In my experience the limits that are set for bumpers are "safe" numbers and the rack and bumper will handle a lot more, they just can't say it.

Example of manufacturers playing it safe: having been in the bike industry for almost 20 years we manufactures put a weight limit on bikes of 300 lbs for rider and gear on most bikes: The frame in most cases is tested well above 500 lbs.

With that, I don't know if the 8" extension will be enough or too much, it's hard to tell. And of course no matter what, no big air with the truck as that force will surely exceed the limits.

I know it wouldn't work well with our hatch, but this would surely clear: Fiammastore : F35pro

I've installed versions of it on Sprinters.

Two minor issues with that:
- the tire is considerably off center - sometimes when we're shuttling bikes up and down mountains on some rides we'll stick a folding Saris Bones rack on my wife's 4Runner - it has the same rear bumper and swingout, so we put it on the spare tire. Pretty secure and all, but the bikes stick out pretty far on the passenger side. So far that you really have to pay attention to things going by on that side (trees, signs, etc)
- Maybe there are stronger swingout designs out there - but this one all rides on one pair of bearings (passenger side) and I don't think it would be good to mount a heavy rack, and a couple of bikes on it for long periods of time. We do it briefly for some shuttle runs, but it's more about the leverage (a couple of 30 lb bikes hanging 1 and 2 feet out on a rack vs. a 75 lb wheel mounted in close, or more correctly, ina ddition to that 75 lb wheel.)

Hmmm... that one looks really interesting. Certainly raises the bikes further up than the 1up does (40 degrees vs. 15). I'm not sure exactly how many inches of clearance I have to work with between the receiver and the swingout. I need to measure that. But if I could open the swingout with the rack folded down that would really fit the bill.

EDIT: After clicking around on their site I 'discovered' all the options they have on the pivot base portion of the rack: iSi Modular Bicycle Carrier - Extreme Duty Modular Bicycle Carrier Design
Between the high, std, low, ultra low, one of those would absolutely work, I'd just need to measure how much clearance I have and get one that barely clears, to leave as little as possible hanging down. Even if the bikes don't hit I somewhat routinely bang/drag the hitch.

Email them your dilemma and they should get back to you with some answers. I bought my bumper with the expectation that Savage was going to add a swing out later down the road. Never happened, but ISI recommended that I start with a short one since I wanted it as close as possible and when I got a swing out I could swap out the pivot point down the road for not very much money. If I remember right it was just shipping my old one back with a small fee and they would send me a longer one. They had really good customer service and would buy again based on my previous experience. It's been a few years now that I've had it, it's a beast and built very well. For really gnarly trails, especially Moab, I cant recommend it enough.

Edit: during my research, it was between this and the 1UP. At the time 1UP claimed that it can be used offroad, but my impression I was getting is that it wasn't its main intention, more for light offroad, fire road type stuff. The ISI system was clearly built for the rugged stuff and that's why I pulled the trigger on that system. I was sick of tired of dragging ass from my Kuat and also had two other systems similar to yours and it was a bare to watch in the rearview mirror of the bikes moving around so much. Had the roof rack system and was a pain in the ass to get them up and down. To me the ISI is a true rack that you feel comfortable taking almost anywhere offroad. I love the departure angle on it. If your sticking to streets then it's not the rack to get.

DO you find the need to true the front wheel more because the bike hangs from the front wheel and it is cocked over to one side? NOrthShore or Recon, which did you like more?

Yeah, I plan on making some measurements and letting them tell me which options for the pivot and arm would work best.

Now you got me second guessing my self for purchasing the 1up-usa

I'd just about gotten around to ordering a 1up before the ISI got posted.

Although they are almost identical a. The only thing that ISI has over 1up is that extension that is angled. If you have a welder. You could easily make one your self and then attach the 1up. I’ll keep my 1up because it’s aluminum. Much much lighter. I also called them. And they said it is totally ok to off road with it.

Depending on what sort of wheeling you do - you could just get a hitch dropper and flip it to hold the 1up higher off the ground for the occasional really tough trail, but not use it for regular day to day use.

Finally got around to measuring and ordering a bike rack from ISI ( iSi Advanced 4x4 Bicycle Carriers | Extreme Duty | Offroad | Cars | 4x4 | Caravans and Camper Trailers ). Seems awesome. The rack folds down easily, and the swingout still opens even with two bikes on the rack. And the bikes are tucked in close to the truck (the hitch has multiple holes - so I can scoot it in as far as clearance on the inner bike allows). And it's pretty far up in the air.




And even if I did something really unfortunate on a trail - from what I can tell the parts on the rack that would bend are easily replaced. Either that plain square beam that the wheel holders attach to (cheap), or the wheel holders themselves (which don't cost much either).

The hold-down hook is a bit on the crude side - it just has a wingnut that tightens down on the shaft instead of a lever clamp of some sort. But it's simple I guess, and that's the only part of the rack that touches the bikes outside of the tires. Far better than the previuos rack I was using where the rack would grind on the top tubes, the bikes would grinde against each other and to help prevent that I had to spend a long time each load/unload carefully rigging them all up with bungee cords.

im gonna just use a swagmam platform bike carrier. i use it on my sequoia and for sure will use it on the 4runner when i get it

Congrats on the new rack. Imo it's one of the best for some really narly offroad trails.

fold down the rear seats. remove the front wheel. roll down the side door window enough to stick the handgrip out an inch or so. roll the window up to put slight pressure on the grip. can get two bikes in like this.