Customer Reviews

2-bike Bicycle Car Truck Hitch Rack

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Item received in oversized box with no paper work...ie assembly, instructions poduct warranty etc..
Seller promised to provide..but never received!

originally bought mine from prohoists themselves but thought I'd share some thoughts. first off, IT WORKS. It hauls 2 bikes (more if you want to squeeze and don't mind that there are only 2 carrying pads/straps. The arms seem sturdy. I'm no welder but the welds appears solid. I don't remember how the instructions were (if there were any) but I remember not being impressed. regardless, comes with a 1.25 to 2 inch adapter if you need. The swing arm pin wire brace is very tight. I put a small spring clip and lanyard on it to make it easier to pull. The hitch rack folds down as a unit with the pivot point at the bottom of the mast. The rack arms DO NOT swing down.

The mast has a screw hitch bolt with a nut inside the mast base so the mast is anchored into the hitch nice and tight.

The top arm needed to be installed onto the mast. There are 2 bolts, 2 washers and 2 locking nuts (I think the pre-applied thread locker stuff). The mast and top arms don't fit flush and others of this same make/OEM have seen similar issues). So after install and locking the nuts down tight (the mast bolt holes are oversized), the gap between mast and arm unit gives a bit of play and wagging. I have never had a problem with the rack or with driving but it is definiately not a trivial amount of wag. Once again no problems but it is usually better to distribute the torque of the bikes along the entire interface between the mast and arm unit than just at pivot points inside of the interface. So far the metal is holding up. To improved the interface 2 years later, I diassembled it, cleaned and slapped on epoxy putty (~$8, JB weld type stuff) around the mast (taking care to put none above or on top of the bolt holes. As I pushed the arm unit down onto the mast, a lot of the putty gets pushed down (I hope some stayed between the two parts) and I kept reforming the extra puty around the bottom of the arm unit as it slid (with some force) down. put the bolts in (quickly) to make sure the holes were good and aligned (remember - working time with epoxy) and formed the remaining putty around the bottom of the arm unit and mast edge. This makes a big glop of epoxy that surrouds the bottom of the interface (a good thing). It dried to metal hard as usual. Hopefully this improves the force loading interface. Once again, I don't think I needed to do this but it makes me feel better.

important to note the following: the velcro straps wear out after about 2 years a decent amount. depending on the air flow around your car (I have a low coupe - with a hitch...I know), the bikes and the pads that are on may get pushed to the back edge of the rack. This always makes me nervous so I always use a bungee cord to keep the bike close to the mast (better load mechanics anyway). finally the bolts rust superficially as do some of the joints. I rec spray paint for cosmesis as well as protection at the areas you start to see the rust.

nice rack a little on the light duty side but we're not going far with it.no assembly required. and priced nicely

Rack is NOT very sturdy or stable when placed in the trailer hitch. Not worth the money. I bought a reliable name product hoping for a good end result. Instead I am looking gor a new bike rack.