MattT69
Well-Known Member
This is my bike rack suggestion as an avid MTBer. I have had several bike racks on different wranglers but now with that I got a JL that has a rear camera I could no longer use the spare tire backpack style that I had on my JK. But I still wanted the bikes to swing away to allow for the cargo door to fully open. So I decided on a swing arm style carrier. BUT I didn't want the side to side movement and the noise of a platform rack. I found that KUAT makes a full set of stability racks and accessories that limit the movement of bike racks, bike swing arms and even receiver extensions. So I would recommend KUAT!
I have a 3 part KUAT setup that is specific to my tire choice. I am running 37 KO2 which fits perfectly to my Mopar HD carrier & stock bumper with no spare tire relocator. I didn't want this large tire to be higher or farther away from the cargo door than necessary.
To start we all need a good receiver extension to get past the spare tire, without this most platform bike racks and swing arm will sit to close to the tire. The KUAT dropper extension is perfect because it comes with the stability treaded bolt insert inside the pin hole so it sits tight and doesn't allow movement. This extension can be used up position to serve as a spare tire stinger bar when rock crawling to protect the tire and cargo door from damage when sliding off a rock... The bar might get damaged but that will be cheaper than catching that spare tire on a rock...
With the extension in the down position, I can attach the KUAT swing arm so that the spare tire will clear the arm when I open the cargo door. The KUAT swing arm also has a stability ball bearing that is build into the shaft which eliminates movement when tightened.
Lastly I attach the KUAT platform bike rack (transfer2) which also has threaded insert for the bolt/Pin. Again this limits any side to side movement. With this setup I can fully open the spare tire and fully swing out the bikes with no weight on the cargo door. I can also partially reach into the cargo area without open the swing arm for quick access.
This setup works for me and my 2 door JLR. I don't a long wheelbase, so the added length of the bikes when everything is loaded still fits into most parking spaces. The swing arm sits perfectly level with the bumper when the stabilizer is tighten correctly. There is no noise whatsoever from the connections.
Kuat makes some qualify equipment.
Here it is Fully Loaded after a 1000 miles trip to a Bike Park in NM. No issues with the rack system. Everything stayed nice & tight even on some easy offroad trails.
I hope this helps someone... Cheers
I have a 3 part KUAT setup that is specific to my tire choice. I am running 37 KO2 which fits perfectly to my Mopar HD carrier & stock bumper with no spare tire relocator. I didn't want this large tire to be higher or farther away from the cargo door than necessary.
To start we all need a good receiver extension to get past the spare tire, without this most platform bike racks and swing arm will sit to close to the tire. The KUAT dropper extension is perfect because it comes with the stability treaded bolt insert inside the pin hole so it sits tight and doesn't allow movement. This extension can be used up position to serve as a spare tire stinger bar when rock crawling to protect the tire and cargo door from damage when sliding off a rock... The bar might get damaged but that will be cheaper than catching that spare tire on a rock...
With the extension in the down position, I can attach the KUAT swing arm so that the spare tire will clear the arm when I open the cargo door. The KUAT swing arm also has a stability ball bearing that is build into the shaft which eliminates movement when tightened.
Lastly I attach the KUAT platform bike rack (transfer2) which also has threaded insert for the bolt/Pin. Again this limits any side to side movement. With this setup I can fully open the spare tire and fully swing out the bikes with no weight on the cargo door. I can also partially reach into the cargo area without open the swing arm for quick access.
This setup works for me and my 2 door JLR. I don't a long wheelbase, so the added length of the bikes when everything is loaded still fits into most parking spaces. The swing arm sits perfectly level with the bumper when the stabilizer is tighten correctly. There is no noise whatsoever from the connections.
Kuat makes some qualify equipment.
Here it is Fully Loaded after a 1000 miles trip to a Bike Park in NM. No issues with the rack system. Everything stayed nice & tight even on some easy offroad trails.
I hope this helps someone... Cheers
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