Just purchased a Jeep Wrangler and am looking for a trailer hitch bike recommendation. 2 bikes is the normal load. I'm excited to be a Jeep owner again. It was my first new car I ever owned back in 1986 when I lived in Belmar and loved it.
OT: Bike rack recommendations
- Thread starter newell138
- Start date
Kuat NV
Have it on my Audi and it's hands down the best rack I've ever owned.
You can get it on amazon cheaper than most bike shops.
Have it on my Audi and it's hands down the best rack I've ever owned.
You can get it on amazon cheaper than most bike shops.
Thul (Sindhi: ٺل شهر) is the a town of Jacobabad District in the Sindh Province of Pakistan.
Thule makes racks.
But tot he OP, let me google that for you...
here you go "Best Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Bike Racks"
I am aware of google but its also nice to hear what people have used, including pros and cons of various models.
I understand. Sometimes people will give good honest advice. If someone says "avoid this product", I believe them. But some people like to reinforce their previous decisions by saying, get what I got. I tend to prefer professional reviews. I cannot say that the link I gave provides that, but I would recommend finding some purportedly professional reviews and allowing users here to either agree or disagree wit those reviews based on actual user experience.
I looked around a bit.. though a bit older, this thread on a wrangler owners forum probably provides some useful info. There are just so many specifics to consider that I find it more likely to ask other wrangler owners for advice. For example, I assume a spare tire rack on the swing-out spare tire is probably the way to go, but I have read that some of these tire racks do not want the extra weight.. and that most such racks are for 2 bikes max. I even saw someone mention that such and such rack doesn't do well for composite frame bikes. Not sure why. I bet a wrangler forum would provide someone with direct experience in your exact situation. You might also want to qualify the kind of bikes you will be transporting.
How wide are your tires? I have 29x2.1 racing slicks on my mtb and the grooves on the outer tray hold the front tire secure.
OP: does your jeep have the rear mounted spare? I think Yakima makes a rack that goes over the outer spare.
NorthJersey: Sorry I mis-explained what was happening with my MTB on my kuat. The tires do fit but the lever that secures the front tire can not apply effective downward pressure. When I drive and turn, the front tire slips under the hook. Fortunately the back tire is secured. I think its a combination of low pressure (30 psi) of MTB tires and the hook not being able to sit in the crevice between the tire and the fork like it normally can on conventionally sized bikes.
Professional reviews have their own issues. There's a big difference between someone reviewing what they spent money on vs. a pro reviewing something he received free for testing (possibly to keep). There also tends to be a big difference in perspective between an average Joe that buys a product once every x number of years and a pro that tests the latest and greatest products all year round. Pro reviews are very valuable for more complicated and nuanced products - cars, smartphones, etc., but for a bike rack, I'd rather know the experiences of average cyclists, with a pro review or two thrown in for added insight.
That said, I'd be more interested in what serious bike riders had to say, not so much what RU football fans that may or may not be serious cyclists thought. I'd look for average reviews somewhere like MTBR (and/or the Wrangler forum you linked).
I had a Thule that was ok. I now have a 1Up-USA that is amazing. More expensive but much more stable, easier to load/unload, install/remove, etc.
+1. We use a 4-bike Thule Vertex with our Forester and it's a breeze with 2 bikes, but also works well fully loaded.
Both Thule and Yakima publish a guide for clearance on the rack to the spare tire measured from the 'pin hole' in the receiver. Know the measurement for your Jeep. Thule tests its racks and many all are made in the US.
If you have a larger tire on your jeep you may be limited to a Spare Me rack or be forced to doing something against the reccomendations of the manufacturer of the rack, like using a hitch extender.
If you have a larger tire on your jeep you may be limited to a Spare Me rack or be forced to doing something against the reccomendations of the manufacturer of the rack, like using a hitch extender.
I have a Saris Bones. No issues with it, but I have had it fro probably 6 or 7 years now, so while it was considered one of the best when I bought it, that may have changed.
I just bought an Explorer and I have been thinking about buying a bike rack, but I need to install a hitch. The Ford dealer wanted $575 to install a hitch, but the sales man said I could get it done cheaper at UHaul. Anyone have experience with hitch installs?
Like everyone else Thule. But do yourself a favor and get the one where the bikes sit in it and not the one where they hang. TRUST ME.
