Hitch Mtd Bike carrier

[entheos]

Does anyone have any info or pictures of the one on the hummer website? Does it have locks for the bikes?, can it swing down enough for the rear cargo door to open all the way?

Since the rear hitch receiver is so high and the spare so low, it seems that aftermarket hitch racks won't work nicely (unless you don't use the rear door). FYI, The Thule Expressway 996XT doesn't. The rest of the Thule's and Yakima's look pretty doubtful. Hopefully the OEM will but my dealer has no info unless I order one prepaid. I think its ~$330.

[entheos]

Does anyone have any info or pictures of the one on the hummer website? Does it have locks for the bikes?, can it swing down enough for the rear cargo door to open all the way?

Since the rear hitch receiver is so high and the spare so low, it seems that aftermarket hitch racks won't work nicely (unless you don't use the rear door). FYI, The Thule Expressway 996XT doesn't. The rest of the Thule's and Yakima's look pretty doubtful. Hopefully the OEM will but my dealer has no info unless I order one prepaid. I think its ~$330.

[H3 Hummer]

I put a yakima kingpin 5 bike carrier on my truk. It has the ability to bend down but not far enough down to open the hatch. It has locks for the bikes and works just great except for what it souds like you want it to do. It will clear the rear tire just fine and fit the hitch just fine. But definetely not open. http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif

I think you will need a hitch like this one -

http://www.yakima.com/tech_manual/viewimage.asp?part=3440

but this could still possibly hit and they are heavy and expensive. I will look more closely at mine tonight and see if it looks like it would hit or not.

[ChevyHighPerformance]

I bought an Allen 4 bike carrier from JC Whitney for about $150. The rack tilts but not enough to let the door open. Since the door won't open anyhow, I drilled another mounting hole in the bike rack so that it sticks further into the receiver to minimize the overhang.

[H3 Hummer]

The one (pictured) from my post earlier won't even work. It would only work if you didn't have the rear spare tire on there. Not like you want to do that. I guess you will need one from the Hummer website only.

[Surferjo]

What about this.

http://www.etrailer.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/va/br/91140.jpg

[H3 Hummer]

I don't think this would work either. It looks like the vertical bars would fold down but the base would still be to tall for the tire to clear. Its less then 5 inches from the hitch to the bottom of the tire. So I think somthing has to bend down from the hitch level not the bike frame level.

[Surferjo]

You may want to consider going to a welder to and have him make "Z" adapter. I had something similar made for my wrangler and it worked great. Most Trailer/Hitch places will know exactly what you are looking for.

Or what about something like this. And than use a Ball mount bike rack. Im pretty sure they have the ability to pivot downward also.

http://www.etrailer.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/dt/bm/4281.jpg

[Surferjo]

Currently i use one of these with my Wrangler. I know that i have more clearance to the spare but i have held 4 bikes on it. I just use a bungie cord to the spare and it works fine.


http://www.hitchmart.com/graphics/52018.jpg

[timgco]

What do you guys have against roof mount racks? They are much safer up there. You won't bottom out the hitch on anything either. In CO here, we take the bikes into the mountains and in some cases you 4 wheel to your destination to camp or whatnot. A hitch mounted one will get hung up. The H3's roof is low enough that you could put a Yakima or THule mounted bike rack up there if you like that style. And you can still fit in a standard garage height. They both have a rack that uses the factory tracks for the mounting points.

... just another option for you. I did some research and the ones I looked up wil lall get in the way of your rear door. I don't think the swing away will work with the spare tire. I understand it is nicer to load your bikes at ground level, but just is a P I A with the rear door. Here's a couple of links for youto check out.
Good luck,
Tim.

Yakima (http://www.yakima.com/home.html)

Thule (http://www.thule.com/)

[entheos]

Those are all excellent posts. I measured it and there is only roughly 4.1" of clearance from the top of where a receiver would be to the bottom of the spare (33" Adventure spare). The Z-bar or drop receivers are not cheap (~100) can be found at this link:

http://www.hitchcorner.com/ball_mounts.htm#drop_down

That would allow you to use a Thule expressway 996XT which comes with a nice locking mechanisms. But by that's as much (or more) than the GM OEM rack. Maybe its worth a gamble.

Roof rack? How tall are you? I know that it may be better in some ways, but I park in a garage for work and besides what if I have to haul my kayak at the same time. For me, when I am done mountain biking, I can barely tip the bike back upright, let alone lift it up to the roof. Though I see that they make tire steps. What about a fold out hitch steps for big lazy dogs?

Its a funny thing that one of the reasons I started to look for a new truck-like vehicle is for the hitch (for a bike hitch rack like my friend's), but its still one helluva cool ride.

[H3 Hummer]

I am about 82 inches with my roof rack?

[timgco]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by H3 Hummer:
I am about 82 inches with my roof rack? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

73.7" without the crossbars/ 74.7 with 33" tires.

[aggiehummer...er]

The H2 is 81.7" with the roof racks, by comparison.

[Ipedog]

I have a Yakima Backswing 4 (http://www.rei.com/product/47802586.htm?) for my 4Runner and it works great. I have no problems swinging the bikes to the side to allow the rear door to open. With the H3 and the rear spare this might be tight (even though it does allow lots of room between the door and the rack).

If the tire prevented the rack from mounting you might want to try this: Hitch Extension (http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&catalogId=40000008000&storeId=8000&partNumber=639338&memberId=-2000&link=1&cm_ven=ad_Froogle&cm_ite=datafeed&source=9081&cm_pla=na&cm_cat=datafeed).

Hope this helps.

Rob (Ipedog)