Lights on a bicycle carrier

With my 1up 2-bike rack I needed to add a 4" x 36" x 1/8" piece of aluminum to have the turn and brake lights visible to following cars. The Curt light kit is pre-wired and fast to install although the lights are not the brightest.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3LKCESL6E9M5P/ref=cm_cr_othr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1592339336

My Dispatch mounted on my truck for testing.

A view from the truck side to show how the lights are mounted



I used these lights Lights

Mounted them an a piece of aluminum angle using a 2” square u-bolt around the frame of the rack. Wired it to a 4-wire trailer plug.

I also added a pair of these Strobe Module really grab your attention.

It's really easy. My 14 yr old grandson ordered 6" LED stop/tail strips for motorcycles (or whatever) and installed them on my rack in less than 30 minutes (assuming you have a trailer plug on the back of your rig).

Thank You!

Thanks Guys. Picked up a couple of LED trailer lights and spent a couple of hours in my shop and made up a mount out of angle iron. Wired the lights up, painted and all's well. Thanks again.

Yup, I have to relocate my bike rack, mounted on RV spare tire, which at first block the license plate, then the signal/stop lights. Well, now I don't mind at all that I have to put a rubber spacer as it's scraping the generator dinging both without it.

Good discussion - I was following a trailer last year in MT (near Glacier). They had 2 bikes on the back. I could see one tail light but not the other. I could see where this would get into trouble especially if changing lanes on the freeway. An approaching car could not see your intent and would not have time to react to your lane change. This idea of accessory lights is a great idea.

docsouce wrote:
So have any of you folks that carry bicycles installed a set of lights on the outside ends of the bike rack?

I installed these on my Thule rack. They work perfectly. Had to do a bit of work extending the wires to reach the trailer plug, but they are just great.

Trailer Light Bars

I noticed the same thing on my Swagman (especially if the bikes are covered) and good for you for taking notice and asking. There are lots of small plug and play lights that you can mount to make them visible. I would imagine a lot of the newer ones are LED so smaller and brighter. I just used an old magnetic tow light set I already had. I think I paid $30 at Lowes.

The fact that you even posted about this shows that you know there is a concern. For all of you who have bike racks or anything coming close to your rear lights, please respect the rest of us and put on unobstructed lights. You can get magnetic towing lights at Harbor Freight for 32.99.

Do you really want to HOPE that I see your brake light through your bikes spokes?
Very small thing to do to show your consideration to others and your adherence to best safety practices. It is simply the right thing to do