I recently purchased a Bigfoot camper for my Ford F350 and had a hitch installed in the front so that I could haul my tdub.......
Does anyone on the site carry their tdub on the front of their truck and if so, what carrier are you using? The hitch that I had installed is a class III with a 2" receiver. Thanks in advance for your suggestions/recommendations.
There is a thread on this, but I use the cheap carrier you can get from Princess Auto. I have had mine for over 5 years and have carried my XT225, WR250r, TW200 and DT200 on it with no issues. I did drill and tap the receiver so that I could take all sway out of the carrier and I drilled another hole in the carrier to get it closer to the truck. When travelling the Dempster Hwy the carrier was hitting the ferry or road when loading and unloading.
I do take the mirrors off the bike for 2 reasons: 1 they intrude on Linda's view, 2 the sun can hit the far one and blind me.
Check the bottom of this page and some of those threads will be linked or do a search for motorcycle hitch carriers.
Thanks for the excellent pictures ejfranz.... It is nice to have a view from inside the cab! My concern is visibility and ground clearance. If the headlights are covered I will just make a point of not travelling at night, every day is Saturday for me!
I added lights to the front and wired them to my fog lamps to come on. The fog lamps are also beneath the carrier and provide pretty good illumination. High beams are a no - no.
Carrier showing lights
Carrier closser to truck
Notice ejfranz’s highly customized 2x4 block atop front fender. This eliminates suspension travel, excessive fork compression and ability of bike to bounce in transit while also allowing firm strapping down. This is a simple yet effective addition for ramp carriers and trailers as well. Select wood finish of your choice or go “au natural”in the Canadian style.
Notice ejfranz’s highly customized 2x4 block atop front fender. This eliminates suspension travel, excessive fork compression and ability of bike to bounce in transit while also allowing firm strapping down. This is a simple yet effective addition for ramp carriers and trailers as well. Select wood finish of your choice or go “au natural”in the Canadian style.
View attachment 139890
I use the same rack from Prince Auto, but I didn't like the way it bent when the bike was loaded, so I welded some 1" flat bar across the top and welded the center joints together and it is solid as a rock. I also drilled an extra hole to get the rack closer to the truck, and I supported the ends of the rack with some chain up to my tow hooks. the bike and rack do not move even a fraction of an inch when travelling.
Damn Fred, that is a great idea with the wood block, thank you for that! Oh yeah, nice setup!
grewen, I like the way your carrier seems to sit a wee bit higher in the front. My goal is to keep it as high off of the ground without impeding my vision....my truck is a 1 ton 4 x 4 so it sits reasonably high. I love this forum!
I began with a rear simple Harbor Freight aluminum receiver carrier with added 2x2 uprights coming off of overhead rack. Uprights allow bike to be held steady on sidehills and off-camber situations while loading and un-loading without the straps as I often do not have a level parking spot nor someone to hold bike while I secure it. Not relevant for this thread, but shows one can modify to suit. I added the uprights after the first time I used stock carrier while unloading it the bike tried to leap off and attack Joemama as I released the last securing strap. Joe is too nice a guy to have squished before we even went riding.
Then I went with a receiver mount hydraulic lifted Moto-Jack, which could be mounted to a front receiver too. Bike rolls onto platform then a bottle jack raises platform bringing bike up and closer to vehicle. Tires dangle from unsupported suspensions but they could be strapped up for a bit more ground clearance. This model has been discontinued I believe. I like it for several reasons including it’s compact size in a base camp means I am less likely to walk into it at night.
By strapping the bike both up and down to the vehicle this mostly eliminates the minor play in all the pivots of the four bar linkage that raises the bike. It is different, but suits my desire to not compromise ground clearance and ability to access 4x4 base camps.
There are several commercial alternatives to the discontinued MotoJack, both hydraulic and hand cranked. These are some options that come up when I googled
"hydraulic lift motorcycle receiver carrier” :
On most of these you can see that the bike is firmly clamped to the carrier’s platform independent of the tires or suspension. I feel that the bike is very securely clamped down, especially when using the Ricochet skid plate vs. the stock skid plate.
The Ultimate is the one I would go shopping for if I wanted another:Ultimate MX Hauler - Trailer...
Ouch!
For that price one could purchase a reasonable welder and fabricate one in-house. Shucks, make two and sell one to re-coup some of the investment. Know any welding buddies? I had a friend modify mine to clear the rear doors on a Tacoma camper as well as the van in the photos.
Try placing a Want Add for a used one? I purchased mine used and re-conditioned from a popular US website called Craigslist for $200 and thought it a good deal.
Hope this works, I picked it up for $200 cdn........ My biggest concern is clearance so I will likely get the hitch piece cut shorter and welded so that the bike sits as close to the front as possible without hindering air flow.........I also want the front tie down bracket tilted upwards....... Oh yeah, this was made to haul behind a truck so the clearance light covers should be changed from red to amber.......
Don't know yet if it will work but I have a good friend who is handy with a welder and perhaps he can also install some lights for me......... I bought it on facebook so it can not be returned.......
I'm going to fab a carrier for my the front of my vehicle. It will go on the front bumper (see drawing). I plan to fabricate a loading ramp. I need to see how high I can have the carrier, and still be able to keep my hands on the bars when loading. The top of the bumper is aprox 30"
That is a really impressive off-road rated VW tjet.
Vans and TWs can make good travel companions to get to, then enjoy some remote base camps to then ride out from.
I've managed to put a lot of miles on my pair.
Thanks Fred. I was out visiting New Mexico last month, but I had a transaxle failure. I was pressed for time, so I left it there and caught a flight home.
I'll be back out in the spring with a fresh trans...
So sorry about the transaxle failure.
Photo is from California's White Mountains between the Bristlecone National Monument and Grandveiw Campground looking west into some roadless Wilderness areas of the Sierra Mountains. Closest town is Bishop a mile below in the valley bottom.
While widespread out here in elevations from about 9,500 to 10,500 feet the monuments ancient Bristlecones are both accessible and dramatic with some of the oldest surviving trees supposedly over 4,000 years old.
Thanks. There's a know issue in the original transmissions on the late VW bus models (3-4 slider hub) - which is exactly what failed on my road trip. I keep a spare trans because of this. I'm replacing the factory hub in my spare trans with an upgraded one (link below). The hard part will be flying to New Mexico with this transaxle in my checked luggage
Rather than a block between tire and fender I now bolt foot pegs directly to the ramp carrier via a little custom welding of uprights at just the right height. When tightened down suspensions are compressed maybe 3/8ths inch with no wobble. Beauty is no more straps or other retention devices needed for the bumpiest of roads, plus looks lots cleaner rolling down the highway without a bunch of hillbilly tiedowns flappig in the breeze.
The security and redundancy afforded by 4 half inch bolts loaded in compression rather than straps in tension seems a better solution for me.
Rather than a block between tire and fender I now bolt foot pegs directly to the ramp carrier via a little custom welding of uprights at just the right height. When tightened down suspensions are compressed maybe 3/8ths inch with no wobble. Beauty is no more straps or other retention devices needed for the bumpiest of roads, plus looks lots cleaner rolling down the highway without a bunch of hillbilly tiedowns flappig in the breeze.
The security and redundancy afforded by 4 half inch bolts loaded in compression rather than straps in tension seems a better solution for me.
While SkiPro's idea would work most of the time my design allows bike to rest on footpeg BRACKETS hands free with van parked at odd inclinations while I secure the 4 bolts. The inner hook idea may not work consistently if van is parked on a downslope allowing bike to tip into glass. (If footpegs rather than footpeg brackets rest on my welded stanchions then bike also would tip as footpegs pivot negating the hands free benefit...measurements of bike height and side-to-side dimensions of footpeg bracket then become important.)
Cost and hassle of replacing the van's backlight has me overly cautious about unrestrained bike possibly breaking the back glass. Design allows bike's weight to be as close to van as safely possible for back country loading and unloading.
And YES, Loghousenut is correct as usual, thightened bolts are indeed in tension, it is the stanchions underneath that see compression on both sides holding bike upright . That was what I was attempting to praise.
But Fred😄
What if you come back from a ride with just one peg😩
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