mtnbud

Has anyone here put a trailer hitch on a newer Camry or Corolla for carrying bikes? They look to sit pretty low to the ground and there doesn't look to be much ground clearance.


A websearch turned up 5.7 inches of ground clearance for the Camry. I'm not sure if that's about the same at the rear bumper.

unterhausen

I want to put a hitch on our Camry, but all you can get is a 1 1/4" hitches. So instead, I put a 2" hitch on my Prius at great expense. Our Kuat NV2 sits fairly high behind the car, I don't think it would be a problem with a camry.

rosefarts

Inch and a quarter hitch is plenty for a couple bikes. I’d be concerned you’ll drag the hitch on speed bumps.

You’d probably be better served with a roof rack, but there is definitely a gas mileage difference with that.

mtnbud

Yep - that's my fear.

I don't think I'd get a roof rack as I have another vehicle I use for carrying my bikes, but it gets terrible gas mileage. I might be tempted to use a trunk rack...

mpetry912 

etrailer.com has all sorts of extenders, adapters, and height raisers that will get you a good configuration

I put a hitch on my Prius - 4 bolts. had to drop the muffler but not difficult.

etrailer.com - great site, great service, they are the Amazon of hitches and racks.

/markp

jaxgtr

I had a hitch put on my wife's old camary that we gave my son, technically they can only put a 1.25 for towing, if you are not towing, they can put a 2" on it if you tell them it is just for a bike rack. Look for a local hitch joint not named U-Haul. It was a 2017 Camary.

CrimsonEclipse

I vouch for etrailer.
It allows you to search by make and model.
Buyers post pics. Lots of feed back.

Had a yaris with a hitch installed and held 2 heavy mountain bikes with little effort

veganbikes

You might scrap it happens keep an eye on things and replace if they get worn. Unfortunately I have known enough employees with low cars and hitches and they are fine every once and while you will get some issues but if you are careful it won't be as bad. Plus like people have said you can get hitch risers and such.

Canker

A camry isn't low and other than extreme situations you shouldn't have a problem. I think I dragged in my focus once and that was on my friends badly designed driveway. I have a hitch on my lowered miata and even that isn't much of an issue. Just have to stagger my wheels going over things I think it might drag on, one rear wheel at a time. Never even worry about it on the focus.

unterhausen

What did they put on there? None of the pre-built hitches are 2". I assumed DOT was the reason you can't buy a 2" for a compact car, but checking the ratings, there are 2" hitches with exactly the same ratings as the 1 1/4"

I got an ecohitch for my Prius. They said I had to drop the muffler and take off the heat shield, but I didn't and it worked fine. Just have to be careful sneaking the plastic cover off, since it sits beneath the heat shield in the front.

seypat

I have a 1.25 hitch on a 2008 Mazda5. Those sit pretty low to the ground. 200lb tongue limit. Plenty for a rack and a few bikes.

jaxgtr

Let me dig around and see if I still have the paperwork, I got rid of a lot of that stuff when I gave the car to my son, but he traded it in about a month ago.

Reflector Guy

Maybe because the car is new, the market just hasn't caught up yet to make 2" hitches.

Even for my little Honda Fit (a car so tiny it probably can't tow anything larger than a Radio Flyer wagon) they eventually made a 2" hitch for it. It really looks silly on the little car but it holds my 1up rack nice and steady.

jaxgtr

That's possible. I am pretty sure the one that was put on was a class 3 that hitch and was a Curt or Draw-Tite. Might not been specific to my car, but the dimensions would have worked for the car.

unterhausen

I guess it depends on how long the chassis stays in production. Not sure they haven't changed since 2020. I have gone so far as to think about making a hitch myself, possibly using the detachable part of the prius hitch.

jaxgtr

The place I use for hitches is a welding shop, so they can alter stuff to make it work, although for this car, I only waited about 30 mins, so I do not think they did any manufacturing of parts.

Pop N Wood

I'm looking to buy a Camry later this year. I have verified there are companies that make bolt on hitches for it. I rented a late model Camry last month and that thing kept scraping the front spoiler in parking garages and Seattle hills. So yeah, low cars. Doubt the hitch will ever hit, the problem might be the rack extending out from the hitch.

inch and a quarter hitches are fine for bike racks and even small utility trailers. Have been using both on my Mazda 3 for 10 years now. I've never scrapped the bike rack. The same rack on a minivan used to scrap backing out the driveway. Switching to a flat shelf for hauling coolers and the like can scrape if I get too much weight on it.

If your current rack is 2" they make no end of adapters This one get the rack up increasing rear ground clearance.

unterhausen

I was thinking about going to a welding shop. It's not too difficult to get the parts made, but the parts are thicker than I can weld. The company that makes the ecohitch is essentially a welding shop, the picture of their building on their website looks like a small garage.

The kuat nv2 extends way back behind the car, so there is some possibility of scraping. A converter makes it worse. If it weren't for the anti-rattle system, I would cut it down to put the bikes closer to the car. I have no idea why it sticks out so far.

My experience with 1 1/4" racks probably is biased by the fact that the ones I have used were much cheaper. But Kuat agrees with me to some extent, they don't allow 3 or 4 bikes on a 1 1/4" rack.

Calsun

Where ground clearance is important is when there is a transition area with a radical change in the slope. I have a very steep driveway and where it meets the street the ground clearance is reduced by 4 inches. It was a problem with our Prius where we had to back out at a an angle. Our Rav4 SUV has plenty of ground clearance.

There are hitch adapters that increase by 1-2 inches the ground clearance of a bike rack. Our 1Up bike rack is great because it rises up from the hitch receiver to there is more ground clearance than the standard bike rack. The platform type help protect the bike's wheels and chainring from hitting the ground which was a problem with a standard bike rack on my Chevy El Camino in places like San Francisco.

I echo the sentiments that etrailer.com is a great place for advice.

jaxgtr

I dug around and could not find any paperwork, but I de-papered a bunch last year so I suspect I shredded it since I no longer owned the car. Don't forget 1Up also has a 1 1/4 if you go that route. Love my 1Up rack and you can put up to 3 on their 1 1/4 racks. https://1up-usa.com/content/pdf/100001_FITMENT.pdf

Camilo

FWIW,I have a hitch on my Impreza which I would bet is lower than a Camry or Corolla. When I have the ball hitch on there, I have to work awfully hard to drag it. Never have dragged the bike rack.

Why don't you see if Toyota, UHaul or ETrailer markets a hitch for the car you're considering? That would tell you if the car can handle a hitch or not.

My Impreza has a 1-1/4" receiver. I simply use a 2" adapter to use my 2" bike rack. Easy Peasy.

I have roof racks too and use them when I have to. But I'm short and old and it's not a trivial exercise to get even a lightweight CF bike up there. Greatly prefer the hitch mount rack.

Don't compare Etrailer to Amazon. (1) they actually know what they're doing (2) have customer service to answer questions, (3) have excellent videos on installation and use of many of the products they sell and (4) did I mention they actually know what they're doing? Amazon only has prices in it's favor, and more often than not, not even that if one looks at businesses that specialize in what they're looking for (Etrailer being an excellent example.... but any number of online bike shops being another).

Bald Paul

Before you install a hitch on ANY vehicle, please read your owner's manual! Many vehicles state that the installation of a trailer hitch may negatively affect your vehicle warranty! Just because you can find one that someone makes to fit your car, doesn't mean it's necessarily okay to do so.
Before I retired, I was a regional technical rep for an import auto maker. On more than one occasion I had to deny warranty claim coverage on driveline components (clutch, auto trans, etc) because the customer had a trailer hitch installed. If the customer could prove that it was only used for a light bicycle carrier, the factory would sometimes okay the repair - under the condition that the hitch be removed and never reinstalled. A note would be added to the vehicles file (by VIN) so that if the customer came into a different dealership, even in a different state, with a warranty driveline complaint and the hitch was back on, that was that. No coverage, then or from that point on.
Note (1): installing a 2" hitch on a compact car is a major red flag. If possible, stick to a 1.25" receiver and rack that uses the 1.25" unit.
Note (2): if your vehicle is out of the warranty period, feel free to roll the dice. It's highly unlikely that a bicycle on a rack is going to cause a driveline failure.
Note (3): my personal vehicle is still under warranty. The owner's manual says the installation of a hitch may result in a claim denial (technically, they cannot "void" your warranty, but they can deny the claim. If your radio stops working, they can't blame the trailer hitch, but if your transmission goes.... ) Consequently, I installed two roof mounted carriers. It hurts my fuel mileage with two bikes up there, but I sleep better at night.