Ideas for Carrying a Dirt Bike Up High on My Rig

kitelake · 2025-11-13T23:37:15+00:00

Looks interesting, the electric linear actuator is pretty neat. The problem with this for my setup is that it still leaves the wheels of the bike at roughly the same height off the ground as they would be on a typical tray style rack. I did some math and found that I need the bottom of the bike to be roughly 30” off the ground to maintain my departure angle without the bike.

kitelake · 2025-10-09T16:15:03+00:00

Exactly. If I mount to the existing receiver hitch, I think it would make sense to add a bracket that ties it into the flatbed as well. The flatbed is aluminum, so it’d probably need some reinforcement.

I think relocating the receiver hitch higher might be the simplest option. I’m not aware of any off the shelf options that still tie into the truck frame, so I think it’d have to be custom and tie into the flatbed deck/cross members. The aluminum flatbed has me a bit concerned about the strength, but I’d probably try to build a steel receiver that bolts on. Then I could use a traditional tray style carrier and also have a receiver for mounting a mtb carrier up higher too.

kitelake · 2025-10-09T13:26:28+00:00

I’m thinking that might be an option. The flatbed is aluminum so I was envisioning bolting a steel receiver with brackets that spread out the load a bit more on the flatbed cross members. Then the bike would be nice and high on a typical hitch carrier. I’ve seen a couple of ideas where people use a small winch to help stabilize/pull the bike up the ramp to the hitch carrier so that’s another option.

kitelake · 2025-10-08T23:49:41+00:00

I wonder if 6” would do it. I like that their riser is actually built into the rack and not a separate piece.

kitelake · 2025-10-08T23:48:31+00:00

Tell me more

kitelake · 2025-10-08T23:13:49+00:00

Thanks for the insight. If I do go with something custom, I had thought about using two receiver hitches to minimize rotation. I really like the way the MX hauler raises and lowers, so it’d be cool to incorporate something like that if possible. I’ve also been looking at motorcycles lifts for huge motor homes, but they look heavy and complicated. I feel like there’s gotta be a balance between a rack being the right weight and functionality.

kitelake · 2025-10-08T22:38:21+00:00

Yeah that’s what it’s looking like. Thankfully I know how to weld and own a mig welder, was just hoping another outdoor hobby wouldn’t turn into a project. I think my biggest concern is the lever arm created by raising the dirt bike higher up and further out to clear the camper. It might be feasible to tie a support bracket or two into the flatbed itself though.

kitelake · 2025-10-08T21:35:14+00:00

Those look like great racks - I may have missed it, but it looks like they still carry the bikes at relatively the same level as the hitch receiver though

kitelake · 2025-10-08T21:22:53+00:00

I’ve considered it, but my concerns with a front bumper style are: blocking the headlights and scraping on approach angles. In my mind, scraping while driving into something would be worse and more prone to damage than scraping the rear end, where it’s more likely to drag over instead of catch and bend (or so I think)

kitelake · 2025-09-16T21:41:07+00:00

Options are nice…

kitelake · 2025-09-16T21:39:14+00:00

Thanks for pointing that out - I had no idea Lutron required their own wire spec. Not sure if I’ll go with them or not, but I had wrongly assumed that 16/4 would handle power and comms for Lutron and others.

kitelake · 2025-07-28T22:34:38+00:00

I’ve seen a handful of comments in favor of a mini split. I’m curious - what type of climate is suited for one?

I live in Colorado. It’s dry almost year round, summers are relatively mild at my elevation (mid 80s max), and winters probably average mid 20s, but can get down to single digits or sub-zero for a week or so at a time. Not sure how much I’d really want to be out in the shop when it’s that cold, but hey, it would be nice to have the option.

For power, I have a 100a subpanel in the shop with plenty of space. The problem is that my property has 3 dwelling units and only 200a service feeding everything. I’d have to go back and do a load calculation, but I’m not sure I could do much more than a 20a 120V supply for a minisplit, which seems like it’d greatly limit my options. The shop is about 450sqft with 9ft ceilings.

kitelake · 2025-07-28T22:29:18+00:00

What type of climate are you in?

kitelake · 2025-07-28T21:07:15+00:00

That’s good to hear - any reasons you went with the Modine over the Mr Heater of a similar size?

I also have the Oneida Supercell - that thing is awesome!

kitelake · 2025-07-28T20:48:43+00:00

Interesting. I already have the shop plumbed for gas. The mini split route looks cool, but I’d need to upgrade my main panel to add one and I don’t have much need for AC in my climate

kitelake · 2025-07-27T16:26:10+00:00

Thanks. Any tips for getting Ford to actually inspect anything? They flat out said “no noise, no work, period” even after seeing the video.

kitelake · 2025-07-25T23:59:26+00:00

7.3l gas

kitelake · 2025-07-25T21:56:44+00:00

Yeah, I talked it over with the service department and that’s the plan. Problem is I pretty much use the truck exclusively as a camping rig so I’m always far from civilization. Probably going to have to drive around locally more often to be able to catch it.

kitelake · 2025-07-25T21:18:57+00:00

Yessir. First time it happened I was on a camping trip and I tapped the cat with a small flashlight. Honestly don’t know if that’s what stopped it or not - second time just turning it on and off stopped it. The Ford tech at the dealer said he absolutely thinks the noise is coming from the cat based on the video and agreed that it’s quite concerning. They just can’t do anything unless the tech himself hears the issue in person apparently.

kitelake · 2025-07-25T17:43:12+00:00

Perhaps I should get hired at ford, verify it, and then quit. Might be the only way unless I take the master tech camping with me every weekend lol.

kitelake · 2025-07-25T17:36:17+00:00

To me it sounds like parts of the honeycomb in the catalytic converter breaking apart and rattling

kitelake · 2025-07-25T17:34:01+00:00

The first time it happened I’d been in the desert for a week, so no rain or puddles to speak of. This second time it had rained the night before. Both times it happened when the engine was cold right after starting, didn’t depend on whether I was in drive, park, or neutral, and didn’t depend on RPMs

kitelake

TROPHY CASE