My wife and I are avid bikers. We have a Swagman four bike rear receiver rack and are thinking of putting it on our new Prius. Would it be ok? Would the bike rack be too low and going up steep inclines (drive ways) cause us to bottom out? Has anyone done this before?
Try searching "bike rack" top right of page. Lots of people have fitted towbar mounted racks. The reciever will not be lower than the corners of the rear bumper so doesnn't affect departure angle.
I recently put a hitch-mounted bike rack on my 2006 Prius. With 2 bikes and 2 passengers, it's fine. Anything more than that, such as luggage or more people in the car, and the rack hits the pavement. Sometimes with only myself in the car, it still hits the pavement, if I happen to be going out of a particularly steep driveway. It's a little worrisome. My boyfriend has offered to shorten the piece that mounts onto the hitch so that the rack is closer to the car, which would probably make it a little bit better. They make it so far out so that you can open your hatch or rear door, however, most of these racks allow you to move the rack out away from the vehicle to open the hatch or rear door, as my Thule Ridgeline rack does. If he shortened it, I would still be able to open the hatch, as long as I used that feature on the rack. Currently, I don't need to use it to open the hatch. It's still possible, but if you're tall enough, I'd get the roof-mounted racks instead. I didn't get that type just because I'm pretty short and would have to use a step stool to get my bike on top of the car. Hope this helps.
cattail722: " ... the roof-mounted racks ... I would have to use a step stool to get my bike on top of the car." ------------------------------------ You caught my attention -- How about 2 roof-mounted bike racks (& step-stool) on a Jeep Wrangler? That was the arrangement on my previous car. Kept the step-stool bungie-corded to the roll bar in back seat, and I didn't mind the additional arm & pectoral excersise for lifting bikes on & off the roof. Haven't yet set up the roof racks on Prius, still looking at the Thule foot-pieces.
