Trailer Hitch and 4 Bike Carrying Recommendation for 2009 Lincoln MKZ  

Question:

Helpful Expert Reply:

The Curt # C11329 is indeed a fit for your 2009 Lincoln MKZ. This would work great for you.

You can use an adapter like # HTAD, but there's 2 problems with doing that. Both the hitch and bike rack manufacturers state that no more than 2 bikes should be carried in a bike rack used in a Class I hitch. Adding a 3rd and 4th bike moves too much weight too far away from the hitch receiver tube which can apply enough leverage to damage the hitch or cause the attachment points to the vehicle to fail. Which wold be bad. If you couple that with the fact that using an adapter like the # HTAD will reduce the hitch tongue weight capacity by half to 100 lbs which means that the bikes plus the weight of the carrier couldn't weigh more than 100 lbs which is unlikely.

In order transport all 4 bikes using that vehicle, your best bet would be to use a 3 bike trunk mount rack like # SA803 and carry the remaining bike on the roof. This would save you the expense of the hitch. To do this, you'd need to install a roof rack from the following parts:

Inno 50 inch crossbars, part # INB127
Roof rack feet, # INSUT
Vehicle specific fit kit, # INK546

With the roof rack in place, you could install a bike carrier like the Race Ready # S64705 from Swagman.

expert reply by: Mike L

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