Originally Posted by
catonec
jeep cherokee. There are a billion of them out there so you can find a really nice one pretty cheap. The i6 4.0 is a bulletproof engine with plenty of power. replacement parts are inexpensive. Good 4 wheel drive systems.....10k gets you alot of truck.
I currently drive a four door sedan and transport my road bike in the back seat with the front wheel off. The seats do not fold down. I use a 6X9 tarp to protect the seats.
All of the riding I do requires me to transport my bike around, so I have gotten used to having my bike in the back seat pretty much all the time. The problem is that I no longer have use of my back seat as a result.
So I was thinking about trading the sedan in and getting a mid-size SUV, maybe a Jeep Grand Cherokee. What I was wondering is if there is a way to carry my bike around in the back of something with about as much luggage space as the Cherokee with ONLY the front wheel off and WITHOUT folding the rear seats down. Here is a picture of the luggage space in a Grand Cherokee:
I have researched this a good bit and as far as I can tell, the common practice is to fold at least one rear seat down and put the bike in with the bike pointed in the same direction as the suitcases above. But could it be put in sideways, or perhaps diagonally, maybe using a custom built platform or rack or something to hold the bike up and in place, and also a second bracket or something to secure the front wheel, within the space shown above?
Since I can fit the bike in the back seat of a four door sedan, it seems like it should be easy. But I am not so sure....
Thoughts?