I posted on this forum a few times about trying to get two full-sized bikes to the riding area with a Suburban (and no trailer).
I may have seen the answer last week up at Gorman. I talked to a guy who welded a hitch receiver to each frame rail (this was on a big camper, not a Suburban). He then plugged in a self-fabricated rack that consisted of two pieces of square tube (one plugged into each receiver) with two rails going across them.
This seemed to be a very slick and effective set up. One concern that came to mind is whether it would twist my frame. That is, would the varying forces on each rail (due the moving around resuling from bumps in the road, acceleration, etc.) damage my frame.
Other concerns include: (i) ensuring that the receivers can take the weight (how do you get an informal weight rating on a fabricated job); (ii) whether my frame is heat treated or otherwise inappropriate to weld to (would bolts work?); and (iii) doing wheelies in my Suburban (solved perhaps by taking my son riding w/ his bike on a motojack rack plugged into a front-mounted receiver hitch or air springs--leads to an interesting mental picture, huh?).
Any thoughts on whether this makes sense or as to where I can go for fabrication (I live in Southern California) would be appreciated.
I may have seen the answer last week up at Gorman. I talked to a guy who welded a hitch receiver to each frame rail (this was on a big camper, not a Suburban). He then plugged in a self-fabricated rack that consisted of two pieces of square tube (one plugged into each receiver) with two rails going across them.
This seemed to be a very slick and effective set up. One concern that came to mind is whether it would twist my frame. That is, would the varying forces on each rail (due the moving around resuling from bumps in the road, acceleration, etc.) damage my frame.
Other concerns include: (i) ensuring that the receivers can take the weight (how do you get an informal weight rating on a fabricated job); (ii) whether my frame is heat treated or otherwise inappropriate to weld to (would bolts work?); and (iii) doing wheelies in my Suburban (solved perhaps by taking my son riding w/ his bike on a motojack rack plugged into a front-mounted receiver hitch or air springs--leads to an interesting mental picture, huh?).
Any thoughts on whether this makes sense or as to where I can go for fabrication (I live in Southern California) would be appreciated.
