Best 1997 Nissan Pathfinder Bike Racks

The good: I like the way the bikes are held in and the ability to add the upright adapters to the bike frame holders. The straps are quality too. For a jeep with a spare tire, this is the perfect length to clear it. This rack is 5 stars from the bike holders to the base of it. The bad: the 2"receiver adapter and bolt are insufficient. I wish they made this in a solid 2" hitch. The entire setup is held into the receiver by a very short bolt. It only goes about half way into the receiver tube. So your hitch is only "secured" on one side. A hitch pin or bolt should go through the receiver tube completely imo so it can be secured on the other end with a retaining clip or nut. Because this only goes in the one side, the entire weight of the rack plus bikes are held tight to one side of the receiver by the undersized bolt and washer. A few bumps down the road and that bolt loosens. Now instead of distibuting the weight of the rack and bikes on the receiver and post, it's completely up to the bolt to keep you from losing the rack. The bolt threads get damaged too. I took this down a dirt road and nearly lost everything. I had to buy my own bolt with hd fender washers and lock washers to correct this. Thule should've provided this from the start. The current short bolt design where only one side of the receiver secures the rack is unacceptable. This rack is 1 star at best for the connection to the receiver.

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Hitch pin broke before I got it. Looks like a poor design for the locking pin, they might want to consider a different design. I got a 3/8 shear pin from Home Depot to replace and it works great. Bike rack is great!

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I give it 3 stars due to the fact I can only put one bike on my 2 bike holder. I have tried numerous times to load 2 bikes but it was impossible. It won't work because it looks as though the bikes would damage each other also the mounts don't move. The paper said the mounts would turn on the post that it sets on but mine won't. Even had my husband try to move them but no such luck. I even watched the videos but they only show the bikes on the rack not how to mount them. As for mounting on my Pathfinder it is easy and I feel like my bike is secure. This is a very good product for (ONE) bike only!

Only taken on 1 trip, but word great with 2 kids bikes at highway speeds. Used Swagman frame bar for the smaller bikes.

Only taken on 1 trip, but word great with 2 kids bikes at highway speeds. Used Swagman frame bar for the smaller bikes.

I give it 3 stars due to the fact I can only put one bike on my 2 bike holder. I have tried numerous times to load 2 bikes but it was impossible. It won't work because it looks as though the bikes would damage each other also the mounts don't move. The paper said the mounts would turn on the post that it sets on but mine won't. Even had my husband try to move them but no such luck. I even watched the videos but they only show the bikes on the rack not how to mount them. As for mounting on my Pathfinder it is easy and I feel like my bike is secure. This is a very good product for (ONE) bike only!

Nice fit n finish. Easy to install. Be warned, 5 bikes would be a very tight fit.

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So far, I took the hitch rack out of the box and put it together. It seems very well constructed, durable, and well designed. And the price is right! I will update this review after a few weeks of use. Customer service is excellent! After I purchased this rack and after it shipped (which seeemed right away!)

So far I’ve just assembled it and took a quick test drive around the block. My initial thought is this thing is perfect. It’s super sturdy and easy to use. My only gripe and it’s not fault of the rack, but it’s heavy…

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If you've done any research or read any of the other comments on either this rack, or this seller...rest assured they really are as good as everyone says! I ordered my rack on around 4pm est on a Friday afternoon and within an hour I received an email that said they have shipped my product AND upgraded to priority shipping. Can't say enough positive things about the customer service! When the rack arrived, it took me a little over half an hour to get it set up. Probably would e been faster if I were even slightly mechanically inclined (or if didn't I didn't have to borrow a socket wrench from my neighbor). We finally had an opportunity to load up the bikes and head out for a ride today. As others have said, the first time you load up your bikes, it's kind of like a puzzle to get them situated. Took about 15 minutes. This rack is awesome! Very sturdy and the bikes were very secure. Only racks I have had in the past were rooftop fork mount racks. This is so much easier! On e we got to the trail (over an hour drive) getting the bikes off was a piece of cake. Afterwards, it was time to load them back up and it was less than 5 minutes to get them all on and ready to hit the road. There were other 4-bike racks on the website, but this one had enough great reviews that I felt comfortable making the purchase. After the fact, I'm very glad I did! I can't imagine the $800 rack can be that much better than this, and I highly recommend this for anyone looking for a 4-bike platform rack. I will definitely recommend this rack and etrailer.com to everyone I know.

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I purchased this bike rack a year ago and I use it A LOT. I had to buy and install a stabilizer because without it, the unit would sway back and forth even without a bike on it (very noisy). This makes removal more cumbersome but since I keep the hitch on year round it doesn't matter to me. The tilting function is fabulous allowing easy use of my RAV4 hatchback. I can even tilt it down with a bike on it. I got the 2 bike hitch. Plenty of room for two bikes to fit without rubbing. Lastly, the hitch has a sizable through-hole on the bottom to thread a good sized cable so I can lock my bike up. Sturdy. I highly recommend.

The unit ‘s simplicity is a real plus. It takes less than 3 minutes to put the rack on the vehicle. It is well built and very durable and has a nice feature that allows you to open the rear hatch for SUV owners without removing the rack.

I just bought this bike rack for my Pathfinder. The product arrived fast and in good condition. The quality seems good and set up was easy. Initial test drive went perfect. I will add to this post once I take my trip. Must admit I did nor think about locks before hand so I'm doing that now.

It was really easy to put together. I was able to adjust all the moving parts to fit my bike. It was easy to hitch and fit my Nissan Pathfinder 2013 perfectly. I do recommend that if you don't have a bar that goes across your bike that you would need one. You have to purchase separately. I will have to get one of those for my cruiser style bike.

The bike rack worked well and I'm happy with the quality for the affordable cost. There is only one problem I encountered with the unit. The instructions show that the U-bolts should be attached using plastic hand tighten nuts and then a standard nut after that. Neither of the two units I purchased included enough hardware for the standard nut for the U-bolt. The plastic hand tighten nuts were all that I was able to use to attach the U-bolts. Since the instructions show additional hardware, the user is left wondering if the rack is properly secured. I called Swagman and talked to customer service. They said they will send additional hardware and pass the information along to the appropriate people in the company.

Planning on bringing bikes while camping. I mounted 2 of the Swagman bike racks to my new Sportrack on my pop-up camper. The bikes fit perfectly. The racks seem sturdy enough. Not heavy duty, but for my needs they should be fine. Assembly was relatively fast and easy.

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So far, I took the hitch rack out of the box and put it together. It seems very well constructed, durable, and well designed. And the price is right! I will update this review after a few weeks of use. Customer service is excellent! After I purchased this rack and after it shipped (which seeemed right away!)

Nice fit n finish. Easy to install. Be warned, 5 bikes would be a very tight fit.

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Unit doesn't fit a Jeep Rubicon with a spare tire. I tried 4 times and contacted etrailer.com that the unit doesn't work as sold and they offered to sell me a 7 3/4 extension and reduce the load capacity 50%. The length of the 2" hitch needs to be 3" longer for a standard Rubicon to get past the spare. You not going to want to take your spare tire off for the hitch to work. It defeats the purpose. Customer service was excellent, however the product is a flawed design. Can't recommend this hitch. Its also heavy.

Perfect fit on 2004 Honda CRV utilizing Curt 13535 hitch. Easy to assemble, high quality construction, and ample clearance for the exterior-mounted spare tire on the rear hatch of the car. My only (slight) gripe is the concave stabilizing bracket on the rack (designed to secure to the downtube on a mounted bike) is too small a diameter to fit securely around any sizable downtube. Would be nice if the bracket was about another 1” across the concave portion to better fit many standard mountain bikes. I think most small diameter road bike frames should fit ok. I placed a rag between the bracket and my downtube to prevent the bracket from scratching the downtube.

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Looks like a very good quality rack. Sturdy, very little movement, and no rattle at the hitch after tightening the hitch lock. 2 bikes (1 fat & 1 hybrid, 80 lbs total) went on easy, and tight hold-downs that also came off easy when I needed. Rotating hitch lock pulls a metal wedge inside the hitch to lock it in place pretty tight, and the partial hitch pin then secures it in place. This is a bit awkward relative to just securing with a full size RV hitch pin, but it's a tighter fit, and it includes the convenient lock, so a trade-off. I only have 2 bikes so no issue with loading 4 bikes, which would be tight. Both my bikes have angled cross-bars but loaded fine without adding tube top adapter. Tires easily clear the bumper and exhaust pipe of 2006 Pathfinder. Thanks to Linda H. for tube top research for my config, and modifying my order. Delivery to Dallas was 2 days after order was placed.

This two bike rack has been great for the occasional bike ride outside of our home area. I like the sturdy construction, but beware that it is a little heavier than it looks (I’m retired and a bit older so maybe not as strong). Easy to fit into the factory trailer hitch on our 5 passenger SUV and no problem securing the bikes for transport. My only complaint is, the stick on Yakima Graphic started coming apart the day we got it. Sorry, no free advertising for Yakima.

When I ordered this rack, I was thinking " Wow, this is a lot of money for a bike rack." Now that its assembled and I loaded it with 4 bike's (don't ask me what the bike's cost) I'm thinking "Wow, this is a lot of bike rack for the money". Awesome product and customer service.

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This rack definitely has some pros and cons (as do most racks). A minor frustration is that despite ordering the rack and add-on at the same time, the keys don’t match so if locking three or more bikes you need two different keys (this has only really irritated me when it was raining). As other reviewers have mentioned, this thing is heavy. Neither my wife nor kids can lift it to put it on or get it off the car by themselves. The downside is that given the size of the rack it is not real convenient to just leave it on the car. When the rack is in the up position, it is impossible to get in the back so it is necessary to lower the rack each time you want to get in. The other downside is that the rack significantly cuts down on visibility when backing up. All that being said, the rack is rock solid and the bikes are very secure. The rack is great for extended trips. When loaded and tipped down, it is great to be able to open and access the back. The spacing of the bikes is great and I don’t have to spend 15 minutes figuring out how to slide four bikes in just the right spot to make them all fit as I did with my old rack. Best of all the bikes are only sustaining damage on the trail, not on the back of the car! Despite some minor annoyances, I highly recommend this rack. As for assembly, my 13 year old put it together by himself in about 20 minutes (I promised him i would include that fact).

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Very stable product. Worked as described.

Quick and reliable shipping and was able to take to my mechanic to get it installed and it works perfectly with my bike rack!

Nice bike rack ! Saddles are well made and none of the ears that hold the straps in place have broken like they have with other brands I've owned. It came with 1 strap for each saddle and the straps seem just a tad stretchy. I looked on line and found that Home Depot has a good price for the straps so I now have 2 straps on each saddle. I've got it on a 1&1/4 hitch, but it came with an adapter for a 2 inch. It holds 3 road bikes. I used it all the time.

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We are very happy with the Curt Bike Rack. It fits our 2 fat tire bikes and our tandem bike to the back of our motorhome with no problems.