Most Popular Swagman for 2016 Subaru Forester

Out of the box impression of material and workmanship was pretty average. Was surprised to see that the carrier has specific disclaimers for use with carbon frames. This should be up front in the description given the prevalence of this material in bikes today. Assembly was simple. Conversion between hitch types is likely to be a pain though - long Allen bolt to remove for 1 1/4" hitch receiver. My wife will "love" that part I'm sure. We'll see how it carries and handles bikes soon.

Carrier arrived intact although a third middle nylon strap around box might help, as the outer box seam had split during shipment. Carrier was easy to assemble and seems sturdy and well designed. Mounted easily on my Subaru Forester. After tightening hitch bolt, rack seemed secure and stable. Have not traveled yet with bikes but it looks like we will be very happy together.

Bought this bike rack for my daughter. Excellent product. Easy to assemble and easy to use. She loves it.

Order this bike rack for use on a 2014 Subaru Forester with a factory 1 1/4" trailer hitch. The rack appears to be solid and capable of holding two front suspension mountain bikes. One bike is a 15" men's bike and the other is a 19" men's bike. The rack went together easily and fit into the hitch with no problems. We ordered an anti-rattle locking hitch pin with a cable to lock the bikes and the rack to the car, but the locking hitch pin was too big to thread through the rack. etrailer sent another locking hitch pin in a very easy return process. The new one worked perfectly. We did find that when putting the bikes on the rack, we had to take off the ratchet arms and then slide them back down the center post. We used old socks on the pedals of the bikes to avoid any damage to the car or bikes, and old washcloths between the ratchet arms and the bikes as well since other people reported damage to their bikes' finishes. We also used velcro straps to secure the wheels to the wheel hoops for extra security. All in all the rack seems to be a great product.

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This is my first hitch mounted rack. I was very excited and hopeful that this rack was of compatible quality to that of Thule or yakima, albeit with a more reasonable price tag. However I think that it came up short. Likes Sturdy. This thing is built like a tank and would certainly have no issues dealing with some very heavy bikes! Attractive. I like that it is simple, not flashy and when no bikes are loaded it's completely out of the way. Fit. I have a drawtight hitch mounted Ted to my 2016 Subaru Forester and the clearances are perfect! When folder up there is about 1.5 inches between the rack and the bumper. Nice and tight. Function. I like how it folds up. Dislikes. Very heavy. Pretty sure this is 100% steel with very minimal use of aluminum, if at all. This also has me very concerned that after a couple years it will look like rusted junk. Width. I just bought a trek fuel with plus tires and the trays will not actually go wide enough by about 2 inches. As a result the bike always has one tire not fully seated in the tray. Luckily the tray has a strap so it is secure, but this is definitely a compromise. Fit and finish. Some small rust spots. I had to add grease to the main pivot to help with a very tight movement of the rack folding up, some of the joints also needed to be tightened and the key/lock mechanism clearly was not deburred inside and I spent a long time trying to unlock my bike from the rack. Adding bike lube to the mechanism and working it for a few minutes made it a smoother operation. All said, if I had to do it again I would pay the extra money for a mainstream bike rack brand. But I use this every week in the summer. If you're an occasional user this would probably be fine.

The instructions for assembly could use some better images and instructions. I did have to unassembled and reassemble once to make sure I got it right. If you've ever assembled IKEA furniture, this should be familiar and no big deal. We used the carrier to drive to a bike trail 20 minutes away and the rack performed well. I like how it does not block the back-up camera on our 2016 Subaru Forester. The locks are a great piece of mind when you have to make a stop along the way and you don't have to worry about you gear.

Product is pretty easy to mount with the included hardware. I haven't had a chance to use it yet so I will update my review at that time...

Great customer service. Fast shipping. Quality products.

Everything was delivered and worked as advertised. Good job

etrailer has the best pre- and post-sales customer service I've ever seen! I started out not knowing anything about hitch-mounted racks. So I wrote to etrailer telling them about my car and type of hitch I was about to have installed. Samuel wrote back with lots of great information tailored specifically to my car. He even included a photo that looked just like my 2017 white VW GTI with a hitch and rack installed. Okay something of a coincidence. But the rest of the assistance I got from the crew at etrailer was just as prophetic. I went into this a novice and came out knowing lots more about hitches and racks and finding the rack best suited to my situation. I have a small car, a class 1 hitch and a heavy mountain bike. I got exactly what I needed. As to the Swagman rack itself, it works fine. If I had a different situation I would probably buy a platform rack as they are easier to load. There's no reason to buy a bike rack anywhere else.

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Put this together in about 30 min and looooooooove how easy it is to load 4 bikes!! Two adult bikes(one road) two kids! Incredibly sturdy while driving along the winding mountain roads! If the $1000 racks are easier/better I'd like to know just how much to justify the price!! Super happy with this purchase and the staff at etrailer!

Good rack. Although, it was much heavier then I thought. I was looking for something to put on my wife's car 2-3 times a week, so I can ride home. It's a bit much for daily use, but is very sturdy and great for the long haul.