How Many Bicycles Do You Put on Your Hitch Carrier?

Go with the rating.

200lb tongue weight is actually higher than it appears. I used to tow two Seadoos on a trailer with an 1 1/4" 100lb tongue weight hitch and receiver. (dodge Avenger)

the real issue is what bikes are you carrying?

for really good race bikes will only weight about 70lbs total, four good mountain bikes only weight about 120-130 lbs. well under any two hundred pound limit. even with the rack unit itself.

I'm getting this one - its a little big but oh well http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profil...ategory_ID=4411

Only the $50 cheap knock-off bikes from places like Costco, you know bikes that look like expensive bikes with shocks and stuff but weight about 3 times as much, will you have a concern with weight. (granted though these are good bikes for people who can't afford really good bikes but they weight a freakin ton)

 

Bike carrying was also a VERY important factor for me, but I prefer to carry them inside the car. Are you aware that 2 mountain bikes will fit inside a Prius pretty easily ? A medium full suspension bike (4" fork) will fit inside without even taking a wheel off, and the second one just requires front wheel removal. With 2 bikes in, you can still see out the back no problem. (You could probably fit 3 if you took wheels off). I just use an old bedsheet which covers the entire back area for carrying bikes, and the car has stayed amazingly clean even after several dozen bike carrying trips.
It sounds like you want to carry more than 2 bikes, but for those times when 2 is all you need, putting them inside works great (plus it won't reduce your MPG like a rack will.)

 

Tongue wieght is a dead load measurement. The live load rating is in the thousands of pounds and is a factor of the tensile strength of the steel and its thickness. You could never give this rating and have people know what kind of dead load can cause that "live" load. Plus you would have people way overloading hitches until the hitch pulls off the back end of the car.

Try looking at this rack. It is standard as a two bike system with the option of addinf a third or fourth rack.
http://www.thuleracks.com/thule/product.as...id=8&sku=260120

I don't quite like the way the rack you show holds the top wheels of the bike. have neer seen one like that personally.

 

Karkus,
you're right you can put bikes inside, but I have the Ivory interior and the potential to inadvertently get oil, grease or dirt on the interior is way to great. I will sacrifice 5 MPG over a greasy dirty interior when I carry bikes anytime. Especially since I do not carry bikes as often as I drive.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Devil's Advocate @ Jun 3 2005, 01:00 PM) [snapback]95319[/snapback]</div>

One does need to recognize that tongue weight of a trailer is 'adjustable' by properly loading the trailer. You could put everything in the back and end up with a negative tongue weight, lifting the rear of the towing vehicle.

If it is dead weight, like bike carriers, it is all additive - weight of the rack plus weight of the bikes.

Thus, you COULD have a small trailer weighing 200 pounds carrying four 50 pound bikes. The proper tongue weight (10% to 15%) would be 40 to 60 pounds. Substantially less than the 4 bikes plus the weight of the rack.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Devil's Advocate @ Jun 4 2005, 05:12 PM) [snapback]95621[/snapback]</div>

$3 is all you need to prevent grease.

That's what I bought a tarp for. It works great. The blue side is the clean side. The silver, which matches the interior color remarkably well, is what the bikes are laid on.

 

I normally carry one bike on my Coastal 2" rear hitch and Yakima rack. I carry two if me and a friend are going somewhere, but usually, it's just me and my road or mountain bike.

I've modified the Yakima rack so it sits lower behind the rear spoiler:

[attachmentid=4503]

 

I've got the grey interior and have Exact Mats covering the entire rear cargo area. Just about every weekend I carry 2 road bikes (1 with front wheel removed and 1 with both wheels left on) inside the car, separated by a yoga mat. Thus far, the interior has stayed pretty clean as long as I am careful putting in and taking out the bikes.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(spinjunkie53 @ Aug 15 2006, 09:13 PM) [snapback]303836[/snapback]</div>

I was debating getting the Exactmats, but thought that since the bike would likely be on its side, the sides of the cargo area would likely get dirty. That said, why not a heavy tarp? The bike would go on top, and the sides of the tarp can be folded over it, keeping the interior walls clean.

 

I use tarps for my bikes - I usually take one or two plus a ton of camping gear. It gets tight with two if I want to be able to see out of the lower rear window, but if I don't care about that then it's fine. Putting the bikes in and out requires care, but you can keep your interior clean It helps to take the pedal off the lower side so it doesn't put dents in the carpet... I'm thinking of using my bike bag instead, super-easy to just slide in and out, and total protection.

eyeguy13, that's totally illegal in the UK - it obscures your lights and license plate...

Anyone have experience of roof-mounted racks? How much MPG do you lose?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(gordonr @ Jun 2 2005, 08:09 PM) [snapback]95120[/snapback]</div>

My guess is the 200 lb limit has to do with how the hitch is mounted to the car and nothing to do with whether the receiver is 1 1/4" or 2". The hitch is bolted to the tie down points in the frame. It is using the same bolts as the tiedown was in with. By nature of the design, it hangs about 4 inches down before progressing rearward. That means there is some cantilever action there. The more weight you put on that hitch, the more stress on those bolts and the more downward twisting motion on the hanging brackets. Hit some big bumps and you have added a lot more dynamic load. They want to keep it load limited within reason.

I have the 2" receiver from Coastal and the Thule Trailblazer 4 bike rack. It is the one that swings out of the way so you have full access to the back of the vehicle when bikes are loaded on the rack. The Prius hatch can open without swinging it out of the way, so that feature is not needed for a Prius. I bought the rack a couple years ago because our Honda Pilot needs the swing away in order to open the rear. I have put the rack on the car as a test, but I have not had an opportunity to load it with 4 bikes yet in the week I have owned the car. Should work just fine though. Will be interesting to see what it does to gas mileage.

My usual is just 1 mountain bike. I chose to go with the hitch instead of loading them inside to keep from damaging the interior. I have tossed the mountain bike inside my Subaru Outback for many years using a tarp for protection. Even with the tarp, over the years the side panels have gotten chewed up from the handlebars and the chainrings. Then you also have to be careful to make sure the tarp is in all the right places around the bike. I decided it was going to be earsier to just toss the bike on the rack and roll.

 

I carry a Long WheelBase (LWB) Linear recumbent in the back of my Prius. The front and rear wheels fold under to make it much shorter and I also remove the bike's seat. Being able to transport the bike in this manner was a major consideration in purchasing a large hatchback-style vehicle.

I have the cargo area Exact Mat but also use a large piece of cardboard that covers both the floor and sides of the cargo area. I use the rear seatbelts to hold up the sides of the cardboard when loading/unloading the bike.

 

I've got the Coastal hitch and used it last week for our vacation. I have a Thule 4-bike rack, and ran into some problems.

We put 4 bikes on the rack (not especially light bikes by any means). The dead weight appeared toward the limit, but holding (sort of). We traveled about 150 miles, and when I got to our destination, I noticed the hitch had 'bent' down about an inch below where it was when we started (I did confirm that the hitch was still tightly attached). I suspect this was due to natural 'bouncing' on the highway. It bent enough that I didn't feel comfortable transporting the bikes back home again (we had a friend bring them back for us).

I haven't had a chance to look underneath the car and see exactly what went wrong, but it seemed that at least our 4 bikes was too much for the hitch.

Not sure of where this is ultimately leading (a different hitch, don't carry 4 bikes, etc.)...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(davidf @ Aug 16 2006, 11:49 AM) [snapback]304117[/snapback]</div>

What is the total weight of the bikes and what is the weight of the rack? I ask because we have 2 Sun EZ Racer AX medium wheelbase recumbants that weigh 34# each. One will fit inside the Prius with 3 seat backs down (2 rear seats in the Prius, 1 on the bike ) I don't know what the kids' 24" mountain bikes weigh.

I got, but have not yet installed, the 2" Coastal receiver figuring 2" would give me more flexibility in bike rack/rear platform carrying options. With your experience, I'm thinking my long term plan of getting a light weight 4'x4' trailer and making custom bike mounts is looking better all the time. A LOT less weight pushing down on the hitch.

 

Here's another way to haul bicycles and kayaks... and no back strain putting the kayak on the roof!

http://www.sportsrig.com/

Has anyone purchased one of these? I am considering it, but would like to hear someone's first-hand experience first.