Is this right for you? Product Expert Kathleen M says:
Features:
Specs:
Note: If a custom brake-control wiring adapter is not available for your vehicle, one of the following will be required:
20-Amp circuit breaker (9506P - sold separately) for 2- to 4-brake applications
30-Amp circuit breaker (38630 - sold separately) for 6- to 8-brake applications
Replaces #39518, #20190, #83503
California residents: click here
Average Customer Rating: 4.9 out of 5 stars (19 Customer Reviews)
Simple and easy to use! Works great!
Good brake control
Thanks for the fastest shipping and awesome pricing. I've used these brake controller for years. Great product and great pricing. Thanks etrailer!
good brake control not too expensive
Thanks so much. Got what I needed. Really appreciate your business.
big hit
inexpensive and simple to use
Website was very user friendly and video of installment was very helpful. Our order came in just in time of us to install and use.
Great product and price
Received product quickly. Will be using it this weekend!
Great box at a great price
good value but the swivel mount being optional should be made more clear
Great product and price
Exactly what i needed.
Review from a similar Pilot in Trailer Brake Controller
I am very happy with this rack. It is perfect to carry my TT bike, mountain bike and my kids bmx bikes. Easy to adjust and build. It is pretty sturdy and has the ability to adjust even with bikes on it to allow opening the rear door of the car.
The reason I give 4 stars is more for the service. I ordered item and didn’t say it was out of stock. It took 15 days to be shipped and me calling etrailer.com to find out why my order was not processing. In a future it would be nice to receive an email with update.
Review from a similar Pilot in Trailer Brake Controller
This is a unique bike rack that pretty much has it all, with 3 minor exceptions. It is platform-style that's easy to load, holds 2 OR 4 bikes apart so they don't bump (it comes as 2-bike unit plus a 2-bike extension, use only what you need), it fits long wheelbases and bikes with tires up to 5 inches, it tilts down for trunk access, folds up and out of way, it comes with cable and hitch locks, and unlike any other rack it can hold down by the frame top tube (e.g. for those with fenders) *OR* by the wheel like a no-frame-contact rack for carbon composite bikes - the hold-down bars swivel a full 180. It can hold them either direction, too, allowing more options to fit things on. ALSO, incorrect in the listing, the rack is good for 60 pounds PER BIKE (I confirmed in the manuf. catalog and directly with manuf.), well above most. So it holds pretty much any bike any way any direction. And it actually looks better than most due to the more minimal design and materials (aluminum rails), which also make it quite a bit lighter than all its competitors (31 lbs for 2 bike rack, +22=53 for 4-bike setup). A very easy rack to live with and use.
The minor negatives, none deal-breakers:
1) It looks a little more wobbly than some of the best racks, though is totally secure and not a problem driving. In part it's due to the flexibility of the design and added features (tilt down & up), as well as the simplicity of the design (=less to break). Bikes stay firmly apart from one another regardless, farther apart than most racks.
2) The wheel cups are adjusted by a supplied hex key in the bottom of the cup. Simple & secure, but the wheel must be lifted to loosen & tighten - great for always doing the same bikes in "assigned" slots (like me), slightly inconvenient if you're changing among more than 4 bikes. Again, simple design, less to break, and looks better too.
3) The ratcheting arms are plenty to clamp top tube or tire, but not necessarily long enough to go OVER the tire and seat to get to the top tube, which would be convenient. Tilting the bike to allow this is easy, especially due to the wheel-cup design. A longer ratchet or swiveling hooks would make this easier, but then would also stick out the sides when folded down.
Once the cups are set, this is super-fast and easy to load and work with, which was part of my goal - get out easily to ride, so it's not a barrier!
I had a problem with one bolt binding due to their being high-quality stainless, which can "gall" if you don't wax or lube them before assembly. The company had extra new bolts in my hands within 3 days (I used a bolt from the +2-bike extension while waiting). Great service indeed.
Review from a similar Pilot in Trailer Brake Controller
My requirements for a new bike rack were for a platform style rack that clamped on the tires (not the frame), expandable from 2 to 4 bikes, and relatively light. I started with the Kuat Sherpa 2.0 that my buddy just bought. A very nice deluxe 2 bike rack which is fairly light at 32 pounds due to extensive use of aluminum. Unfortunately, Kuat doesn't make the Sherpa in a 4 bike version, instead requiring an NV 2.0 4 bike rack. Also a very nice rack, but heavier at 82 pounds and above my affordability at over $1,000. The Yakima Hold-up 4 and the Thule T2 4 were more affordable in the mid $700s, but both too heavy with the Thule being 85 pounds and the Yakima a whopping 104 pounds. Not sure how you could even lift that to get it aligned with the receiver hitch. While poking around the etrailer site, I stumbled upon the Malone Pilot 4 which I purchased.
The Malone also utilizes a lot of aluminum and plastic to keep the weight down and weighs the same as the more expensive Kuat Sherpa 2.0 in 2 bike format. It is expandable to 4 bikes and weighs 52 pounds in this configuration, the lightest platform tire-clamp rack I could find. And a real bargain.
This rack requires quite a bit of assembly and took me a couple hours to assemble it for all 4 bikes. Assembly was straightforward with only one tricky part getting some screws aligned to attached the cross members to the central spine.
So, how does it work? As advertised. A really nice rack for the money. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because it is lacking some of the niceties of the more expensive (and heavy) racks. First, you can't have a bike sitting in the tire cradles when adjusting the width for your bike because the set screw that has to be loosened is in the bottom of the cradle. More expensive bikes utilize a knob or lever on the side or bottom of the cradle for adjustment. This isn't problem if you use the same bikes all the time except for the initial adjustment. For me, I switch between a mountain bike and road bike, so I simply marked the location of the cradles with a sharpie on the aluminum cross bars for each bike making it easy to adjust before loading the bike.
The arms that pivot up with the tire clamps are just held in place with friction. My buddy's Kuat has a ratcheting action that holds them in place. I fixed this by tightening the bolts at the bottom of the arms so they would stay in place when I positioned them out of the way for loading the bikes. Also, the clamps that slide down on top of the tire to hold the bike in place has an awkward ratcheting system. Flip a lever and the clamps slide up and down the arm at will. Flip the lever the other way and they ratchet down. Problem is, when you release the ratchet, they just slide all the way to the bottom of the arm. Again, comparing with the 2 bike Kuat, their tire clamps stay in place and are released by a button on top. Last thing, to release the rack to fold up, you pull a pin. More expensive racks have a release lever that holds the rack securely. There's some vertical play in the Malone at the release pin, but not really a problem when it's weighted down with bikes.
Sounds like a lot of things wrong. But really it's a very nice bike rack. I couldn't find anything on the market in this configuration that is lighter, and again a real bargain price. Plus, it looks cool with the curved aluminum cross bars. I would strongly recommend this bike rack if it's shortcomings aren't showstoppers for you.
Chris D - 03/02/2019Review from a similar Pilot in Trailer Brake Controller
As usual etrailer's service was superb.
The Malone Pilot bike rack was less expensive, in some cases a lot less expensive than other similar hitch mount bike carriers. I don''t know what you might get for the higher price (more prestigious name?)
I would just as soon not have the fold down away from the tailgate feature, can't see myself using it and the hinge joint adds some looseness and rattle movement. I would have bought a solid frame mount from another manufacturer and about 20 Lb heavier.
The Malone Pilot bike rack seems quite well built, came well packed, all the pieces were there, everything fit together exactly right, lock nuts on all the fasteners, Felt like the anti-rattle bolt for attaching the rack to the hitch was a bit short in the threaded portion not nearly as many threads engaged as would have made me feel more confident in it not coming loose. Quite a bit of assembly and the instructions were rather rudimentary but it was not that difficult to figure out.
Roy - 02/28/2019Review from a similar Pilot in Trailer Brake Controller
The Malone Pilot bike rack is exactly what I was looking for, and has served our needs well over the past year. I wanted a rack that would easily fit both mine and my wife’s vehicle, and the Malone Pilot does just that. Another desire was for a carrier that would transport two bikes without having to remove wheels, or have to lift the bikes on top of the vehicle. Lastly, I wanted a carrier that would keep the bikes separated and from swaying back and forth the way most of the top tube carriers do. This was also necessary due to the fact that my full suspension mountain bike doesn’t have a standard top tube.
If you are looking for a bike rack that meets the above requirements, but is also heavy duty and very easy to use, then look no further.
One other feature I failed to mention is that the Malone Pilot also has locks in the top tube clamps, making it possible to be away from your vehicle and know your bikes will be there when you get back.
Review from a similar Pilot in Trailer Brake Controller
Great product, 90% assembled and the remaining is very very easy. Mounted to vehicle without issue, very well design product. Only reason I did not give 5 stars is because the pads where the front and back tires mount were too narrow for the wide tires on my mountain bike. This meant the ratcheting straps that go over the tires to secure the bike to the carrier were not long enough. Would be nice if they offered either the regular size tire rack/holders thingy, a wider mounting pad, or longer straps. Outside of that a great product and worth the money.
Mike L - 08/16/2018
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