Kuat or Yakima Pivoting Hitch Adapter Comparison

Question:

Hello. I’m looking for a swing away hitch adaptor to use with my f150 and Subaru Forester. I’m considering -kuat pivot v2 -yakima backswing but have heart issues of plastic trim piece/end cap melting with exhausts on passenger side like with my forester. -saris swing away but have heard it is short and might not clear the f150 with the bike rack on 1 Can you comment on any of these adaptors? Do you have recommendations and if so why? 2 do you think the saris is too small to clear the f150? 3 do you think the yakima or kuat both seem longer would have issues with the forester exhaust exiting near the hinge? The yakima has plastic that can melt. The kuat doesn’t. The saris has a small plastic knob but might not extend far enough to be a large issue. 4 I was also hoping you could comment on how far these extend the rack. Distance From hitch pin hole on the truck end to the hitch pin hole on the receiver/rack end this info is hard to find, instead specs seem to give overall length of the adaptor.

asked by: Ryan B

Expert Reply:

Unless you have a Kuat bike rack the only option you have between the Kuat # PVP20B and the Yakima Backswing # Y02488 is the Yakima since it can be used with basically any hitch accessory designed for a 2 inch hitch. The Kuat can only be used with Kuat bike racks.

We did have one customer who said there was a portion of their Backswing that did melt from exhaust heat but with how many of these we have sold and only getting that feedback once I would not anticipate that being a widespread issue.

The distance from the hitch pin hole of the Backswing out to the hitch pin that holds the bike rack measures 14 inches.

expert reply by: Jameson C