Situation:
Vehicle: 2002 Toyota 4Runner (lifted ~3", modded, armor).
Hitch: 2" 4X Innovations swing-out bumper with tire carrier loaded with a 315/75/16" (35") spare.
Bike rack: 1UP 2" Super Duty Single +1 Add On.
Problem: What will it take for the bike to mount and clear the spare tire?
also: Do I need to order the bike carrier with "Reversed Side Plates" (this lowers the orientation of the rack downward rather than standard / upward).
TLDR: With about an 8" hitch extension, the standard configuration will clear my mounted bike by about 2".
Oh! You have time to kill? Say no more!
Further revelations: I wanted the standard configuration as long as it would work for my current vehicle. I wanted to avoid having to give up clearance on my current set up by having to order the reversed sided plates. This loss of clearance would be a greater annoyance with a non-lifted vehicle.
Security? I can't say that I have a warm fuzzy feeling about security. First the 1UP rack security with my situation is not ideal. For one, it looks like it might just be on older, perhaps, the 1UP 1.25" version, but there is no hole for running a lock "in front" of the security anti-wobble allen key. Maybe it's a trade off between the two designs between the 1.25" and the 2" versions.
The 2" version has a long skinny channel to pass a hitch pin lock through. BUT the best you can do is use the teensy-weensy 1UP or like thin shaft lock. A standard hitch pin lock will not fit. Booooo. LOL. I think they could have opened up the channel a bit to allow for a standard / larger hitch pin lock to be used, but... they didn't. I am using their hitch pin lock and even when it is all the way tight, it still has some room between it, and the hitch.
Also, with an extension, the rack body is too far from the hitch chain mounts to think about using a U / D lock like so many seem to do. That's what I get for driving a YEE YEE 4X4. Hahaha.
Possible security solutions: At first I was going to just go with the 1UP wheel locks, but... I thought I might try to find something that could work both on the rack, and out in the world. I still might go with the 1UP wheel locks. I mean, when it comes down to it, you could put the best lock in the world on the rack to secure the bike, and in under a minute, someone with a portable angle grinder could cut it, or the rack to get access to you bike. My research has enlightened me to the fact that ALL bike locks (foldable, chain, and U /D lock) can all be defeated in about a minute.
I am leaning towards an Abus
ABUS | An error has occurred This is one of the few that has the length to connect the main frame with the bike rack, and not much else. There is also an Abus
ABUS | An error has occurred that caught my eye. At some point, if someone is bringing an angle grinder to the table, it wont matter if you went with $120 or over $200 lock, they will all be defeated.