# 1
Thule Elite Van XT 2 Bike Rack for Ram ProMaster Rear Door
Expensive, but worth the cost! Easy to install with clear instructions. Folds away cleanly when not in use, you can use the shorter bike latch to secure the folded rack in place more easily than the included strap. The only problem I've had is that if you're about 6' tall, with the rack in the highest position it's just above your sightline but squarely in "crack you in the forehead" range, so keep that in mind when deciding which height to use.
Great product, poor sales and delivery execution. The good: This bike rack appears to be of typical Thule high quality However, at the time of this writing, I had not installed the rack on my 2021 Promaster. The rack arrived on time with decent tracking data. The bad: The installation process for this rack is far (FAR!) more involved than installing a roof rack or hitch mount. ETrailer made no mention of needing specialty adhesive in order to install per Thule’s requirements. Neither Thule nor etrailer provided this adhesive, and it’s very hard to find in bricks and mortar stores. I suggest ordering the required Sikaflex 252 on Amazon immediately after ordering the rack so the adhesive will arrives before the rack. It appears etrailer sold me a returned item, because the rack appeared to be thrown in the delivery box with loose parts and no protective packing materials; $XXX bike rack and that’s how much etrailer cares! UPS sucks; there’s no reason to candy-coat the performance of their deliveries (yay for union protected job apathy). Every (yes, literally every) box I receive from UPS arrives with varying degrees of damage which often impacts the condition of the contents of the box. I suggest buying this rack at your local bricks and mortar bike store.
# 2
Kuat Transfer V2 Bike Rack for 1 Bike - 1-1/4" and 2" Hitches - Wheel Mount
This is a solid product. Easy to assemble and simple to operate. A couple of issues make it less than ideal. First, because it is built to fit 1 1/4 and 2" hitches, the hitch pin holes do not line up correctly in a standard 2" trailer hitch. This means that you cannot use a 5/8" hitch pin. You can use the smaller pin, but you get the kind of fit you would expect -- it's loose and it rattles. If the cam system fails, the smaller hitch pin isn't going to help much. This is a huge design flaw in my opinion. Note that if you order the hitch pin lock that they say you need for this particular rack (HL2), it comes with a 5/8" pin that won't fit. Just dumb. My rack didn't come with the cable, so I contacted etrailer and after alot of back and forth, they said they would reach out to Kuat. That was a month ago. There is not a cap to snap over the cable lock, so when the rack is folded in the upright position, water leaks into the hollow bar behind the lock. It will sit in there forever unless you pull the rack and turn it upside down. I put a piece of duct tape over it -- the lock is no use to me since etrailer and Kuat can't seem to provide me with the missing cable.
The rack is great for a senior single. Lightweight to install into hitch and seems pretty sturdy. However the directions for assembly need help. 1.The Tire Hook Arm Assy and Arm Kunckle and Arm Installation: The pictures show assembling the Hook Arm and Arm Knuckle in one way. And Installing the Arm show the cutout of the Arm Knuckle for the screw another way. I think the 2 diagrams don't agree with each other as far as which side of the rack the arm is installed on. It added more time for assembly. 2. In the Hitch Shank Assembly, the holes for slipping in the bolt were not lined up - at all. Tried to wiggle, somewhat force it - no success. I finally figured out that the plastic wrap that was put into place to hold the Foot Pivot lever at a certain tension - wasn't really holding it at all. Once I pressed on the Foot Pivot tension lever, the holes could be aligned for an easy insertion of the bolt. I hope this helps
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