Recommended Solution for Bike Rack When Towing Travel Trailer with Limited Mounting Space

Question:

We have a Sherpa 2.0 which we absolutely love and which works perfectly with our 2013 Toyota Highlander SE. We have now a tear Rustic Trails Tear Polar Bear model, which is tall - a standy, and want to take the 2 bikes too. There is a receiver at the back of the trailer, but the Sherpa wont work without an extender because the back of the trailer is curved. Too far back and out of sight, plus a lot of weight at the very back being added, not a good choice. Would you recommend a dual receiver to we can use the Sherpa between car and trailer? It doesnt seem there is enough separation between car and trailer for turning. Trailer has a platform with a storage box at the front. We have the factory tow package which can handle 6,000 lbs, and the trailer is about 1800 even moderately loaded. The other option seems to be a tongue mount like Lippert Hitch-It 2 Bike Rack, or Lippert Jack-It 2 Bike Rack, although wed have to modify the tongue as we dont have a center mount tongue jack, thus no holes at that point on the tongue. We could fabricate a mounting plate. The challenge for all options is the storage box and ensuring turning clearance. Here are some dimensions. tongue length to storage box 36inch total tongue length 55. possible locations for the Lippert bike base would be either the red arrow in the pics at 16inch from the front of the box, which would be the closest side of the base, and that is 20 inch from the hitch. Or the blue arrow, at 10 inch from the front of the box, but that being the further side of the base. I dont know what the dimensions of the base are, or where the receiver hole for the upright piece falls. So I cant tell if the red arrow is too close to the back of the car for turning, or the blue arrow is too close to the box for the bikes to hang. Box height at front 17 1/2. Lippert has that angle extender they call a Stinger on their site, but I cant tell if you have that available. That might work the best to site the base at the red arrow location, with the stinger pointing to the back/box, which might life it all above the box enough for the bikes to hang, and still allow turning of the vehicles. There are my questions, Pics attached. Appreciate any help. Love e-trailer having bought a hitch and two bike racks from you. Keep up the great work!

asked by: David F

Expert Reply:

I have a solution for you, and I'll start out by saying that I cannot recommend using a dual hitch adapter like the Malone 2" Dual Purpose Hitch Receiver # MPG544 because it reduces the tongue weight capacity of the hitch on your 2013 Toyota Highlander. Unfortunately this does mean that using your Kuat Transfer V2 # KU24FR isn't an option with your trailer setup because of the side mounted jack and the front cargo box.

With all of that said, you can use the BikeBase Trailer Tongue Adapter for BikeWing Carrier # LC731157 and the BikeWing 2 Bike Carrier for BikeBase or Bump-It Mounting Adapter # LC731137 in a configuration that shouldn't interfere with the Highlander when turning; you'll want to install the BikeBase where you've made the red arrow. You'll then install the BikeWing shank angled backwards towards the silver toolbox; the shank is 10-1/2" long so you'll want to make sure there's that much space between the red arrow spot and the toolbox.

If there isn't that much space between those spots, then you would need to use the Lippert Hitch-It # LC731138, which would fit straight up and down but might have issues when turning sharply. The only other alternative I'm seeing to this would be to use the Curt Clamp-On 3 Bike Rack for 2" Ball Mounts - Towing # C18013, which mounts on the ball mount itself.

I've linked some review videos of these parts for you to check out.