pookieman

Hi

We have a rear mounted bike rack for the Toyota Prius, currently we have 2 adult bikes and 2 kids, although the smallest one I sometimes put in the trunk. But as you can see...





It's very low to the ground, the hitch does allow you to rotate the bikes but no matter what I do the wheels of the bikes are so low they hit the ground etc. One bike is my wife's so I use a bar to keep it on the hitch it's probably the lowest one. The hitch was from Costco it's basic but it seems to work fine. We don't go far < 10k journeys around Vancouver BC, so it's normally OK, but some times we hear the 'grind' as something is hitting the ground, deeply upsetting.

Is there anything that can be done? Should I just look into another hitch, another car?! We like the car and will eventually upgrade to a larger car as the family grows with a higher ground clearance, in the meantime is there anything that could be done to help a few inches will be enough in most cases I think.

Thanks!

CliffordK

It appears as if the rack is sagging a lot.

Primarily, there seems to be a square tube along the bottom with a solid square inside of it. This square tube to solid square joint seems to be angled down significantly.

If you could find a good welder, they should be able to get everything tightened up, and probably raise the bikes by 6" or so. The rack could even be rebuilt with an extra riser.

Alternatively, you could try just shimming that first joint to try to make everything a bit more square.

The rack does hang out quite far behind the car. You obviously need trunk access, but perhaps the rack could also be shortened a bit.

If you ever drag a bike tire on the ground, you could loose your load of bikes, or destroy the wheel.

FBinNY 

I suspect that the problem is your car's hitch. As Clifford pointed out 2" racks are supposed to slip into a female 2" receiver for a solid, well supported, horizontal fit.

Your rack is stepped down to fit a 1-1/4" hitch, which creates it's own problems which I'll come back to, but the more serious issue is the hitch itself is tilted down causing the entire rack to point earthward.

The adapter is another issue because it's pushing the entire system out from the car. (note the almost 1' clearance). Moving out farther causes two problems.

1- the farther out the rack is the lower it is if/when the front wheels rise, like on driveways, or crossing low spots.
2- moving the weight out increases the lever arm, effectively making the bikes heavier, so the car is tilted low in back as if it were overloaded.

I'd have the car's hitch checked and leveled if possible, then see if someone can cut the racks lower beam and bring it in closer to the car.

Or, I'd invest in a better rack system, but the hitch would still have to be addressed.

pookieman

Than you.. A lot to think about, I will get the hitch looked at, I installed it myself followed all the instructions, seems to be on pretty solidly, in addition I came across this

Dual Hitch Receiver Ball Mounts | etrailer.com

don't know if there is something that will go into a class 1 then allow to put the hitch directly into a 2 inch receiver which is raised? Means I can keep the exist rack.

CliffordK

Is your rack and receiver 2" or 1 1/4"?

That step up does add more flex points, but may give you some of the additional lift you need.

02Giant 

You need a class III hitch for the 2" male insert on your rack which I am not sure anyone makes or a 1 1/4" male insert rack or have your adapter reworked/angled to have an upward slope vs. the current downward slope it has because of the excess play at each joint.

You have a vehicle which rides low to the ground, as mentioned prior you have to be extra cautious at drives, etc.

shelbyfv

I think you need a different rack that fits directly into your 1 1/4" receiver. As mentioned, there is sag in the adapter and the whole business sits out too far. I have a Prius, probably the same receiver as there is only one commonly used. It works fine with a basic Thule rack. You can probably find an appropriate rack on CL if you watch for awhile. In the meantime, a shim of some sort might reduce the sag.

GlennR

The car is a Prius, so they don't make a robust hitch since it's not made to tow anything more than jet ski.

Personally, i've never been a fan of hitch mounts for this and a number of other reasons. A roof rack system might be a better choice.

GlennR

A quick Google search came up with other systems.



Prius Hitch-mounted Bike Rack Page

jfowler85

You can put as robust of a hitch as you want on a Prius, it mounts to the subframe.

Agree with the roof rack - I made a trip from CA to Denver with bikes on the back of my buddy's civic. After the trip I spent the next few days cleaning out and repacking bearing cups and wiping grit and salt off of our bikes.

GlennR

The question is... do they make them?

Generally manufacturers don't make parts that are not withing the vehicles specs. So if a hitch can handle a 10,000lb tow but the car has a 1500lb, they won't make it.

But that doesn't mean you have have a custom hitch made.

And it looks like there are better solutions that already exist.

jfowler85

Maybe, maybe not. I was just making the point that one can mount whatever sized hitch on whatever vehicle he or she wants. A commercial hitch could be modified for the subframe mounting points, or a custom hitch could be welded up from scrap steel. Anything unusual I need for towing is made by a local welder. Not as expensive as you'd think, especially since the welder I use has open access to a scrap yard and train yard.

Little Darwin

There are some hitch racks that provide some rise directly out of the receiver.

For a 2" hitch, the Yakima Hold up is one https://www.amazon.com/Yakima-Product...akima+holdup+2

I have an issue on my Subaru Legacy where it sits so low that I bottom out against the hitch, even without the rack on. The receiver below the bumper rubs pretty regularly going in and out of driveways... but not enough to get me to remove it or look for other options.

Planemaker

A trailer hitch for a Toyota Prius is a Class I hitch which is rated at a maximum tongue weigh of 200 pounds and maximum towing capacity of 2,000 pounds. When an adapter is put into the mix (i.e. going from 1 Ľ” to 2”) the maximum tongue weight and towing capacity are cut in half. There are plenty of hitch racks on the market rated for Class I hitches and I personally would not want risk the possibility of a failure by reducing the maximum capacity of the hitch (how much does 2 bikes plus the rack weigh) by using an adapter for the rack you currently have. That being said there are several anti-rattle devices that will suck the rack up to level with the hitch which might give you enough clearance to avoid bottoming out.

Thule and Kuat (my favorite) make great racks for your needs.

FYI - a tray style hitch mounted rack is a great way to haul your bikes safe and easy

fietsbob

A Welding-Machine Shop may be able to fabricate a Piece to raise the way the Rack fits on the car

or a piece to raise the way the rack fits into the existing car receiver .

pookieman

Thanks for all your thoughts, being from the UK I started looking at what is available out there and came across this

Thule Hangon 4-Bike: Amazon.co.uk: Car & Motorbike
Thule HangOn 9708 - Thule

weird that Thule don't do the same stuff in Canada as they do in the UK, but this needs a ball mount so I started looking here

Euro Mount | European Design | Curtmfg.com

I'm thinking with the rise from the ball mount and the lighter rack it might give me the extra clearance, I'll return the rack to costco that I have. Also on the Thule website here all the racks are super expensive relatively speaking. But there are some not on the Thule website such as

Thule Hitching Post Pro - Folding Tilting 4 Bike Rack w Anti-Sway - 1-1/4" and 2" Hitches Thule Hitch Bike Racks TH934XTR

again weird that they don't have this on the manufactuer's website. Seems like the North American Thule stuff is really aiming at the premium market.

ted m

My Subaru Impreza sits too low for a hitch. I went roof rack. I do have a thule rack for the rear hatch I use when I'm carrying a bunch of bikes somewhere or for my one bike that weighs too much for the roof racks.

demoncyclist

My wife's Fiat 500 has a Class I hitch on it. She has a Yakima DoubleDown rack, and even with the low clearance, we have never bottomed out the bikes.