What's the weight profile of the bikes? That's going to be a lot of weight on the very back of the van. If airbags are an option, I'd look into them. I've used AirLifts on our last two Honda Odysseys and they help reduce rear sag in loaded conditions with the 6 of us in the car.
SV reX said:In reply to WonkoTheSane :
Sounds like a plan.
Can your wife load to the VelociRAX? Just a thought...
Good luck!
I feel like this is one where the oldest child gets assigned to be between the rack and the van to do all the rubber banding, mom stands at the rack and receives bikes ferried to her one-by-one by the gaggle of other children, and it's a matter of flipping the bike onto the rear tire, then doing a short lift.
Anything short of a bomber downhill bike or an E-bike should be liftable by most ladies.
In reply to the_machina :
You may be right. My ex wife would not have been able to do it. (5'-2" average build)
I would think so, she can get bikes off of our storage hooks now:
Will you need to get into the van hatch? It'd be cool to have a swinging hitch, but that adds weight, complexity and will probably push the rack back a couple inches.
Also, I didn't realize you're so close - I'm near Bolton notch. You may see us on the trails some time.
Brotus7 said:Will you need to get into the van hatch? It'd be cool to have a swinging hitch, but that adds weight, complexity and will probably push the rack back a couple inches.
Also, I didn't realize you're so close - I'm near Bolton notch. You may see us on the trails some time.
Looks like the VelociRAX covers that, it has a minor amount of articulation which would help: 
It's cool that you're that close! That was the last trail we were on, we went from Vernon, up to 84 to the tunnels, back down and over to Bolton, then back. I didn't realize I was that close to the glory of Igor.
What's your current toy(s), and do you ever get out to the tracks around here?
Nice, that's a solid loop! Igor's migrated south to Stampieland, but these days I'm building a motorcycle powered Locost. Sadly, I haven't had a functional track toy since my LeMons 280zx a couple years ago.
Re: Rack tilt- I bet tilting the rack down makes loading way easier, particularly when it's mounted to a truck with a taller hitch. Please keep us posted on your build progress!
Well, if you ever find yourself in possesion of a track car, we've got some great groups and tracks around here :) You're very likely to run into me there as well.
See if a front receiver is available for the year, make and model of vehicle you have. I've had them on every vehicle I've owned since 1997 and they come in very handy! With a front receiver and mount for 2-3 bikes and the rest on the rear receiver, nothing would have to go on the roof or in the vehicle. Simple install usually in existing holes in the frame or unibody. Check out Etrailer.com and see what they might have.
In reply to lotusseven7 (Forum Supporter) :
I've been looking for a front hitch for a while to no avail... It's a 2020 Chrysler Voyager/Pacifica, so I would think if it were reasonably easy, it would have been made available already.
These folks make a six bike rack https://northshoreracks.com/?v=3e8d115eb4b3 and today I was walking the dogs and a neighbour with one had it folded down and the hatch of his Pathfinder open.
WonkoTheSane said:In reply to lotusseven7 (Forum Supporter) :
I've been looking for a front hitch for a while to no avail... It's a 2020 Chrysler Voyager/Pacifica, so I would think if it were reasonably easy, it would have been made available already.
I find they make front hitches for a very limited number of vehicles, mostly domestic trucks and some Tundras. I'm fabbing one for my Express van because I haven't found anyone who makes one.
I doubt they would make one for a FWD vehicle for the liability aspect, and there is also the fact that I doubt any unibody vehicle manufacturers would even think to make the front body work strong enough to handle it. Trucks at least have a beefy frame up there.
Back in 1997 I had a Jeep Grand Cherokee. I needed a plow, but nobody made one for it because it was of unibody construction. I ended up finding that SnowSport made a plow that mounts to a front receiver and that Curt made one for that vehicle. That was the first of many vehicles I've had, all with front receivers. If they don't make one, it can't be difficult to fab something up to something under the bumper. What about using the bolts that the bumper support mounts to? If all that you're planning is a few bicycles, it doesn't need to be anything heavy-duty. I can't imagine it being more than a weekends worth of playing around in the garage.
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