Stowaway2 Mod - Add a Bike Rack

After my recent trip, I decided it would be much easier to have the bike outside the van, instead of inside.  Inside is more secure, but if you stop over for a nite enroute, what do you do with the bike?

So I ordered a receiver hitch to bolt to my Stowaway2 swing-away box.

Now I've taken a bit of grief over this box from some members.  As you can see in the pics below, not only can you see it in the camera, it holds a lot of stuff!  Where you guys put all this stuff in your vans is beyond me.

I found this receiver hitch for RV bumpers on Amazon for $35.  I thought it would work because it has steel plates both top and bottom.
I would only do this because it straddles a steel beam.  Just bolting it to a plastic box would be dangerous and stupid.  This is plenty strong enough to carry a bike rack - but that is all I would dare attach!

I did need to add some washers so I could tighten it down all the way.

It fit perfectly for one bike.  If I want to carry two, I could put in my receiver extender and push the bike out a bit further.
With the bike on, the rack and hardware it adds 80lbs to my box.  It doesn't sag, and still swings out without issue.  My electric bike is heavy - 50lbs, so a regular bike is about 25lbs lighter.

I don't think it sticks out too far.  Overall 46" inches, but you can still see everything in the camera.

Well, after some more pondering, I decided I wasn't quite happy with the hitch reciever I mounted on my Stowaway2.

So I took it completely apart and started over.  I found this Curt bolt-on type reciever made for a 2" x 4" bumper.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004C6TZCM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The instructions on Amazon said 2" x 2", so I passed it buy.  But there were some comments in the reviews that no, it was for a 4x2.  And they were right.

Fits snuggly

I also ended up putting some spacers on the mounting points instead of cutting the box to accommodate the height of the hitch.  The material is tough stuff, but I didn't want to push my luck as start cutting on it.

Plenty of clearance off the ground.  The bike is more than 17" off the ground.

The receiver is the lowest point - around 11"

I have a lighter bike rack on order - one made of aluminum that also holds the bike from the upper portion of the wheels.  The bike will end up sitting a few inches higher than on this old rack.  But thank you UPS, you screwed up my shipment.  Next week!