How Many Bicycles Do You Put on Your Hitch Carrier?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priussoris @ Apr 26 2007, 06:00 PM) [snapback]430822[/snapback]</div>

I read somewhere that what I called the "mount thing" is used to secure these buggies as they come over the ocean on the boat.

Feel free to prove me wrong. :blink:

 

For your viewing pleasure...

Here's a pic of my river boat being towed with the modified Coastal hitch. As I stated... no problems to date. I must inform you though that I'm blessed with not having to tow in heavy traffic or very far or very fast to get to the beautiful Lower Wisconsin River where I spend my free time. Let me know when you're coming this way and we'll take you along! B)

[attachmentid=7691]

 

Here are the picture of the broken Coastal Hitch. You can see the welds have just let go, due to the applied torque. Also, the diagonal supports are showing stress problems. The whole thing is rusting as well. Their finish did not protect the metal underneath. The failure is not due to the rust, but just a bad design. The receiver tube is really not attached to the rest of the hitch well, being attached by just the small welds. It has an awfully long tube to be attached that way. The modification shown does seem like it would solve the problem by really supporting the tube and giving a counterbalance to the applied downward force.
[attachmentid=7767][attachmentid=7768][attachmentid=7769][attachmentid=7770][attachmentid=7771]

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dspguy @ Apr 30 2007, 02:30 PM) [snapback]432753[/snapback]</div>

DSPGUY,
Looks like a very POOR weld little penetration. I would call Coastal and tell them to replace it. or better yet get a refund and send that back to em .

I just installed the Curt today looks very solid and sturdy 129.95

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(cobra9 @ Apr 26 2007, 04:05 PM) [snapback]430825[/snapback]</div>

I mean that the Curt doesn't need an extension since the cross-member is closer to the applied torque.

DSPguy - adding to what the others said - That welding is marginal at best. There is a reason why Coastal does not recommend their hitch for towing! But from what I can see, it shouldn't be recommended for much of anything!

 

I installed the Coastal 2" receiver recently and installation went well. However, I am a little concerned because when I put the hitch into place it seemed the long cross-bar was too short (not wide enough side to side) by nearly ½â€. I got it all bolted together, but in order to get the bolts on the driver side fully tightened it required a lot of bending basically of the bracket. In its natural position the bolt barely made it through the bracket and into the hitch. In fact there was not even enough bolt to get the two washers and nut on so I had to put just the nut on one, use that to tighten it up a bit, then put the bolt, washers and nut on the other and tighten that, then go back and put the washers on the first nut. It all tightened up and looks good and the bracket is seated flush but I just question whether there should be that much force constantly on the bracket. Seems like a lot of unnecessary stress on the welds from the brackets to the cross-bar. Is this normal? Thoughts?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(emailcurt @ May 1 2007, 09:30 AM) [snapback]433282[/snapback]</div>

Often the flanges get bent in shipping. It is common to have to widen the flanges a bit to align the holes properly. As your bolts are under shear to straighten those flanges, I'm sure they'll be just fine, and I wouldn't worry about it. But next time, bang the thing against a tree until the holes line up easily and it'll make for a happier install.

 

I've read through as many posts as I've been able to find on hitch receivers (I have a 2006 Prius) so we can add a bike rack to the Prius. Right now I'm looking at the Yakima hook-up with the Plus 2 add-on. Normally if I'm carrying one or two bikes they go in the back. But sometimes we go on long rides with friends and it would be great if we could all ride together. All four bikes are light road bikes - less than 20 lbs. each.

I'm leaning towards the Curt hitch receiver. It seems like there have been fewer issues with that receiver and four bikes. But I don't know which one. 1.25" or 2"? Class I or Class II?

I think I should get the 2" so I can use the bike rack on the other car (Lexus RX330) at some point. We don't have a receiver on that car yet. We'd prefer to drive the Prius as much as possible - right now we can carry three bikes and three people in the Lexus using a trunk-mounted rack + one bike in the back with the seats split.

Although... looking at online sellers of the Curt hitch, it looks like it only comes in 1.25".

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sheri @ May 8 2007, 12:26 PM) [snapback]437540[/snapback]</div>

The reason I purchased the coastal 2" was that Curt only had the 1.25" and I wanted a 2" bike rack. You will definitely have a problem using the coastal receiver with the hook-up type rack. The coastal receiver does not do well with a load with that much torque, due to the way they attach the receiver tube to the cross member. .I doubt you would have enough ground clearance, and it will bend or break like mine did. If you reinforce the coastal rack you could probably make it work, but I would be concerned about still having the rack too close to the ground with that type of rack, even if the receiver doesn't bend down. Let us know what you decide.

I am still trying to figure out what to do about my broken coastal 2"

 

I've learned more today.

The Yakima rack I want comes with the 4-bike option but only for the 2: receiver. I talked to the guy at my local U-Haul, because I had read here that they sell the Curt hitch. The U-Haul guy said they sell a 1.25-->2" receiver adapter specifically for bike racks. I'm a little skeptical but I'd really like to be able to use the rack on either car. It would make sense to get a 2" receiver for the RX330.

Anyone have any experience or opinions on the hitch adapter?


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dspguy @ May 8 2007, 11:53 AM) [snapback]437655[/snapback]</div>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sheri @ May 8 2007, 12:58 PM) [snapback]437657[/snapback]</div>

If you go with a curt hitch 1/1/4" you might check out etrailer.com or etrailerhitch.com cost about 129.00 and around 10 bucks to ship.

I have a 2" adapter for my other bike rack that we used on our jeep. as long as it is a good quality adapter good solid welds etc.. should be fine I did have to drill another hole in my adapter because I wanted it to go in farther ( into the hitch) to be closer to the car.
hope that helps
forgot to post the other adapter
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B0...otive&img=0

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sheri @ May 8 2007, 12:58 PM) [snapback]437657[/snapback]</div>

If you go with a curt hitch 1/1/4" you might check out etrailer.com or etrailerhitch.com cost about 129.00 and around 10 bucks to ship.

I have a 2" adapter for my other bike rack that we used on our jeep. as long as it is a good quality adapter good solid welds etc.. should be fine I did have to drill another hole in my adapter because I wanted it to go in farther ( into the hitch) to be closer to the car.
hope that helps
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B0...otive&img=1

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sheri @ May 8 2007, 09:26 AM) [snapback]437540[/snapback]</div>

Sheri -

I have some serious advice and opinions.... PLEASE don't do it. Putting four bikes on any hitch that fits the Prius - even if light bikes, is asking for trouble. The bikes sit so far out from the hitch that the moment arm because huge, and none of the hitches are made to take that kind of abuse. If you also add a size adapter, you're spacing the rack out even further, making the problem worse. The Hookup is a great rack. I owned one. The problem is, it weighs more than two of your bikes all by itself. Add the bikes, and you're up to LOTS of weight that is dangling way out there far from the hitch.

My advice (and this is advice from a relative risk-taker, mind you) is you need to carry four bikes, put them on the roof, or buy a trailer for them. Do NOT carry them all on a hitch-mounted rack. I would say that two is MAX for any hitch that will fit the Prius. And even that is pushing it for a hitch like the Coastal unit.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ 2007 May 1, 03:54 PM) [snapback]433431[/snapback]</div>

I'm shocked. This is most definitely a blot on your escutcheon. Your tree-hugger status is in serious jeopardy.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hyo silver @ May 8 2007, 01:18 PM) [snapback]437722[/snapback]</div>

Hey. NOBODY blots my escutcheon without prior approval.

While the instructions I've read say to use a telephone pole, all of our utilities are burried around here. A tree was all I could come up with. And there IS a cute story that comes along with it. This is at the top of my Curt Hitch page:

"Cute story here, regarding my 5-year-old daughter Kyra:
The trailer hitch arrived for the Prius, and one flange was a bit bent….so I took it over to the tree in the front yard to bang it straight (this is actually part of the instructions! - and it worked REALLY well)... but anyway –
Kyra: Daddy, what are you doing?
Me: I’m straightening this.
Kyra: Are you going to straighten the tree in the back yard too?"

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ May 8 2007, 02:35 PM) [snapback]437739[/snapback]</div>

That is a MasterCard "priceless" story They could do a commercial with those lines and the Rav4EV and Prius in the background pretty cool

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(davidf @ Sep 9 2006, 10:35 PM) [snapback]317252[/snapback]</div>

YIKES!

we just ordered a coastal hitch (just got our prius)..... we have a yakima rack... not sure how much it weights?

i know our road bikes combined are under 40 pounds (under 20 pounds per bikes) and our mountain bikes are under 35 each (so under 70 when we have to put them on the car)....

i'm shocked that you have bikes weighing 130 pounds!!!!!! that's like 6 bikes... right?????????????

i do know that the two road bikes fit IN the prius! we have a ride this weekend and don't have the hitch yet.... so we did a test fit tonight.... plenty of room left for our gear, too!

however i'm NOT crazy about stacking them in there.... :angry: but it's the final ride in a series and we traded the MDX...... so we'll do what we gotta do..... i'll be glad when we have the hitch!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ May 8 2007, 01:04 PM) [snapback]437708[/snapback]</div>

Darell - thanks. The more I've looked at it, I've come to the same conclusion. I'm resigned to put the four-bike hitch on the SUV (which gets okay gas mileage and has low emissions - just not as good as the Prius), and we'll only carry two bikes on the Prius.

Sheri

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(desertbriez @ May 24 2007, 08:38 PM) [snapback]449577[/snapback]</div>

While I understand the reluctance - it really isn't so bad. Just use an old blanket or shipping blaket or lots of towels. Lay one bike in there, cover it completely and put the next one in. It'll all be OK!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ May 24 2007, 09:01 PM) [snapback]449587[/snapback]</div>

ya..... we're gonna put one down on the bottom.... then a towel over the crank and chain... then a blanket... then the other bike.... plus hubby's gonna put a bungy or two to keep them from sliding.... it's just our bikes are our babies ifyouknowwhatimean!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(desertbriez @ May 24 2007, 09:15 PM) [snapback]449599[/snapback]</div>

Oh, I totally know what you mean! That's why I only carry them by the wheels when I carry them on a rack. You'll find that there's no reason to strap them down (as long as your husband isn't Mario Andretti behind the wheel). You'll likely do more damage to them trying to strap them together.

Good luck! Nothing better than riding bikes. Having to sometimes carry them in the car is what sucks.