Details on my e-bike rack and electric winch design

It took me a while to figure out how to lift my e-bike up to the bike rack on my van due to the weight of 75lbs. So I thought I’d share the design. I’m using a deer hoist and a 2500lb 12V electric winch with wireless remote from Amazon. The bike rack is made by 1Up and the frame and rear box is from Owl Vans. This system has held up really well and has been in use for over a year now traveling all over the US and to many off-road locations without any problems.

I’ve seen other designs which have hoists mounted to the roof or on the left door. Both these designs are problematic because it means you can’t open the rear door with the bike mounted. With this design, the rear door can be opened fully while the bike is mounted.

Other items of note are the 4 traction boards and the shovel & pick axe mounted to the side of the box. They are secured with bolts with wing nuts on the inside of the box so they can’t be easily stolen. The location of these are down low where they can be easily accessed. I used to have the traction boards up on the side of the roof rack but this was really inconvenient to get to when I needed them.