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I tow a 5th wheel and would like to haul 2 regular size e-bikes in front.
Which brand of hitch receiver is recommended (function, cost and ease of installation)?
The truck is a 2021 F350 diesel short bed and I have a Hollywood Racks bike rack with 2" bar.
Are the bikes likely to obstruct the headlights?
There are two main hitch types for the front, the difference being the receiver location. One comes out through the bumper area/ license plate, gives you more ground clearance. The other one comes out through the air dam, much lower. I installed the lower one because I needed to mount bikes and wanted to keep them below the line of sight. It will interfere with your headlights and throw weird shadows, I really try not to drive at night too much with a bike up there. I have a truck camper and didn't want to have a long hitch extension and more weight out the back. Works ok but the front bike takes a lot of bugs. I was worried the windblown rain would force its way into bearings and electronics with my wife's e-bike up there so I wrapped it in pallet wrap plastic for the drive across the country. I don't know if it was needed but the bike was fine and the plastic was cheap. I'm loading up in a week or so, I can take pics.
I bought the Draw-Tite from Etrailer. I installed it myself, wasn't too bad following the videos. I'm not super mechanical- didn't have to take the bumper off, fish wires made it doable for me.
I have a TorkLift North Hitch on mine and it’s great. I like it coming out from a little higher, however, it does put the bikes in my line of site, although I don’t see how any of them would keep them out of the headlights. Part of that is also because of the bike hitch I use, which bends upwards. I need to mod this one to be straight now.
I chose the hitch where the receiver is behind license plate. With it that high, I did not like looking thru the bikes on rack. I had a local welder make a drop section (its orange in picture). That moves the receiver down to where the other hitch would be, but I don't have a cutout in my airscoop and don't worry about low curbs
. As you can see, the bikes crosstube is a hair below my hood line so I look thru the seat of one and handlebars of the other. Its not ideal but I really got used to it. What do I like ? I have my bikes. They are very simple to remove from rack as this rack is lower. What do I not like ? Endless "stuff" in the air gets deep into gears/chain/shifters. Pulling into parking spaces you must account for extended nose. We always removed the bikes before parking but the hitch still adds length up front. I wanted to get a cover for them, but was too concerned about blocking airflow into grill. Also the cover would likely block my view let alone be a constant flapping distraction. Would I do it again ? Yes, in a heartbeat.
My bikes are around 55 lbs each. My rack is a "Kuat Transfer v2". I installed the hitch myself and did remove the bumper to install. Its a "EchoHitch", etrailer part #: 306-x7904.
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