# 1
Thule Hitching Post Pro Bike Rack for 4 Bikes - 1-1/4" and 2" Hitches
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.
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!
# 2
Thule Passage 3 Bike Carrier - Trunk Mount
My order arrived today and I have not yet had an opportunity to install it on my 2009 Town and Country tailgate. I have no doubt it will work as advertised, the instructions are very precise and easy to follow. I would like to commend the personnel who assisted me online, everyone who was involved in the order followed up with an email informing me exactly what stage my order was in. Item arrived when promised and with no damage,,,kudos to you!
Like many others, impressed by the information on the site and the speed in processing / shipping my order. Loved seeing the video demo of how to install on our Town and Country. After I received it, I was initially frustrated as even with the Bike Adapter Bar (TH982XT) I couldn't seem to get both bikes on the rack and have decent clearance from the ground -- my test was to drive out of our drive way and if a bike wheel hit the pavement when dropping off the curve they weren't high enough. I was also initially frustrated with the spacing between the bikes. I was contemplating whether to return or not, and after I realized you could adjust the spacing between the bike straps on the arms. This allowed me to make the adjustment necessary in bike spacing to have them both fit fairly easily. I did have to adjust seat height on both bikes to get the fit right...looking forward to actual test in a couple weeks when we take the bikes camping.
# 3
Thule Passage Trunk Bike Rack for 2 Bikes - Hanging Style
Like many others, impressed by the information on the site and the speed in processing / shipping my order. Loved seeing the video demo of how to install on our Town and Country. After I received it, I was initially frustrated as even with the Bike Adapter Bar (TH982XT) I couldn't seem to get both bikes on the rack and have decent clearance from the ground -- my test was to drive out of our drive way and if a bike wheel hit the pavement when dropping off the curve they weren't high enough. I was also initially frustrated with the spacing between the bikes. I was contemplating whether to return or not, and after I realized you could adjust the spacing between the bike straps on the arms. This allowed me to make the adjustment necessary in bike spacing to have them both fit fairly easily. I did have to adjust seat height on both bikes to get the fit right...looking forward to actual test in a couple weeks when we take the bikes camping.
Great customer service. Was delivered to my door in two days from the day I ordered. Always kept me informed as their website showed my item order info from the time I ordered to the person who picked my order to the location and time it made it to UPS for delivery. Well constructed and instruction booklet was very detailed.
# 4
Swagman Upright Bike Rack for 1 Bike - Roof Rack Crossbars - Frame Mount
Great product arrived on time packaged great easy to install great value.
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.
# 5
Curt Bike Rack for 5 Bikes - 2" Hitches - Tilting
It was obvious that we received a product that was returned by someone else when the box was overly taped shut, a support collar was broken, and most of the pieces were out of their ripped plastic bags. However, it was a great price to hold 5, 26" and/or 27" Trek bikes. I used a piece of the broken collar and went ahead and assembled the rack. Due to the weight of the 5 bikes it did not wobble that much when driving, as one of the bike tires was up against my car. I can only imagine that if we received an untampered product that this review would have been 5 stars. The picture is a little hard to see, but there are 5 Trek bikes on the rack on my 2020 Toyota Seinna.
We received a damaged box, damaged items, no instructions, the nuts and bolts are completely stripped and not inside a bag. This was obviously used, returned, not checked for quality and sent out. We are extremely upset.
# 6
Swagman XC2 Bike Rack for 2 bikes - 1-1/4" and 2" Hitches - Frame Mount
Very good. Product arrived in good order. Very simple to assemble. Installed easily in the 2" hitch (ordered at same time) with no issues. Already had the 2" hitch spacers mounted to bike rack out of the box. I was surprised at the stiffness of the bike rack and the ease of mounting my bike. No wobbling like you see with many others. It will make it a breeze to bring bikes along on our next outing. Highly recommend.
I like the overall design of this rack, but unfortunately after hauling a couple bikes around for a while the point where the crossbar connects has apparently rounded off so the rack swings back and forth. I've used rope to tie the ends of the rack to the car to stop this from getting worse, but it's inconvenient. Note: the hitch connection itself is good and solid, but the point where the crossbar connects to the bar coming from the hitch has gotten loose and there's no way that I can see to tighten it.
# 7
Swagman XTC2 Bike Rack for 2 Bikes - 1-1/4" and 2" Hitches - Frame Mount
First-time rack buyer / owner / installer. The rack arrived in a timely fashion, maybe a day or 2 ahead of schedule. It was well packaged. I’m LOVING this bike rack. It was easy to put together and to mount on my new Honda Passport. Thus far, no squeaks in my 2” receiver. Hardest part of initial set-up is figuring out the best way to position two bikes. Trial & error and some patience. The directions weren’t clear as to where the 2 left-over screws went. I found the answer in another review and have posted a pic in case others have the same problem (photo with pen pointing at screw). These screws go in the underneath side of both of the folding arms. They appear to keep the wheel wells from sliding off in case in you drive with an empty, un-folded rack, and forgot to tighten down the wheel wells. The folding arm push / pull pins can be difficult at times. I coated the tips with some lube. That and a little jiggling seems to solve that issue. I guess it’s better for the pins to be snug vs popping right out. I added a small Master lock to the hitch pin (in lieu of the provided cotter pin) as a theft deterrent. I read that a 3/16 shackle lock will fit into the bike clamp down arms to also act as a deterrent. I had an old 3/16 lock that did snugly fit and appeared to be locked. HOWEVER, I yanked on the lock and it came open as there isn’t quite enough clearance for the shackle to lock. I discovered that longer 3/16 shackle locks are hard to find. Have attached a photo of the lock that actually fits and works (Ace Hardware). One lock on the upper clamp down arm will secure both arms as the lower arm can’t be removed without removing the upper arm. The clamp down arms appear to be coated to prevent damage to your bike. I’ve tried a simple rag and ultimately settled on pool noodle pieces as a precautionary measure. I CAN NOT open my tailgate (regardless of whether or not the rack is fold up and in the bike carry position). If that’s a concern for you, then spring for the more costly titling version. My back-up camera still functions.
The Swagman XTC-2 platform bike carrier arrived very quickly from etrailer and in good shape, the actual carrier box is inside another shipper box, which I'm sure helped with its condition. Assembly was relatively quick and painless, even though the instructions could be a little more thorough. Installing the carrier on the back of our Jeep Patriot also was quick, it helps to have an extra ratchet & 3/4" socket laying around for just this purpose. Installing the bikes takes a little patience and trial and error the first time you try and put them on the carrier. It's easy enough to adjust the wheel holders to fit the wheelbase of your bikes, but for us at least, the challenge was trying to swing the vertical support bar up into position after putting on the first bike (closest to the Jeep). We couldn't angle the bike enough toward the Jeep to have the bar clear the bike. We learned that the easiest way to secure the first bike was to remove the ratcheting frame hooks altogether, put the bike in the carrier, swing up the vertical support bar, put in the pin, and then slide one of the frame hooks down on the bar. The outside bike is much easier because you can set the bike in the carrier at whatever angle you need, not being limited by the back of the vehicle. One thing we did to protect the bike frames was to use some foam pipe insulation as cushion between the frame hook and the frame (see pictures). Once you get a system for installing the bikes, it is very quick to load/unload them. The rack seems to be well made and doesn't wiggle excessively when traveling. All in all a good product for a good price, would definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a platform bike carrier.
# 8
Swagman XTC4 Bike Rack for 4 Bikes - 2" Hitches - Frame Mount
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…
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.
# 9
Swagman Trailhead Bike Rack for 4 Bikes - 1-1/4" and 2" Hitches - Tilting
Quick and reliable shipping and was able to take to my mechanic to get it installed and it works perfectly with my bike rack!
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.
# 10
SportRack Pursuit Bike Rack for 3 Bikes - Fixed Arms - Trunk Mount
2014 Chrysler Town and CountryWe love our bike rack. It's been perfect for our needs!
I really liked this product, it was easy to set up and very secure on the back of my minivan. The bikes were held very securely and everything stayed in place without any marks on the vehicle. I would definitely recommend.
# 11
SportRack Ridge Swing 4 Bike Rack - 2" Hitches - Swinging
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.
Solid rack for half the price of the name brands. Don’t waste your money! Thanks to the extensive reviews on etrailer and a free shipping promotion I took a chance and ordered this along with the three of their crossbars, anti rattle hitch pin and cable lock. All for well less than the name brand rack alone. Shipping was painful. Etrailer said it was in stock but then due to a delay with the manufacturer it took 35 days from order to arrival. I wasn’t in a hurry so I waited patiently, and etrailer reps emailed often to lmk they hadn’t forgotten. I thought some kind of reward for my extreme patience was in order- discount, gift card, free bag of chips- but they politely declined. Oh well. In the end it arrived when they (eventually) said it would, all in one box, in great shape. The rack was super easy to assemble. You’ll need a ratchet or two and you’ll need to crank those bolts to assemble- they don’t just “insert.” But otherwise it’s only a few steps; I had mine hanging on my truck in probably 15 minutes. Swings away and locks smoothly and requires no effort to do so. Everything feels quite sturdy and well made. No rattle on initial test drive either. This will be a once in a while rack at best for our family of four. We have two SUVs so I needed a rack that could get out of the way of the rear hatch WITH bikes on it. This will do that. And now I don’t need to stuff four dirty bikes into the back of my truck, getting them all tangled and scratched!
# 12
Hollywood Racks Express 3 Bike Carrier - Fixed Arms - Trunk Mount
Installation was straightforward. The rack sits high up on my 2016 Subaru Forester so lifting bikes onto the rack requires effort. Getting 3 mountain bikes on the rack was a bit tricky. When loaded rack was secure and stable.
Seems like a sturdy, reliable product so far. Components are solid and well put together. Fits great and carries well on my 2014 Corolla. Excellent value considering the price tag on other racks out there. And the prompt delivery was great!
# 13
Swagman Fork Down Roof Mounted Bike Carrier - Fork Mount
Goes together quickly, appears that it will fit my needs in terms of being cross-compatible on a variety of vehicles. Fit on a Subaru Outback factory crossbar and transported bike locally with no issues when I got it out to set up and test (not quite warm enough to ride much yet where I live). Instructions are not super, but the assembly is pretty straightforward so that is not a problem. At the price point, if this rack indeed holds up to swapping onto multiple vehicles and lasts me a few years, I'll be thrilled with the purchase.
I purchased two of these racks, along with another rack that is meant to hold bikes with both tires still installed. I am extremely happy with all three of them. This rack specifically is very sturdy. Installation was sort of a pain, but that was mostly due to me installing it on the top of my 2004 GMC Yukon XL...it is so high that it was a little hard to install. But now that it's installed, it's actually very simple to take the bikes on and off. I've made one round trip with these racks, so I've put the bikes up there and removed them twice. Both trips (about 100 miles each way) they bikes were super sturdy and I had no concerns about them falling off or anything like that. I would definitely recommend this rack if you're looking for a fork down roof mounted bike carrier. In fact, I will very likely get another one when we add another bike to the family. I think I'll be able to fit four racks on the top of my Yukon easily. One last note - I was initially concerned about the height of my vehicle when bikes were on top of them. I brushed a couple of tree limbs when pulling into my camping spot, but it was no big deal. I think the total height of my load was about 10 feet, which was lower than the camper that I was pulling.
Curt Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2012 Chrysler Town and Country
Today on our 2012 Chysler Town & Country, we're going to be test fitting the Curt Premium 4 bike rack, part number C18064. We already have a bike installed on the rack, let's go ahead and take a close look and show off some of the features. The first feature I'd like to show off is how the bars are shaped. This is pretty unique for a hanging style rack. They start narrow and then they fan out as they go towards the rear. With the narrower ones, you can use this for smaller bikes such as kids' bikes. The cradles are adjustable along the arms to make loading a little bit easier.
Kuat Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2012 Chrysler Town and Country
Today on our 2012 Chrysler Town & Country, we're going to be test fitting the Kuat Transfer three bike rack, part number TS03G. We already have a bike on the rack. Let's go ahead and take a closer look and show off some of the features. The first feature we'd like to show of is that with this van in particular, the hitch sits pretty low to the ground. Thanks to the raised shank of the bike rack itself, you're not going to have an clearance issues with your bikes. Another really great feature about this is the fact that this can tilt away from the vehicle with the bike still attached. To do that, I'll have to lift these up here just to get to it.
Rola TX-104 Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2012 Chrysler Town and Country
Today on our 2012 Chrysler Town & Country we're going to be test fitting the ROLA TX-104 4-bike rack, part number 59401. We already have a bike installed on the rack. Let's go ahead and take a closer look and show off some of the features. The first feature I like to show off is its integrated cable lock in the center of the mast. You'll pull that up and around your bikes and attach it to this point here, and lock it in place to prevent theft and tampering. The cradles themselves are adjustable along the length of the bike rack arms.
Yakima SwingDaddy Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2012 Chrysler Town and Country
Today on our 2012 Chrysler Town and Country, we're going to be tested the Yakima SwingDaddy 4 bike rack. Part number: Y02464. We already have a bike installed on the rack. Let's go and take closer look and show off some of the features. Now the first feature I like to show off is this important feature, which is the fact that it swings away from the vehicle to give you a hatch access for your van. This is unique for a hanging style bike rack because the bikes can still be attached. Let's go and show you how to do that. Come here to the bottom to this knob here, turn it loose.
Thule Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2012 Chrysler Town and Country
Today on our 2012 Chrysler Town & Country, we're going to be test-fitting the Thule Vertex Swing 4 Bike Rack, part number TH9031XT. We already have a bike installed on the rack. Let's go and take a closer look and show off some of the features. The first and probably most important feature of this rack is the fact that this can swing away from the vehicle with the bike still attached, which is pretty unique for a hanging-style rack. To do that, we'll unscrew this knob at the back, it's loose enough, we'll remove this pin here, and just set it off to the side for now, then lift up on this T-handle, like so, and that will release the actual swing function. Bring it around, and then we'll bring the rack itself back on, like so, so it'll catch right there, and then we'll keep on pushing it the rest of the way, like so.
Softride Element-Parallelogram Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2012 Chrysler Town and Country
Today on our 2012 Chrysler Town and Country we're going to be test fitting the Softride Element Parallelogram Tilting Four Bike rack or number SR26248. We already have a bike installed on the rack, let's go ahead and take a closer look and show off some of the features. Now probably the most important feature about this bike rack is the fact that you can tilt it away from the vehicle with the bikes still attached which is pretty unique for a hanging style bike rack. To do that, there's this black handle on the passenger side of the mast. You pull that out like so, let it come towards you and with that, we have total access to our rear hatch to get whatever it is that we need with plenty of space on either side to do so. Like as you see here. To put it back in it's original position you just push it back up, like so. The cradles themselves are adjustable you just pull out these plastic pieces in between and set them up however you like.
Pro Series Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2012 Chrysler Town and Country
Today on our 2012 Chrysler Town & Country, we're going to be test-fitting the Pro Series Q Slot 4 Bike Rack part number PS63138. As you can see, we already have a bike installed on the rack. Let's go and take a closer look and show off some of the features. Now for this particular vehicle, the first feature I like to show off, is the fact that the pitch itself kind of sits low to the ground and since this has a ray 00:00:21 shank, you're not going to have any ground clearance issues with this bike rack. One of the main features is while this is a four bike rack here, you can remove this section on the end and turn it into just a two bike rack if you wanted to. How the bike is actually attached to the rack, we're going to have three points of contact.
Swagman Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2012 Chrysler Town and Country
Today on our 2012 Chrysler Town & Country we're going to be test fitting the Swagman XT 2-bike rack, part number S64650. As you can see, we already have a bike installed on the rack. Let's go ahead and take a closer look and show off some of the features. Now this is one of the more simplistic bike racks, and it only grips your bike by one point of contact. That's going to be the padded hook here at the top of the frame. We also have two wheel cradles that are adjustable.
Swagman Titan Hitch Bike Rack Review - 2012 Chrysler Town and Country
Today on our 2012 Chrysler Town and Country well be test fitting the Swagman Titan 4 Hitch Mounted Bike Carrier part number S63410. Now to mount our bike carrier to our van, well insert the shank of the carrier into the receiver tube of our hitch. Well line up the holes, thread in our anti-rattle bolt and tighten it down with a wrench. Now well go over a handful of clearance measurements so you can get an idea of how the rack is going to fit behind the vehicle. Weve got about 10 inches of ground clearance and 5 inches of clearance between the closest part of the carrier and the closest part of the vehicle. Overall weve added about 18 inches of length to the rear of our Town and Country.
Softride Dura Hitch Bike Rack Review - 2012 Chrysler Town and Country
Today on our 2012 Chrysler Town & Country we'll be test fitting the SoftRide Dura Parallelogram Tilting 4-Bike Bike Rack, product number SR26247. With our vehicle already equipped with a 2-inch hitch and our bike rack already preassembled, we're ready to go ahead and test fit it. We'll begin by inserting the bike rack into the hitch, lining up the hitch pin and inserting our anti-rattle bolt. With the anti-rattle bolt tight we'll now attach the security lock. With our security lock in place this will secure the bike rack to the vehicle. We'll now give you a couple of measurements.
Thule Vertex 4 Hitch Bike Rack Review - 2012 Chrysler Town and Country
Today on our 2012 Chrysler Town & Country we will be test fitting the Thule Vertex 4 Bike Rack, part number TH9029. With our vehicle already equipped with a two inch hitch and our bike rack already pre-assembled, we're ready to go ahead and fit the rack. We'll begin by sliding the shank into the hitch, line up the pin, and then install the anti-rattle bolt. With our anti-rattle bolt snug we'll go ahead and tighten it down using our three quarter inch wrench. Now that our bike rack is tight we're going to go ahead and give you a couple of measurements. From the bottom of the bike rack to the floor is ten and a half inches.
What our customers are saying:
"Sent out an e-mail to you earlier this week asking which hitch woudld be the best choice for installing on a 2000 Venture van for hauling a bike rack with two bikes. You suggested the one that would be easiest to install..received in a matter of days..installation went great ..very well thought out instructions. Everything went smooothly and the hitch is up nice and snug..doesn't stick out..looks great."