Hitch Racks

[Fattirz in NC]

I have the Kuat NV base 2.0 and absolutely love it! Found it at an REI garage sale and saved over $200 off of MSRP. Looks like it was used once and returned. A few months later I ended up buying the two bike add-on so my entire family of 4 can load our bikes and go. Only drawback to the Kuat racks are the steep prices and the heavy weight. Otherwise bombproof products! From the skinny tires on my Cannondale CAADX Cyclocross to the 2.8 tires on my Specialized Enduro, the bikes all fit super secure (locks are built in)

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[Thatwaspontus]

Follow-up to the tailgate-thule interference conundrum. I went with option 4 and busted out the grinder and some zip disks.... It beats out the 1Up by only costing me $0.82 for a piece of pipe insulation, being available immediately for a perfectly good hitch rack and I can open the bed drawers I just made. Downsides being that it is ghetto as fuck and the dumbass tailgate spoiler still just barely touched the rack (hence the pipe insulation). Function over form for the time being.

 

[Madesicc88]

I use a Yakima Hangover rack, its great, tailgate clears and everything.

 

[Ryanosaurus]

I have a Yakima Dr. Tray and the tailgate clears no problem. It’s a 1-1/4” hitch model to accommodate my wife’s Subaru as well. Only shortfall is that I need to find a reducer with less wobble.

 

[Grumpaw]

Who needs a hitch ???

 

[Jedadiah]

Mine's probably a little different than most. My previous 2 cars were VW diesels that I installed European hitches on. Euro hitches don't have a receiver tube at all. The swan neck (ball mount) is bolted to the tow bar or there are removable swan necks as well The hitch on my Golf was complexity hidden unless the ball mount was installed . All have 50mm balls that have a straight shank as a clamping surface.

Because they don't have receiver tubes, hitch accessories clamp directly to the hitch ball itself. I bought a euro Thule rack online for my cars and am still using it on the Ranger. I put a euro ball in an 8" drop ball mount, so that I could open the tailgate when the rack is tilted. All Euro hitch accessories have to have taillights.

I'm sure this isn't the best bike rack solution for a Ranger, but does use what I already had. Using an anti rattle pin, it doesn't move at all.

 

[afewgoodfingers]

Here is the 1UP and tailgate open.

Sorry to revive this. Can you lower the tailgate with a bike in the rack? Any thoughts on going for the single vs. double tray? Thanks!

 

[EJH]

Sorry to revive this. Can you lower the tailgate with a bike in the rack? Any thoughts on going for the single vs. double tray? Thanks!

No. You cannot with the single tray. Maybe you can with the double tray, and only a bike in the further back tray?

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