DIY Hitch Mounted Vertical Bike Rack/ Cargo Carrier that Does Not Interfere with the Rear Spare Tire

Adding a hitch mounted bike carrier has been a problem on RT’s that are equipped with rear mounted spare tire carrier. I’ve seen many attempts by RT owners to negate this problem, from using hitch extenders to experimenting with different available bike carriers on the market. Clearing the spare tire is only half of the problem. Opening the Sprinter rear doors and lowering the spare tire with a hitch bike carrier mounted either with bikes loaded or unloaded is another huge problem not to mention the added length to the vehicle with the addition of hitch extender.

Installing Coach Battery Powered 12-volt DC sockets on Sprinter Dashboard

My 2011 Agile has two factory 12-volt DC sockets located in the cab, one by the pull-out cup holder (only powered when engine is running) and one just below the pull-out cup holder which is always powered. The MB factory sockets are wired into the chassis battery.

I installed 2 additional 12-volt DC sockets for charging our phones/ tablets/ cameras/etc. I wired the new sockets from the coach battery so as not to put extra drain into the starting battery when we are out dry camping. The additional sockets were installed on the outer sides of the dashboard top vents thus minimizing charging cables clutter hanging from the dashboard and interfering while driving. I opted for 12-volt DC sockets and use plug-in USB car chargers in lieu of surface- mount USB charger sockets for more universal mobile charging approach. Also replacing a malfunctioning USB charger with our setup would be much easier, not so with the surface- mount USB charger sockets.