Transporting Your Bikes The Easy Way: How To Add A Hitch-Mounted Bike Rack To Your Vehicle

Whether you're taking mountain bikes off-road or want to bring your city bikes with you on vacation, hitch-mounted racks are one of the most convenient and secure ways to transport your bikes. They don't affect your car's handling as much as a roof rack, and they're much easier to use. The only thing that you need to do is install a trailer hitch on your car. Thankfully, trailer hitch installation is an easy and inexpensive process. If you're interested in adding a hitch-mounted bike rack to your car, read on to find out what you need to do.

Find Out Which Hitch Sizes Your Car Supports

Hitch-mounted bike racks require a receiver hitch to be mounted on your car, so the first step is to find out if one can be installed on your car. You'll have the choice between a receiver hitch made by your vehicle's manufacturer, and an aftermarket hitch. In most cases, an aftermarket hitch will be less expensive and just as high-quality as a manufacturer hitch. Depending on your car, an aftermarket hitch may even be your only option.

Some bike racks require a 1.25" receiver hitch, while others require a 2" hitch. A few have conversion kits available that allow them to use either size. Search on the internet for companies that sell receiver hitches, and then enter your make and model of car in order to find out what your car will support—some smaller cars may only be capable of having a 1.25" receiver hitch installed. Keep that in mind when you're searching for bike racks.

Choose a Bike Rack

Once you've found out which receiver hitch sizes your car supports, it's time to find a bike rack that fits it. When selecting a hitch-mounted bike rack, you'll have a choice between a hanging bike rack or a platform bike rack. Hanging bike racks have clamps that attach to the frame of your bike, holding it in place. These are less expensive, but they're generally inferior to platform bike racks. Since the bike rack makes contact with the bike's frame, there's a chance that the frame can become damaged while you're transporting it—if you're driving over rugged terrain or brick roads, the vibration can scratch the finish or slightly warp carbon fiber frames.

Platform bike racks are usually a better choice, as they don't make any contact with the frame of your bike. The platforms have hooped clamps on them that attach to your bike's wheels, and the wheels of your bike are quite a bit more rugged—they're designed to absorb vibration.

You should also look for a bike rack that tilts out of the way while still attached to the receiver hitch. This allows you to open your car's trunk without removing the bike rack, which is a major convenience feature.

Install the Hitch and the Bike Rack

Once you have your hitch and your bike rack, all you need to do is install it. Trailer hitch installation is a fairly easy process as long as you can access the underside of your car. Depending on the type of car you have, you may be able to simply slide under it far enough to install the hitch. Otherwise, you may have to put it on a lift in order to install it.

All you need to install most trailer hitches is a torque wrench. Aftermarket hitches are machined with all of the holes in the correct place to line up with the holes in your car frame, so all you need to do is bolt the hitch to your frame and tighten the bolts to the torque specification recommended by the manufacturer. Afterwards, insert the hollow bar of the bike rack into the receiver hitch, and lock it in place with the cross pin.

If you can't easily access your car's frame, aren't familiar with using a torque wrench, or are afraid that your bike rack might fall off while you're driving due to poor installation, look for a professional trailer hitch installation service like Mann's Welding West Inc. Having your hitch professionally installed is very inexpensive, and you'll rest easy knowing that your bikes are safely secured to your vehicle.

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