# 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.
I bought this bike rack back in April but wanted to make sure I used it to give the best review. First I want to say I did a lot of research on bike racks and found this one to be the best one to fit my needs. The best price I found was on etrailer.com, at the time it was When I called the customer service to place my order, I spoke to Dan. He was very pleasant on the phone and took the time and listened to what I needed and understood my concerns. I ordered the bike rack and also ordered the Thule Snug Tite Hitch Lock and Anti-Rattle Device and the Thule Cable Lock w/ One Key System Lock. Dan suggested I also get the Thule Bike Adapter Bar, which I never even thought of getting. Delivery was in about two business days, which was really fast and at the time of order they were running a special free delivery over $99. When I went to put it together I noticed I was missing the flat cap screw M6 x 16mm, part number #853-5787-02. I emailed Dan and within 24 hours received an email that the part was sent out and also in the email their was a link to track the order. After I received the part I did notice that the flat cap screw was actually in the 2 inch adaptor sleeve. The instructions were very easy to read, and it took me about 20 minutes to put together. I did have an issue when I positioned the stinger into the cradle, with the 8mm locking nut, it was not staying tight and when I took it off I noticed the threads inside were gone, so I ended up going out to Lowes and buying a new one and its holds perfectly fine. I also had a question about that part because it is not a locking part and was worried someone would try to steal the rack. I contacted etrailer.com to find if they make a locking device for this and they said no but I can contact Thule to double check, I'm still waiting for an answer back from Thule. The weather finally broke and we installed the rack onto my hitch, tightened it and it doesn't rattle. When I finally used the rack and put my bike on, it did sway a little but at 50 mph I was very happy with it. The trailer comes out just enough away from my car that I do not have to fold completely out and I can open my trunk with no issues. I am very happy with my purchase and had a great customer experience with Dan. Would highly recommend ordering from them to anyone.
# 2
Saris SuperClamp EX Bike Rack for 4 Bikes - 2" Hitches - Wheel Mount - Tilting
This bike rack is a tremendous value. Cheaper and just as good as comparable racks that cost twice as much. The rack has performed superbly. One caution: the manufacturer’s packaging is poorly designed, and insufficient to safely ship a 60+ pound bike rack. The steel parts of the rack shifted during transit and broke several molded plastic components. Saris’ customer service folks were excellent, and promptly sent replacements for the components that were broken in transit. The improper packaging was not etrailer’s fault. Saris should reengineer their packaging for this item.
This is great bike rack. It arrived fast and just in time for our trip in mid July. My husband and I put it together quickly, we looked at a [online] video for how to put it together and went by the instructions booklets. It took us under an hour to put it together. It is very simple to load and unload bikes on it and the bikes stayed stable throughout our 600 mile trip and back. So overall, I am very satisfied with this bike rack. Will now see how it holds up with time.
# 3
Yakima RidgeBack Bike Rack for 4 Bikes - 1-1/4" and 2" Hitches - Tilting
Check out my other review on the hidden hitch for a 2015 BMW 4 Series for the majority of the review, but this thing is great. Easy setup and install, does all the things it's supposed to do. Mounting and removing bikes is a snap with the included clips (big difference from some of the cheaper variants with nylon ratchet straps). Fits very snugly in my 2" receiver, and pretty solid on the highway and over bumpy roads.
The rack itself is fantastic. Not too heavy, easy to attach to hitch, and very easy setup. The only real downside is if your bicycles don't have a standard frame, you'll need to buy the Yakima Tube Top Bike Adapter Bars (~$50 each) in order to be able to mount them on the rack. I will say that smaller bikes (for my 9 year old) can be a challenge to mount with larger bikes as you'll need to finagle the handle bars and such to get them to line up but once you do it a few times you figure it out.
# 4
SportRack Ridge Bike Rack for 4 Bikes - 2" Hitches - Swing Away
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!
# 5
Inno Tire Hold Bike Rack for 4 Bikes - 2" Hitches - Tilting
Here's what I love about it: It's super easy and secure to put the bikes on and off. Here's what I don't love: It's heavy and difficult to put on and off the car. It's large enough that when it's in the upright position, it blocks my tail lights, so I can't just leave it on the car always. Overall I do like the product, but I am willing to spend more to replace it with a different model which holds 2 bikes and expands to 4, so it will be easier/lighter to mount to the vehicle, and more reasonable to keep on all the time.
Excellent bike rack! Well packaged and very functional. However, the there is not a lock on the hitch pin. The pin threads in and then you insert a clip on the other side to secure it to the pigtail on the truck or RV. Anyone could come along and pull the clip, loosen the pin and run off with the rack and whatever bikes are on it. So, that would be the only detraction.
# 6
Thule T2 Pro XTR Bike Rack for 4 Bikes - 2" Hitches - Wheel Mount
Fast delivery and great product! I would recommend that you look up videos on how to assemble. The instructions that come with it are basically useless. With the help of a friend assembly was easy. So far the rack has worked perfectly. It is large and heavy so it could require two people to put in on and take it off of the tow hitch. All in all I am very satisfied!
Sturdy. Easy to put together. Second Thule rack and I trust it will secure my bikes.
# 7
Curt 4 Bike Platform Rack - 2" Hitches - Frame Mount - Tilting
Besides taking too long to get since being ordered in July, it is a great Curt 4 bike product......Installed it today and it works great. Curt products are made from a strong quality! My Curt hitch was installed over the Summer, ordered from etrailer and it works great also...Very happy of the outcome. Thanks.....
Great bike rack and outstanding customer service. Easy installation, sturdy bike rack and when I encountered a defective support arm, customer service had a replacement part shipped to me in less than one week. Great value and great support. You cannot get better than that.
# 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.
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."