Trailer hitch bike racks

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Author Message   ema Posted on Friday, November 29, 2002 - 12:26 pm:    Hi all, I'm looking for a bike rack that mounts to the trailer hitch of the Disco. My major requirements are that the bikes must mount via the fork and that the rack clears the spare tire. (Admittedly, I'm anal about the paint on my road bikes...couldn't care less about the MTBs.) I have found the Thule Space Station + fork mount attachment and the Yakima Hitchfork. On MTBR.com, the Yakima has one excellent review, while the Thule has some mixed reviews. Does anyone have experience with either of these products? Thanks, -ema   Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) Posted on Friday, November 29, 2002 - 03:42 pm:    Ema, I've not used the Hitchfork, I have a Yakima Terrafirma, and really like it.... it is a hitch-mount that'll carry 4 bikes. It easily clears the spare. It's not a fork-mount, though, the top-tube of the bikes sit in cradles. The Terrafirma will fold down, but not swing away... the Yakima Roc'n Gate is the same but it swings away... I would have liked that, but, it's twice as much, and I found a good buy on the Terrafirma. Since I don't leave it back there all of the time, swinging away wasn't necessary, I just put it on when I'm carrying the bikes. Hopefully someone else can pitch in on the two you asked about, though..... -L   Carter Simcoe (Carter) Posted on Friday, November 29, 2002 - 03:57 pm:    I have the same rack as Leslie and am happy with it.   ema Posted on Friday, November 29, 2002 - 04:02 pm:    Thanks to Leslie and Carter for the feedback. Leslie--You indicated that you installed the rack as needed to carry bikes. How long does the install take? Thanks, -ema   stevesherman Posted on Friday, November 29, 2002 - 04:52 pm:    Ema, I have the Thule 931 swing away base with the 927 fork mount module. I love the unit, but only wished that it swung further away from the vehicle. When I had it on my D1 I could load 2 bikes on there without a problem, but now with it on my D2 I had to address a major problem. The hitch location on the D2 is further behind the edge of the bumper, so I had to cut and weld on a new 6" extension to the rack to clear the spare tire which barely gave me enough room. I plan to remove that extension and replace it with an 8" piece which will be plenty. I believe Thule sells an extension that you can bolt everything too, but I had some 2x2 frame material laying around the shop that I used. The plus side of the extension is that it gives you some more room to open the door with the rack loaded and it doesn't really add too much to the back of the vehicle. I'll try to snap some pictures of my setup for you and post them tomorrow. Steve   Snowman Posted on Friday, November 29, 2002 - 05:43 pm:    Ema- Have your local bike shop mount the rack you are considering on your truck. Put your road bike on it and see if you can live with the fit. But consider a rack that cradles the top tube, if it's padded enough it will be just fine. Remember your fork dropouts will get a beating from constantly unscrewing your QR to remove the wheel also. Personally I have sold and owned both Yakima & Thule racks and prefer Yakima. Good luck! S-   Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) Posted on Friday, November 29, 2002 - 07:53 pm:    Ema, It takes about 2 minutes, maybe just 1 if I think about what I'm doing instead of goofing off.... You just slide the bottom of the post into the receiver, and tighten the retaining pin with the quick-hitch lever (a built-in wrench, http://www.yakima.com/products/dynamic/8002507_2.html.) Then, you toss the bikes on, use the rubber straps to clamp the bikes down, and go.... given that I was actually putting 4 bikes (my bike, two women's bikes for the wife and daughter, and one kid's bike with training wheels for my son), it took a lot longer to arrange the bikes in getting them on there than anything else. Other times, when it's just been me and some buddies (ie, no training wheels, and no women's bikes), it's really quick, just pick 'em up and drop 'em in the cradle. (Training wheels, of course, are a challenge, because you want to keep them out of the spokes of the adjacent bikes. Women's bikes, lacking the top horizontal post, get interesting... you can buy cross-bars to clamp onto the bikes, but, instead, if you just angle the bikes so that instead of sitting level, one wheel is higher than the other by sitting the slanted post into the cradle, you don't have to spend the extra money... it just takes a little time to get them arranged well.) This is the rack I have: http://www.yakima.com/products/dynamic/8002576_2.html. If you shop around, it should be under $200, even with shipping (I think I paid something like $180 total, and that was with shipping for coming from California to Tennessee). (Online shopping is great! ) Good luck! -L   Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) Posted on Friday, November 29, 2002 - 07:57 pm:    PS: I was concerned about the Quick-Hitch at first, given the Disco's trailer hitch design. If you notice, you have flanges partially shrouding the retaining pin's hole on each side of the receiver. My concern was that the slighly larger radius of the Quick-Hitch's wrench mechanism wouldn't fit..... it does, though. It's close, it's snug, but it does fit. Have to admit, I like it... it took just a little bit of playing with it to understand it, it's kinda neat, the way it's spring-loaded. Anyway..... -L   ema Posted on Saturday, November 30, 2002 - 07:09 pm:    Just another thank you for all the advice in this thread. I'm leaning towards the Yakima TerraFirma now. The price is right and the QuickHitch installation mechanism seems quite trick. I will post some pics once everything is done. Cheers, -ema   Derald (Canyonsnail) Posted on Sunday, December 01, 2002 - 08:51 am:    I have the exact same setup as Steve (Thule 931 swing away base with the 927 fork mount module) and have been very pleased with it. The thing I really liked about the Thule set-up was the simplicity of the fork lock mechanism. I also like the locking system Thule uses for the reciever pin and the bikes... nice and clean - no cable to thread around. Derald