Mountain Bikers, what kind of a setup do you have?

[p nut]

Looks like this section gets almost ZERO traffic.

Anyway, I'm looking for some ideas to carry my mountain bike in my 4Runner. I don't like those roof mounts, because sometimes I go through the woods, and don't want the bikes to get caught on anything. Maybe some kind of quick release mounts like I've seen on some Tacoma's? Or maybe the trailer hitch carriers? Anyone have +'s or -'s with either systems? Sometimes, I need to carry 2 or 3 bikes, so keep that in mind.

Thanks.

[MTL_4runner]

I use a Yakima hitch mounted carrier which allows me up to 4 bikes at once. The big drawback to that style is only if you have a very radical frame which has no traditional top tube. I've had to carry a few friend's bikes like that and often we just threw them in the rear of the truck with the wheels off and the rest went on the hitch mount carrier. You'll also notice a big difference in gas mileage too from using a hitch mount style vs a roof rack system.

This is what I have and it works fine for what I use it for:

[habanero]

I use a sportworks modular hitch which can hold up to 4 bikes (I have 3 on mine). I had trouble with the end of it dragging on steep driveways mostly, but not since flipping the hitch. It folds up out of the way when not in use, though you then can't open your tailgate. I just open the window to get stuff out. Down, tailgate clears it just fine.


If you do have a 'weird' shaped bike they make a thing you attach that acts as a top tube to work with racks like MTL_4runner's.

[DNAhilux]

Heres what i did. I just added a second one on the back of the passenger seat. I used the metal seat crossbar to bolt into. I have the bolt running through the crossbar and then a nylock nut, then the bolt passes through the carpet and to the fork mount. The rear tire is then supported by a black thick rubber bungee to the stock tie downs..its solid, and protected by elements and the alarm. Sometimes i even lock it down. If you need more pics let me know and ill snap some on my next outing. This will i guess only work for up to 2 people since the rear seat are down. but you could get three bikes in there. Since the bike shop gave me 2 used thule fork mounts for free, it cost me 3 bucks in bolts..works for me!

[ecchamberlin]

that is a great idea that I may use. top mount is risky to say the lease and with a lifted Runner not that easy to get to.

This is my current rocky mounts tray

bolts to factory roof rails. Solid but inside would be better

[Marc P]

I have a Thule hitch mount...an older version of this...



I never use it anymore

[p nut]

This is the bike that I've got right now:




DNAhilux -- Can you post some more pics of the mount? That's the route that I will probably go. If not, I'll go with Habanero's set up. BTW, Habanero, nice bike. I had a 98 GF Big Sur that I biked the crap out of. Too bad it got stolen...

Thanks everyone for the pics. Please feel free to post more setups.

[ecchamberlin]

DNA
how did you get the bolts through the seat backer? Did you have to take the fabric and padding off to get to it?

[MTL_4runner]

The bike setups reminded me of 3 different friends who had roof top bike carriers and all on SUVs. Each had some obstacle that damaged the bike, the truck or both. The first was driving a 1st gen 4runner and a giant tree branch hanging over the street took the bike clean off the top at about 40 MPH....it came off so fast I it broke the roof rack off but spared the truck (few deep scratches). The next was a guy maybe going 2-3 MPH at most, but forgot the bike on top as he backed his fullsize Chevy Blazer into the garage....bike suffered MAJOR damage and again deep scratches on the roof. The last one was a Dodge Durango where the guy drove into his garage with with the bike on top and hit with enough force to cave in the roof of the vehicle and total the bike. I wish I had pics to show you guys. The moral of the story is that roof racks are big time dangerous on SUVs.....which is why I tried to learn from their mistakes and went the hitch mounted route.

[garrett]

nice setup DNA! definitely post more pics if you have them...