I'd like to know if installing a Hitch Receiver on an 07 MCS can be done/is a good idea/how-to?. I've been told by the guy at the bicycle shop that he is aware of it having been done on a Mini. Is this true? Does it bolt on or is it welded? Where can one be found?

I want to use a "hitch mount" style bike carrier because I can then also use it on my truck/camper for long camping trips. I prefer to do the short day trips carrying the bikes on the Mini.

Any thoughts, or ideas?

Thanks.

Chris & "Sparky"

07 MCS Sparkling Silver/Black

 

Check out http://www.minidomore.com/mini_coope...iler_hitch.php. I have one on my '05 and it's great. They now make them for '07s.

 

Thanks for the link. Their hitch looks like the way to go.

________________________
Chris & "Sparky"
07 MCS Sparkling Silver/Black

 

I'm think very seriously of ordering their receiver hitch for the R56 fir carrying a bike rack. I'd love to hear from any R56 owner's who've actually installed one of these on their Mini.

 

I got one from Minidomore for my R56 - works great - just like it did on my R50.

Use both hauling both the little trailer with my windsurfing gear and the Thule bike rack.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

 

Since it's an 1 1/4" reciever you have to buy an adapter if you have a 2" bike rack (like Ihave)

 

Thanks, I've got a 1 1/4" rack that is perfect for hauling my roadbike. I placed the order today from Minidomore, and will buy some extra bumper clips from the dealer when I pick up my car later this week. Although I've been told that it's no big deal to reach behind the bumper to install the set pin after hanging the bike rack, I wonder if it would work to add one the extenders tubes as shown below, as a way to be able to install the set pin from the outside. I realize there would be 3"-4" of tube sticking out the back of the car, but given the all-black background of the rear bumper grill, maybe it wouldn't look too bad.

http://www.acmehitch.com/receivertubes.htm

 

I installed the MiniDoMore hitch receiver on my R56 MCS for my Thule carrier, and was very happy -- but admit that it does require you to cut a 1.75-inch square hole in the black plastic skirt under the bumper cover, because the receiver starts about two inches behind the skirt.

IF you do decide on an extension tube, there are two considerations:
-- the extension tube is quite a bit bigger than the 1.75 inch hole, so you will hafta cut an even bigger hole that would actually extend into the painted bumper cover itself (ick!); and
-- if you DO decide to use the hitch for something other than a bike carrier, you have reduced the load capacity of the hitch by 50% with the extender installed.

It really is no big deal to get to the pin ... it is above the MCS heatshield; just wait a little to let everything cool down before installing or removing.

 

Thanks for the feedback. You bring up some good points, and I definitely won't buy an extender until I get the receiver installed and use it a few times first to evaluate ease of pin attachment. One point however, it appears that the extender would only require a hole slightly bigger than 2", maybe 2.25", and it doesn't seem that would require cutting into the painted portion of the bumper cover. In the pictures on minidomore's website, it looks as if there is a fair amount of black mesh still remaining around the 1.75" standard hole.

BTW, did you find it necessary to have spare clips and fasteners when re-installing the bumper?

 

Once installed, you will see (on an R56 MCS) that you need to cut the 1.75-inch hole near the absolute bottom of the black skirt to align with the receiver ... so any bigger hole MUST go into the painted bumper cover to center-up.

ALSO: the 1.75-inch hole gives 0.25 inch of play around all sides of the 1.25-inch drawbar: space we probably need to avoid shattering the plastic as the car body bounces-around on its frame. A 2.25-inch extender tube would actually require a 2.75-inch square hole -- more than double the square inches of hole.

I did not buy extra clips/fasteners, but WAS prepared to go to the dealer that day. I suggest getting an offset-ratcheting-screwdriver with a #2 Phillips bit (about $10); toughest job is getting at screw C under the fender flairs, and you will greatly minimize the risk of breaking the clips holding the flair if you can get under the flair with the minimum amount of pulling on same. Patience is rewarded; I took three hours when the instructions say one -- but then, I'm an engineer, and that's my bag --

Two OTHER tricks to make the install better:
-- get two dowels similar in size to the bumper bolts to help align and then hang the hitch and bumper back on the car
-- there's an easy way to cut the foam bumper-filler for R56 MCS installs; see my gallery

good luck! -- PM if you wanna discuss covers for the hole ... I've designed two now

 

These are all great tips, thanks for sharing your experience. You have presented some great suggestions. It was my guesstimate that an extender tube would only be 2" square, so a 2.25" hole would be big enough. But re-examining the pictures on minidomore's website, I can see what you are talking about - 1.75" hole is very near the bottom of the black panel. I ordered the kit with the pre-cut rear panel, so if I ever sell the car and want to keep the hitch, I can re-install the original panel. I was also an engineer earlier in my career so I can relate to your comments about being overly meticulous and analytical when it comes to these projects. In fact, I have an idea for an easily retrofittable self-locking mechanism that I can add to my bike rack that will eliminate the need to reach under the car or even kneel on the ground at all, but it will require the ability to insert the inner tube of the bike rack just a bit past the back end of the receiver tube. Can you tell me if there is anything to stop that from happening? Also, I'd love to know more about your idea for the hole covers.

BTW, my rack is supposed to arrive tomorrow, but I won't get to install it this weekend because I'll be out of town on a two-day bike event. thankfully my riding buddy has a car with a receiver hitch already installed.

 

There is nothing to stop a drawbar from extending beyond the back end of the receiver tube (advancing towards the front of the car) -- you could go six inches past the other side of the receiver tube and not hit a thing.
EASY answer to the cover: go to a place where they sell trailer-hitch stuff (some large hardware stores even) and buy a black plastic receiver-tube-cover for TWO-inch receivers. You can either cut down the plug on the cover slightly, or open up the hole on the skirt slightly to fit ... then drill two holes in the plug and fasten from behind with a gizmo called a snapper-pin (also at the hardware store). Total cost: about $5 and a little cutting.

 

wow, those pictures they show of the r56 with a single tip exhaust look quite retarded.... (im talking just about the exhaust, the hitch looks nice!)

 

I installed mine yesteray and it was pretty straightforward. It's fairly impressive how they wedged the receiver tube just exactly below the bottom edge of the bumper beam and just exactly above the point where it would be necessary to cut into the painted portion of the bumper. There isn't a lot room to play in either direction and this hitch nails it. It appears to be a very ruggedly-built unit that should work well over the long haul. I weighed mine, and it adds 16.8 pounds to the car. That's not too bad, because the weight is on the back end, and a good set of aftermarket wheels will recover most of that gain!

 

I'm thinking of getting a tray type rack like the Yakima Stickup or a similar rack from Saris or Thule. I'm concerned about weight, ease of installation/removal, good fit in the receiver (no wobble), fold up close to rear hatch, drag on the ground going in driveways, etc.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a hitch rack that works well with the mini?

 

My carrier is a Thule 937XT -- fits GREAT on the MiniDoMore receiver, no rattles or complaints. There's about twelve inches between the main vertical beam and the back of the hatch ... not too far off the back, but enough to even hang a spare MINI tire on the inside of the vertical for a long trip.
See the photos in my gallery.

 

I have a slightly older version of this rack:

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=4411

If I get a chance this weekend, I take some photos of the rack on the Mini with some bikes on it. It's the best all-around 2-bike rack I've found, because:

• You don't have to take the front wheel off the bike as you do on some tray-type racks that use the front fork to secure the bike to the rack. This means no dirty/wet wheels to stow in the car and less time spent disassembling/reassembling the bike.
• The bike sits on its wheels instead of hanging from the top tube. Hanging a bike from the top tube can stretch the shifter and brake cables and grind them into the frame.
• The wheel holders keep the front wheel from twisting around in the wind without the need for bungee cords. On a small car like a Mini, both the front and back wheels stick out a little bit past the sides of the car, which would normally try to turn the front wheel parallel to the wind.
• It folds up into a compact stack when not in use.

 

Here are some photos:

 

Fbirch, that looks exactly like what I'm looking for. And it's pretty inexpensive compared to some of the other tray racks I have seen. The other ones that are similar are:

Thule T2 http://www.thuleracks.com/product.asp?dept_id=8&sku=916

Yakima Holdup http://www.yakima.com/racks/bike-rac...dup-1-1-4.aspx

Yakima Stickup http://www.yakima.com/racks/bike-rac...0/stickup.aspx

Saris Thelma http://www.saris.com/p-298-thelma-2-bike.aspx

Thanks for the recommendation.

 

It's inexpensive, but very well made - a rare combination to be sure! I've had mine for almost 5 years and it's still works perfectly. It has a threaded set pin, or you can use a smaller diameter non-threaded pin if you prefer something quicker. All the racks in your links above look like reasonable choices as well. The concept of holding up the bike by putting the top hook on the wheel is an innovative idea. The rack in your third link appears to extend a bit far behind the car, which will put a lot of torque on a relatively short receiver tube, so I'd shy away from that one unless it has some other feature you really like. In reality, you'd probably get good performance from any of these racks. I plan to keep mine for a long time. This is the 3rd car and 2nd Mini that I've used it on.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I'm going be ordering the hitch soon. I'll probably go to a few bike shops to see the racks and then make a decision.

 

U-Haul used to sell a rack exactly the same as the one on preformancebike's website, but with a different brand name painted on it. I could never find a local U-Haul store that had one in stock, but it was shown on their website. If U-Haul still carries the duplicate rack, you might be able to find a U-Haul store in your area that has one in stock that you could inspect.

 

I designed a stainless bracket for an OutMotoring badge holder to cover the square hole in the bumper skirt -- looks sharp with a badge in back, and completely hides the hole ... see the gallery

 

Thanks for the update. That was a neat idea to use a cover that doesn't attempt to blend in with the valence. I just used the black plastic cover that came with the hitch kit, and glued on the same piece of chrome trim that I cut off the rear valence to create the hole. I found that if I trimed the bottom edge of this cover, it fits very flush against the rear valence and is very hard to distinguish from more than 10 feet away. The picture below is a close up. I need to find a longer piece of chrome trim to really make it blend in.