Bike rack broke rear wiper
 

I broke the rear wiper arm on my hatchback when I accidentally turned on the rear wiper with the bike rack on my car. It wasn't raining at the time so my front wipers were off. The problem is a switch that's easy to flip on accidentally when I use the turn signal. This has actually happened a few times in the past before the arm finally broke. How can I avoid this in future?

Upon reflection, I think it would be easiest to unbolt the wiper arm each time I put the rack on the car. That would mean a lot of mounting and dismounting the rack as well, because I sometimes leave it on the car when I'm not using it and I do want to have a functioning rear wiper for safety. I don't want to risk breaking the wiper motor in addition to the arm. $$$

I presume this is a rack that mounts with straps, and holds the bike by the top tube. If so, another solution is a hitch-mounted rack, which will not interfere with your wiper; unfortunately, such racks are much more expensive -- especially if your vehicle does not have a hitch receiver.

It sounds like you have the wrong rack on the car. Get a good hitch rack and it will be safer, easier to use and won't interfere with your wipers. Trunk racks are a poor solution for carrying bikes and on many modern cars they fit even less well then they already did. In the many times I have done fit questions for people's more modern cars in the past 5 years it usually comes up as loads of fit notes because it doesn't fit well or there is nothing that will fit.

Generally most cars can mount a hitch rack and it will be a more stable platform to mount bikes. Some smaller cars will use a 1 1/4 hitch but if you can get a 2" hitch you will be in better shape.

Like with any rack make sure you get something safe and keep a close eye on it and don't overload the per bike weight. If your rack fails it won't effect you but it could be fatal for someone behind you and could ruin your bikes.

Put some electrical tape over the wiper switch.

Either a different rack, or hypervigilance when you're near that switch. ;)

Another possible solution are Seasucker racks, which might enable some carrying locations which keep clear of the rear wiper.

They work great, particularly for occasional use, as they don’t require any permanent or hard-mounted fixtures and come on/off very quickly and easily.

The Talon model is the basic roof-mount option, while the Hornet is a rather novel solution for the rear hatch glass which may let you avoid the rear wiper.

Without knowing the car model or the OP’s needs, it’s not possible to say which options may be best, but Seasucker Talon has been an excellent rack for my needs, and may be for theirs too.

See if the rear wiper has a dedicated fuse; pull it whenever you mount up the rack.

Would be less intrusive than pulling the wiper arm off every time, and far less expensive than installing a trailer hitch and buying another rack

If you have a rear wiper I assume that your car has a hatchback. My suggestion is that when possible, forget about the rack and put your bike inside the car. I own a station wagon which I bought in order to be able to transport bikes inside the car. My car does have a hitch and I own a hitch rack which I use to transport my mountain bike when I ride muddy trails. However, my rack does not interfere with my rear wiper

Receiver hitches are typically under $150. They make vehicle specific ones for almost every car made. Solid investment. Not only protects your wiper but you paint and body work.

"Backpack" bicycle carriers are so flimsy and unsafe, they should be illegal to install.

The thought of one of those straps snapping and then you have bikes causing an interstate pileup.

And the tighter you make those straps, they start warping and twisting your car's body, which is only 20 gauge at best.
https://www.twowheelingtots.com/wp-c...runk-racks.jpg

Here is my rack: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1

I like it. It has been reliable.

Funny, that I have never had a problem with a bike rack like the one shown directly above in spite of the fact that is a 20 year old Rhode Gear rack. It attaches at 6 points and I always take the extra precaution of fixing the rack to the car with a couple of old bike tubes that cross inside of the hatchback. I have had a close call when a friend's hitch mounted rack dropped down into the "take off" position and my bike was the one at the far back of a 3 bike rack. It was one of the more expensive name brand hitch racks. Fortunately, it was a group travel and the driver in the car behind got us to pull off the road and fix the problem.

Rhode Gear, they made so many innovative products. I know that this may take this thread off onto a tangent, But I wasn't the one who opened that door. I owned their cageless water bottles and a Rack trunk and a dual action sort of mini pump. And, although I never had one, The flickstand
Would that they were still around and hewing to their original ethos. Who knows what sort of cool stuff they could have come up with?

I really doubt the rear wiper is essential for safety so don't worry of forgetting to re-enable the wiper if you disable it when the rack is on. You don't have rear visibilyt when the bikes are loaded so I really doubt it is an issue if it doesn't happen to work if it start raining. That's what side mirrors are for.

That said, just put a piece of tape over the switch if that's feasible.

Take the wiper arm off and leave it off. They are useless to begin with.

And yet it breaks car parts like rear wiper arms, that cost more than the cost of the rack itself.

While you like your product so much, it caused the problem for you to start this thread.

I love my platform hitch rack.

And I have not broken my rear wiper arm, which is useful for me to have and keep.

+1 for Seasucker or a roof rack - if detaching the fuse for just that wiper is easy, do that. Typically fuses will power more than just one thing, so investigate first.

And during the rainy season here, a rear wiper is crucial since the back window of my car is a crud magnet.

They are certainly not useless where I live. Winter driving on slushy roads kept clear by application of road salt quickly leaves rear windows so dirty that you need the wiper to be able to see anything behind you

I have a Seasucker and it works well.

If your car isn't designed to accommodate a hitch from the factory, I'd proceed with caution on getting one installed. Just because someone makes a kit or says they can do it doesn't mean it's a good idea. I'm sure on some cars it's no big deal, but I looked into this for my current car, and was told by a local shop that they would need to cut into the bumper and custom weld brackets to the frame. It was a pretty big job. My auto engineer friends also told me that hitch installations like this on cars not designed for them can compromise the rear impact/crumple zones and also warned that driver aid sensors/cameras/etc need to be re-calibrated to factory spec after removing the bumper. This is not a job I want a summer employee at the local moving truck rental place to be doing on my new car.

What make and model of car do you drive? I'll bet Curt Manufacturing makes a hitch specifically for your car, and I'll further bet it could be installing in your drive way in under an hour.

Modern cars come from the factory with bolt holes made for installing receiver hitches. It is like the cars were designed for this. Many times one needs to trim a bit off or a trim panel or relocate a heat shield, but that is minor. They come with excellent directions, complete with pictures, specific to each vehicle. Even a wire for fishing the mounting bolts through the frame that the car manufactures specifically designed for mounting hitches.

With respect, I think you’re missing the point msu2001la was making.

As for the bet, PM me for my Venmo because Curt do not have a hitch for my Alfa Giulia. The do have seat covers, though. 😐

He is right, if the car isn't designed for one pick a quality place to get one made

But at the same time the response is a bit over the top alarmist. It leaves people with the wrong impression.

They don't make a hitch for my 1970 Datsun 240z either. That is why I will probably weld up one of my own.

But looking at list linked earlier the overwhelming majority of cars on the road today were designed for hitches, and if a kit exists, they are very easy to install. The concerns are not applicable to the majority of people on here. And I would think most people would know to seek another solution if a shop quoted a week's work and $1000+ to install one. You won't make your car unsafe installing a receiver hitch.

BTW I'm shopping for a new car and whether a hitch is available is one of the things I'm looking at. So far, I've yet to come across a model that wasn't designed for one.

One thing to note: My 2015 and 2019 CRV (and I suspect other vehicles) automatically turn on the rear wiper when the car is put in reverse if the front wipers are on.

Not shopping for Alfa Giulia, Audi S7, or new Toyota Supra, eh?

It’s not as rare as you think for cars not to be designed for trailer hitches, and while that doesn’t mean one couldn’t be rigged up, msu2001la ’s point to consider the amount of work required to do it is well made. Cutting up valances, disabling park sensors and forgoing cross-traffic alerts and auto-parking are things which should be considered.

My ‘11 Mini Cooper S Clubman with JCW Aero package has none of that whiz-bang stuff, but is definitely not designed to take hitch. Curt would sell me one for an ‘11 Cooper, but it’s designed for the base bumper style and even then requires cutting the bumper cover, but the Clubman JCW is very different and would require relocating the license plate if not rerouting one of the twin exhaust pipes…if it’s even possible.

My 2016 VW Golf wagon does the same thing