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.