Best 1996 Chevrolet Express Van Bike Racks

This is a really good rack. We do a lot of car camping out of our Subaru Outback and I wanted a bike rack that would swing aside so we can raise the hatchback and easily access the camping gear, cooler, duffel bags, etc that we carry in back (see photo). This rack 100% solves that problem. Further, the bike hold-downs are very secure. I use them on their own for shorter trips. For a longer trip or one that may involve a rough road, I supplement them with a ratchet strap, but this is probably just unnecessary paranoia--the hold-downs are excellent. My one heads-up about this rack is that it is heavy. I am a large, strong man and can attach it myself, but I do not look forward to the chore. This is a beefy rack and the weight is unavoidable. I welcome how sturdily-built the rack is. We typically carry my normal bike and my wife's heavy e-bike on it, and the rack is totally up to the job. Highly recommended. I have zero regrets about the purchase and the investment in this rack that will serve us for many years to come. The design is pretty much perfect--I can't think of one thing I would change.

We love our RockyMounts BackStage Bike Rack. The fact that it can hold our two e-bikes and swings out for rear door access makes it perfect for vanlife. Service and communication from etrailer is outstanading!

This is a well designed rack. Adding and removing bikes is quick & easy. Just set the bike on & slide the padded hook down onto the bike frame to secure it; no straps required. If only one bike is transported, it does not interfere with opening the trunk on our Tesla Model 3. With 2 bicycles the trunk cannot be opened. For 2 bikes the Swagman model that can tilt might be worth the extra 22 bucks. This rack uses a bolt in the receiver hitch instead of a pin. This locks it securely preventing it from moving in the hitch & rattling. It also requires a wrench to remove it, good for theft prevention but one more thing to keep track of. For storage on the vehicle the top bar folds down. For storage in the garage, the left & right bars fold up & you can hang it using one of the hooks.

So far so good. The rack wiggles a bit, but that is expected. I have it on my 2007 Corolla and I have hit 65+ on the highway with it and have not had a problem. I would recommend getting a locking pin. The one included is threaded, which aside from security, makes it harder to take the rack on and off. I would also look into a DIY way to secure the wheels better. I am using some bungee straps which do the job no problem. The two bikes I carry are at the racks capacity.

One Year Later – Still Going Strong I’ve owned this rack for a year now, and I couldn’t be happier. It securely holds all 4 of my bikes, even on longer road trips, with no shifting or wobble. One of my favorite features is the ability to tilt the rack away from the vehicle—even when it's fully loaded. That’s a huge convenience and makes it super practical for daily use. Durable, easy to use, and thoughtfully designed. Highly recommend if you're looking for a reliable 4-bike solution.

This bike rack has worked well for us. We have a Jeep Wrangler, with the spare tire on the back of the tailgate, and needed a rack that would hold the bikes in a trailer hitch, and swing away so we could easily access the rear storage of the jeep. This has worked out perfectly! I did have to use a hitch extender to clear the rear tire, but that was expected. The rack works well, holds the bikes as expected, and is easy to use, and get on and off the vehicle. I am very satisfied!

Working with etrailer was great. Shipping was fast and the transaction was efficient. I will definitely buy again! Good job guys!!

Love this rack and use it every day on my Toyota Tundra pickup. I ride my cruiser on the beach and loading/unloading bike/s is really easy. I travel to riding locations as well and even at highway speeds, two bikes remain secure and wobble-free. My bikes are expensive and the stand-up mode of securing them means no worn paint or scratches. If any complaint it's not made for the salty air here in FL and certain parts corrode...even with daily rinsing off. The rack is perfect for the fat and oversized wheels on bikes I've owned...even heavier ebikes...WILL BUY IT AGAIN.

Rack is very sturdy and heavy duty. Instructions were terrible. Locking hitch pin would not thread correctly and ended up damaging it. Thankfully the threads on rack were fine and I was able to use the non-locking threaded pin. Would like a replacement locking pin ASAP

For the price, it's a good-quality, sturdy bike rack. I have used it about 5-7 times with no issues. I only used it for one adult and two kids' bikes, but I am sure it can handle four bikes as advertised. It's great that the rack folds upwards when it's not required.

Love this product! I built a great bike carrying system for my F-150 using two of these fork clamps. They are easy to install and extremely well made. No more tangled bikes and lots more room in the bed for other stuff! Best way to go for a nice bike rack system. Thanks, Phil T.

Had bought three of these a year ago and placed it on a cut 2" x 4" for three bikes. All three bikes (2 MTB and 1 Road) now easily fit the 5'7" bed of my Ram 1500. No worries with the quick release and no more stress taking the whole family to the trails. So glad I got these.

Heavy duty. Well made and designed. Easy to install and load. Just arrived so I’ll let you know about the durability.

Great rack! Fits the receiver on my '22 Outback perfectly. My bike(s) ride stable and secure. I also have a Specialized e-bike that weighs 36 lbs., and the rack handles the weight just fine.

This is a very solid product! I have used it for over a year now and love it! I have had up to 3 bikes on this without a problem and have traveled over 8 hours in the car one way with absolutely no issues. Many other bike racks like this one that I see on other cars look unstable this is not unstable in anyway. I did have to file some of the paint off of the rack to get it to fit in my 1 and 1/4" hitch but once that was done it has been perfect. I also bought the locking hitch bolt which is awesome too.

Well built and good quality. So glad I can haul bikes easier with our Honda Pilot now!

Great product for the price. Pretty easy to set up. Only issue I have is my mountain bike, which is an XL frame with 27 inch wheels, is pushing the limits of the base. Wish this rack was just 4-5 inches longer that way you have the perfect overlap amount in the middle without pushing the current frame to the limits. With that said it does hold my bike just have to find the sweet spot. But this fits my son’s youth bike perfectly!

As always with products I buy from e-Trailer, this item is exactly as advertised and works perfectly. Easy assembly, I bought 2 but only installed one until I check the fit with my rooftop carrier.

The item was delivered quickly and assembled in a short time. I didn't use yet, but it seems to be sturdy and perform as described.

We used this bike rack for at least 2 RV trips. The third trip we took we lost one bike off of the rear most rack. Ended up having to replace this bike rack with one from another store. Would only recommend for local trips only.

As someone with extensive manufacturing experience, I can say this is a sturdy and robust product that will work well for anyone who can follow directions and mount bikes correctly on it. Having said that, there are a few items people should be aware of that can cause users some issues. The included “ramp” is not tall enough to work with a standard size pick up’s trailer hitch. I have a dodge ram 1500 series and the rack sits way too high when mounted on the truck hitch for the ramp to even touch the ground. If you plan on using a standard size pick up or a suburban or Denali type vehicle and are planning on using with heavier bikes or ebikes, buy the longer ramp made by Thule to help with getting your bikes on the rack. It costs about $[XX] and won’t nest inside the rack like the shorter one. But if you have heavier bikes or have issues lifting your bike, it’s a must have. In my opinion, Thule should have designed it with the longer ramp to start with to accommodate standard size trucks and SUV’s but it is what it is. The mounting struts take a bit of getting used to in order to configure properly to fit your bikes. Make sure you aligned your pedals and frame so that the bike nearest the back of the vehicle doesn’t rub against the frame of the rack before locking the bike into place. Once you find the proper pedal alignment for your particular bike, everything clamps down nicely and is very sturdy. Overall, aside from the ramp issue adding another $[XX] to the cost of the rack, I’m pleased and it should last for years. The locks are a nice feature as well. Protects your rack and your bikes from theft.

We have 2 electric bikes, one of which weighs 66 lbs. so I was looking for a rack with ramps. This also has wheels to transport the rack from garage to car without having to carry it. Let me tell you, the wheels made this rack worth every penny.Lot of racks have ramps, this is the only one I found with wheels and they are a game changer. Once the wedge is tightened into the hitch there is no play/wobble at all.

Our roof rack rails have a slight curve. I was a challenge to get the bike to mount vertically. On the curve it naturally sits leaned at an angle.

Excellent budget rooftop bike carrier.

Excellent bike rack. Easy to put together. Fits perfect with the etrailer curt hitch. This is a heavy duty bike rack, which also means it heavy but still manageable. Using this for my Aventon Ebike.

This rack is heavy, easy to assemble and has zero wobble. The reason I purchased this rack was due to the quality of the rack, but also my last experience with trailer. Great customer service, and if you have a question, it's pretty easy to get hold of a real person! I actually purchased this for an Ebike.

Super easy to load 4 bikes and go. Takes me 5 minutes to get all 4 on the rack, compared to 15-20 with the rack I had before. I would change nothing honestly. It's a fantastic rack. It has performed great. I can now quickly load 2 kids bikes and 2 adult bikes on the rack with no special adapters. We can hit trails faster and spend more time riding. There is no real downside. It's also significantly cheaper than competitors and provides a much easier and smooth experience. Is it a great rack for small families who want to ride together. No adapters needed for different sized bikes and super easy to load and unload. I would not recommend this particular model if you don't plan on using more than 2 slots. But for 3 or 4 it rules.

One year in and it is great. I have a 2021 Subaru accent and it is perfect. We carry 4 adult bikes and while it is a tight fit it works great. The rack is VERY solid and does not move when tightened up. Over the past year we have used it 3-4 times with no issues so far. It is easy to use and one person can easily load and unload the bikes. The tilt up feature is nice and when the rack is down and there are no bikes we can open the back hatch without an issue and there is plenty of clearance. We have been very happy with the performance and the price.

I've been looking a eBike racks for about a month and finally decided on this Swagman rack because it's rated for use on an RV. That's what I needed because it will be on the back of my travel trailer. I had it on my wish list on another site but etrailer had it for $[XX] less, so I jumped on it. It was fairly easy to put together, I installed it on the hitch on my truck so I wouldn't have to wrestle with it on the floor of my garage, that made it easy to assemble. This rack is very well built, and is very solid, it doesn't move while on the hitch on my truck (I installed the RV hardware) so I have no doubt that in will be fine on the back of mhy travel trailer.

So far so good! I have used it on the back of my Jeep Grand Cherokee and on the back of our travel trailer. It is a pretty solid e-bike rack. I would definitely recommend this e-bike rack. We did purchase it for using on our travel trailer, but also works great on the back of our cars, which have 2" hitch receivers. On the travel trailer we also installed a Draw-Tite Hitch, along with a Curt 14" hitch extender for 2" trailer hitches and a Malone anti-rattle hitch lock system. We purchased everything from etrailer. I am very happy with how all of this works together for hauling our e-bikes on the back of our travel trailer.

I installed this rack onto a Curt trailer hitch which is mounted onto a 2017 Honda Fit. I have been using it intermittently for several months, probably about 5 times with one bike and twice with two bikes. I give some pros and cons below and then elaborate. Pros: easy to assemble, easy to mount and dismount bikes, easy to lock and unlock, how to put the rack into different positions is intuitive Cons: inconvenient to put the rack into different positions, inconvenient to mount the rack onto the hitch, rack protrudes about 15 inches from bumper when in flipped up position (seems very vulnerable to someone backing into it in a parking lot, very inelegant looking I say the repositioning is intuitive because there is really only one way you could possibly place the pins for each position. But removing and replacing two pins is much less convenient than turning a knob or a lever, like some racks do. Also many racks fold and flip in such a way as to look very unobtrusive when in non-use mode. This one looks like kind of a monstrosity. That does not really bother me but it might bother some owners. The part that does bother me is how far it protrudes from the car. I back into parking spaces whenever possible to avoid someone bumping into the rack and damaging it (which happened to a friend). My number one suggestion for Curt is related to mounting the rack onto the hitch. Make it easier to tell when the holes are lined up so that the bolt/pin will fit and thread. As it is now, if you insert the rack as far as it can go it is way too far in. Ideally, it would be exactly lined up. Failing that, maybe some kind of click or other feedback to know at least that you are in the neighborhood. It would also be great to have an attaching device that is easier to fasten and unfasten than is the bolt/pin. Tip for mounting the rack onto the hitch: I assumed that it would be awkward to hold, what is it 46 pounds?, while trying to line up the rack probe with the receiver. If you have a garage with exposed collar ties, my solution could work well for you. I looped a cargo strap over a collar tie. Then I hooked both hooks of a bungie onto that loop. The idea is that you hook one of the bike frame holders of the rack onto the bungie, suspending the rack a few inches off the garage floor. This takes most of the weight of the rack so that you can just pull up or down and forward until you line up with the receiver. Tip for mounting bikes. Don't put the little screw into the post that prevents you from completely removing the bike frame holders. Remove both holders. Position the first bike, slide the holder into place, position the second bike, slide the holder into place. I found this makes it much easier, because you avoid parts of the bike hitting the holder as you are trying to get the wheels into place. The trick is that if you are mounting only one bike, don't forget to put the second holder back on - or maybe just stick it inside the car right away.

Have used mine several times in the past 2 years on the back of a ‘21 Honda Pilot and a ‘19 Ram 1500 Classic. I really like that the platform will tilt downward allowing the Pilot rear hatch to open with no interference. The tailgate on the Ram doesnt open fully even with the platform tilted downward, but that is a Ram problem & not a Curt problem. Was well worth the money.

This is the 2nd time I have purchased this bike rack and it a good fit for the Sprinter van. The rack is sturdy and pretty easy to load while not taking up a lot of space. It does take a couple of days to install due to drying times on the adhesives for the rails that mount to the door.

The Thule Elite Van XT2 Bike Rack is just what I expected but the install instructions leave something to be desired. Nothing but pictures trying to describe the install. Even a few poorly worded sentences would have been helpful in some places. I have seen this noted in other reviews and [online]. Otherwise a quality product and I have been able to integrate it with my Kuat swing arm and bike rack that we were already using. I wanted to be able to add a 3rd bike to our setup without extending the length and still be able to open the rear doors without removing a bike. This all worked out with just a little modification. I did move the Thule bike rail install point 1.5" above the center install position to allow clearance over my wife's ebike. See photos.

We have two electric bikes which fit on it perfectly. Very easy to operate and hook up to our Rivian R1S. Highly recommend it!

This bike rack is awesome. Our two e-mountain bikes fit perfectly on the rack. We have taken them on long road trips with no issues. Great bike rack.

Almost the perfect bike rack for the Promaster. No complaints after a year of use. Thousands of miles with road bikes, gravel bikes, and modern mountain bikes on there and no problems that weren't my own. And if you are creative, you can use the rack for other things, like carry a storage box or traction tracks. Well worth the money if you want to keep your hitch free for other things.

Absolutely love this rack. We have 2 of the smaller REI e-bikes but they come close to the max recommended weight. I take off the batteries to keep it under. After 1 year we have had no issues. I appreciate the clamp style lock because I also added a cable lock for extra protection and one time while we were hiking someone cut the cable, but the bikes were still securely locked by the rack, so they must have gave up at that point. The only advice I would give (especially when heavier like ours) is that when closing the door, I keep my left hand on the bike to stabilize it so it doesn't "bounce" when the door shuts. I just don't want any unnecessary pressure on the system. Great product overall allows our van to not be any longer than needed.