Carrying 4 Bikes on Hollywood Racks Sport Rider SE 4 Rack using EcoHitch on 2014 Honda Civic  

Question:

Expert Reply:

Although the EcoHitch # 306-X7235 has a 2 inch receiver, the vehicle itself is rated for a Class I hitch with a very limited tongue weight capacity. Because of this limited capacity, all the bike rack manufacturers agree that no more than 2 bikes should be carried on a bike rack installed on a Class I rated vehicle.

The # 306-X7235 hitch has a 300 lb tongue weight capacity, which means that the maximum amount of weight the hitch will support is 300 lbs. The Hollywood Racks # HR1400Z-FB SE4 weighs about 130 lbs, which wouldn't leave much room for bikes. Exceeding that capacity could lead to the hitch or its attachment points to the vehicle failing. Because of this, I couldn't recommend using the # HR1400Z-FB Sport Rider SE 4 bike rack.

A better course of action would be to use a Class I hitch like # C11391 along with a 2 bike rack like the # HR200Z Hollywood Racks Trail Rider. The remaining 2 bikes could be carried on the roof by installing a roof rack and using roof mounted bike racks. A roof rack could be constructed using the following parts:

For a 2 door coupe, use
Square crossbars, part # INB137
Roof rack feet, part # INSUT
Custom fit kit, part # INK642

For a 4 door sedan, use the same crossbars as mentioned above and the same feet, but the four door uses the # INK722 fit kit, instead of the one mentioned above.

With the roof rack in place, you could install two of the # RKY1222 RockyMounts TomaHawk bike racks. The TomaHawk is easy to use, is lightweight and holds the bikes by the wheels, so it's safe for carbon fiber frames.

expert reply by: Mike L

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