack is not for bikes That are carbon fiber, which can’t handle the tension load inside or a dropper post that doesn’t remove easy.

I was working towards marketing these a few years ago then we moved and haven’t picked it back up. I would like to hear y’al’s opinions. Should I keep trying to market this?
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That's a pretty cool design.

How do you keep the tires vertical? How careful do you have to be when beginning up a hill?

I have a dropper seat post, so I'm not sure that would work for me.
 
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I have a 1UPUSA rack for my jeep and one for my wife's Renegade. I had a expensive Yakima and lost a bike off it on a gravel road. Now to be honest I drive like a DillHole most of the time.
I have expensive carbon fiber bikes. Road, Dh and XC. I sell my race bike every fall and buy a new one in the spring. It is very important that nothing touches the frame or stanchions. A misplaced arm can rub through carbon in a short amount of time.
If you only have cheap townies then get a cheap rack that mounts to your spare and lash them on with several bungies when going off road.
One thing about 1Up is that you can get replacement parts very quick as you are buying direct. I broke a arm (my fault) and it was a week and a new one arrived. Here in Canada that would have been a month with other brands.
I'm not "sporty" enough to race, so I just ride aluminum or titanium mountain bikes to get outdoors and enjoy the singletrack trails. Not cheap townies, but not fragile expensive stuff either. Had a swiss commuter bike with a carbon fork. Worst bike I ever owned until I replaced the fork with something that would last. I put about 3000 miles a year on that bike going to/from work. Loved the belt drive.
 

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That's a pretty cool design.

How do you keep the tires vertical? How careful do you have to be when beginning up a hill?

I have a dropper seat post, so I'm not sure that would work for me.
The tire stay vertical just by gravity. I have never had the bikes hit the ground that I know of. I made the bikes come to the height of the hitch. Even using the rack with a non lifted vehicle, I haven’t had any problems. I have never tried a dropper post, but looking at them, they don’t seem to come out easy.

I have carried our bikes all over the Southeast with it. Never any problem. Another nice feature is the wheels and pedals move free, so oiling the chain is super easy. I think I could get 5 on but the handle bars would overlap a bit.
 
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The tire stay vertical just by gravity. I have never had the bikes hit the ground that I know of. I made the bikes come to the height of the hitch. Even using the rack with a non lifted vehicle, I haven’t had any problems. I have never tried a dropper post, but looking at them, they don’t seem to come out easy.

I have carried our bikes all over the Southeast with it. Never any problem. Another nice feature is the wheels and pedals move free, so oiling the chain is super easy. I think I could get 5 on but the handle bars would overlap a bit.
Yes, dropper posts are cabled in thru the bottom. The down side of the units with the arms that go over the tire on long trips is bearing wear.

Bearings are made to be strong in the axis parallel to the motion of a bike's travel. When the bikes sway due to wind on long trips, issues with bike wheel bearings can arise.

I had to re-pack a number of bearings with a unit I had (wobbly wheels) about 10 years ago. Had trucks since then so never needed a bike rack.

Nice invention. Have you thought about making a locking mechanism up near the t-handle area?
 

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Okay everyone, I think I'm going to get the one up Super Duty Single. I'll give them a call during business hours and see if I need the reverse or regular mount. The Jeep in the video's hitch was a bit higher than the stock rubicon hitch.

The only thing I don't like about it is no integrated bike lock; I'll have to figure that out!
 

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Lifted isn’t the problem, it’s the measurement from center of hitch to the highest point on the rack when lowered. With the stock rack you can’t open rear door without a lowered hitch extension. By reversing side plates you can mount rack without extension and fully open rear door with rack lowered.
 
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Lifted isn’t the problem, it’s the measurement from center of hitch to the highest point on the rack when lowered. With the stock rack you can’t open rear door without a lowered hitch extension. By reversing side plates you can mount rack without extension and fully open rear door with rack lowered.
Nice! Do I have to order the special kit or just reverse them during assembly? I was a little worried since my Jeep won't be lifted that the rack might scrape.
 

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If you buy a bike rack from Quadratec then it should clear the spare tire on your Wrangler. I got this 5 bike rack from them long time ago and love them.
Jeep Wrangler JL Hitch Bike Rack recommendations? 08CEB910-C9B8-4A26-B6F1-A4B5A6F0881F
 

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I use the Kaut Pivot 2 with a Thule T2 pro XT 2 rack when I want access to the back. If I don’t need access to the back I can just use the rack. They both have a means to tighten the rack in the hitch to hold is secure and prevents a lot of rack movement.
 

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Draw tite hitch with Thule t2 rack. No extension needed since the dt is extended slightly already but I cannot access the back door fully. I use this rack on my pickup also a didn’t want to have 2 different ones.

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Okay everyone, I think I'm going to get the one up Super Duty Single. I'll give them a call during business hours and see if I need the reverse or regular mount. The Jeep in the video's hitch was a bit higher than the stock rubicon hitch.

The only thing I don't like about it is no integrated bike lock; I'll have to figure that out!
One Up has several locking options made for their rack. I use the hitch bar lock and the wheel locks on mine. Just make sure you order all of your locks at once so they will be keyed the same.

https://www.1up-usa.com/product-category/security/
 
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One Up has several locking options made for their rack. I use the hitch bar lock and the wheel locks on mine. Just make sure you order all of your locks at once so they will be keyed the same.

https://www.1up-usa.com/product-category/security/
It's getting late, and I'm tired. Do the wheel locks work? Could they unlatch your wheels and just take the bike?

Good advice on ordering all together. I saw they won't code match post-purchase!
 

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Yes, dropper posts are cabled in thru the bottom. The down side of the units with the arms that go over the tire on long trips is bearing wear.

Bearings are made to be strong in the axis parallel to the motion of a bike's travel. When the bikes sway due to wind on long trips, issues with bike wheel bearings can arise.

I had to re-pack a number of bearings with a unit I had (wobbly wheels) about 10 years ago. Had trucks since then so never needed a bike rack.

Nice invention. Have you thought about making a locking mechanism up near the t-handle area?
Yeah, several ways to lock. For this one. Just carry a locking cable. We keep one for when we are in a store anyway. It would easy to hasp the cam lock too. But that would mean a new specific cam handle (Expense).
 

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It's getting late, and I'm tired. Do the wheel locks work? Could they unlatch your wheels and just take the bike?

Good advice on ordering all together. I saw they won't code match post-purchase!

The wheel locks do not go through the frame so a determined thief could remove the wheels from the bike and takejust the frame.

As with most locks they are mostly a deterrent for opportunists, I use them when I'm not going to be leaving my bike on the rack unattended for a long duration like a quick pit stop at the store while headed to the trailhead. When my bike is unattended for longer periods or if i am in an area with a high theft rate, then I supplement with a chain through the frame and locked to the hitch under the bumper.
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