These things aren’t needed, but I found it makes loading and securing my bike much easier. Just in case you didn’t see the note on the main Towing Setup page here it is again:
It is easiest just to get a bike rack rated to carry your eBike. After tallying up everything extra I had to buy to make my setup work well I could have easily just bought a proper bike rack.
Curt Vehicle Specific Trailer Wiring Harness
Because I used a hitch riser to prevent my cargo carrier from scraping on the road I decided to add tow lights to the cargo carrier. A friend of mine who was following me said that the only brake light he could see was my 3rd brake light on my rear windshield.
I didn’t want to have to McGyver the wiring, and luckily Curt had a plug and play adapter harness for my car. This would allow me to plug in tow lights so that people driving behind could still see when I was braking or when I was signaling to make a turn.
LED Tow Lights
These are the trailer lights I ended up going with. I chose them because they were magnetic, weather sealed, and because they were LEDs. These are pretty basic, but they get the job done. These plug directly into the adapter harness mentioned earlier.
These were also relatively inexpensive to other lights available. Make sure the trailer lights you order are pre-wired otherwise you’ll have a bit of an arts-and-crafts session to get them to work with your vehicle.
Locking Hitch Pins
If you travel often with your bike it’s always a good idea to use locking hitch pins. These don’t make your bike carrier or bike rack theft-proof; it only serves to act as a deterrent. These give me piece of mind when going to group rides. The last thing I’d want to happen is to get back to my car after a group ride only to find my cargo carrier had been stolen. With no easy way to load my bike in my car it’d be game over man.
The brand you go with and the style of lock is entirely up to you. I’ll probably do a blog post all about the pros and cons of each…eventually.
1.25″ hitches use a 1/2″ hitch pin/lock
2″ hitches use a 5/8″ hitch pin/lock
Trailer Hitch Stabilizers
Wheel Chock
