Customer Reviews

Yakima 8002401 Kingpin 4

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We needed a way to haul three adult-sized bicycles from our home base to various cycling paths. So I visited a number of local stores to see what my options were. I settled on the Yakima BigHorn 4 as the best option for my budget, then discovered through some online searching that I could purchase the next model up, the Yakima KingPin 4 bike rack for a bit less than the BigHorn 4 would run me in a traditional retailer.

The KingPin 4 folds features a fold-down mast, a must convenience to allow access to a vehicle's rear hatch or door. Although I would not consider a bike rack without this feature, be forewarned: once you lower the rack while it's loaded with three bikes (more about the fourth bike claim follows), you will be hard pressed to single-handedly reposition it and slide in the lock or bolt. There is too much weight on that pivot point.

I soon learned, therefore, that it was easier to have the mast folded up, not down, when loading the bikes.

The dual bike arms are a must, allowing for more stability and easier loading and unloading. The bike arms fold down as well, though this option, while useful, is not essential in many cases. (These folding bike arms are the main difference between the KingPin and BigHorn racks.)

A series of bike cradles and rubber "chainstraps" stabilize and anchor the bikes. You can slide theses cradles along the tubular arms to allow sufficient room to avoid any rubbing or scraping if you are carrying three bikes. (I looked as some less expensive racks that required hand-tightening one or more big bolts to tighten clamps that held the bikes. That system seemed like a royal pain and huge annoyance.)

Despite the name and billing, I'm less confident in recommending the KingPin4 for transporting four bikes. I think it's possible, but would require great care to avoid scraping paint or entangling pedals and spokes. Plus, I prefer using four "chainstraps" per bike for a bit of insurance, so if you want to carry four bikes, I would recommend springing for another set of these.

The unloaded contraption weights about 32 pounds, so it's not too heavy as you carry it from the basement or garage to install it. But be careful of the arms or you might shatter the glass in a door or an outside light. Also, you need to do a bit of assembly out of the box, so allow a good 30 minutes to set up and test the rig before using it the first time. The drawings in the instructions did not seem to match what I was actually looking at when I had everything before me on the floor, so I spent an extra few minutes considering the options. This assembly is not difficult---it's just that adage "never do anything for the first time" may stump one for a bit.

I am using this rack with a two-inch hitch, and I purchased a locking pin to replace the bolt that is shipped for attaching the rack to the hitch. I also run one of the cable bike locks through the bike frames and around the spanner between the arms to add a measure of security.

During our first foray, a 100-mile trip each way, the bikes and rack swayed just a bit from time to time, but overall, the sway was not a problem. Having a hundred extra pounds jutting up behind the rear window will change any vehicle's handling and hamper visibility through the rearview mirror, so be prepared to change your driving style as needed.

To conclude, the KingPin 4 has performed well. We could load and unload three bikes in about five minutes, and neither the Durango or bikes were scratched during transport. But, again, I would suggest that this rack is great for three bikes, but may be a challenge for carrying four.

For the last several years we have struggled to fit bikes into the back of our mini van to take them places. This year we decided to get a bike rack. After much research I decided on the Yakima Kingpin 4. It has been a real pleasure to load the bikes up and take them places. The tip-out feature allows the rack to be on the vehicle and have the back door swing up without a problem. When there are no bikes on the rack we have no problem leaving the rack on. It makes no noise and mounts solidly to the hitch receiver. The bikes mount solidly with the way the mounts have the 90 degree attachment to the seat tube. The only additional thing I have added is a bungee cord around the frame and front rim to keep the wheel from pivoting while in transport. We have only used the rack with 3 adult bikes to date. The 3 bikes fit easily but I do think that 4 bikes will be a bit of a trick. If fitting four adult bikes is a must I would probably go with the Kingpin 5 to have a little extra space.

Used the bike rack on a weekend trip and it was great. The anti-swing cradles definitely work well. As others indicate, the rack can hold 3 bikes for sure, but the 4th one is a bit tight. I had 4 adult bikes on the rack and there was not much room between the bikes; the bikes were touching each other. Thus cause the bikes to scratch.
The other concern that I have is that the rack is a bit loose in the 2" hitch receiver. It wobbles a bit especially w/o the bikes on the rack. I'm not sure whether it's intended to be that way or not. It also causes the bottom (male) piece of the rack to get scratched up rubbing against the hitch receiver.
The tilt down feature works well also. It's useful when you need to get something from the cargo area w/o taking off the rack. Although you still have to take the bikes off first, otherwise, you'll need a second person to hold the bike up to prevent them being pinned from each other due to gravity.
The other issue I had was that the rack doesn't allow you to use different locks other than their own proprietary lock; at least without hacking it by removing the piece that keeps the bolt in place. Once it's removed, I was able to use a regular hitch pin lock.

We needed a way to haul three adult-sized bicycles from our home base to various cycling paths. So I visited a number of local stores to see what my options were. I settled on the Yakima BigHorn 4 as the best option for my budget, then discovered through some online searching that I could purchase the next model up, the Yakima KingPin 4 bike rack for a bit less than the BigHorn 4 would run me in a traditional retailer.

The KingPin 4 folds features a fold-down mast, a must convenience to allow access to a vehicle's rear hatch or door. Although I would not consider a bike rack without this feature, be forewarned: once you lower the rack while it's loaded with three bikes (more about the fourth bike claim follows), you will be hard pressed to single-handedly reposition it and slide in the lock or bolt. There is too much weight on that pivot point.

I soon learned, therefore, that it was easier to have the mast folded up, not down, when loading the bikes.

The dual bike arms are a must, allowing for more stability and easier loading and unloading. The bike arms fold down as well, though this option, while useful, is not essential in many cases. (These folding bike arms are the main difference between the KingPin and BigHorn racks.)

A series of bike cradles and rubber "chainstraps" stabilize and anchor the bikes. You can slide theses cradles along the tubular arms to allow sufficient room to avoid any rubbing or scraping if you are carrying three bikes. (I looked as some less expensive racks that required hand-tightening one or more big bolts to tighten clamps that held the bikes. That system seemed like a royal pain and huge annoyance.)

Despite the name and billing, I'm less confident in recommending the KingPin4 for transporting four bikes. I think it's possible, but would require great care to avoid scraping paint or entangling pedals and spokes. Plus, I prefer using four "chainstraps" per bike for a bit of insurance, so if you want to carry four bikes, I would recommend springing for another set of these.

The unloaded contraption weights about 32 pounds, so it's not too heavy as you carry it from the basement or garage to install it. But be careful of the arms or you might shatter the glass in a door or an outside light. Also, you need to do a bit of assembly out of the box, so allow a good 30 minutes to set up and test the rig before using it the first time. The drawings in the instructions did not seem to match what I was actually looking at when I had everything before me on the floor, so I spent an extra few minutes considering the options. This assembly is not difficult---it's just that adage "never do anything for the first time" may stump one for a bit.

I am using this rack with a two-inch hitch, and I purchased a locking pin to replace the bolt that is shipped for attaching the rack to the hitch. I also run one of the cable bike locks through the bike frames and around the spanner between the arms to add a measure of security.

During our first foray, a 100-mile trip each way, the bikes and rack swayed just a bit from time to time, but overall, the sway was not a problem. Having a hundred extra pounds jutting up behind the rear window will change any vehicle's handling and hamper visibility through the rearview mirror, so be prepared to change your driving style as needed.

To conclude, the KingPin 4 has performed well. We could load and unload three bikes in about five minutes, and neither the Durango or bikes were scratched during transport. But, again, I would suggest that this rack is great for three bikes, but may be a challenge for carrying four.

I like the flexibility of this rack. I bought to carry bikes with my SUV. I had the option of putting them on a roof rack (too much work), inside the cabin (goodbye camping gear) or out back off of the hitch. I was worried about a hitch-mount because I thought it would be too much hassle to get the rear door opened when the rack was mounted to the hitch. This hitch easily (removing a pin) leans back about 45 degrees and hits a solid stop, allowing the rear door to be opened. Depending on how many bikes you're toting, it can be a bit of a struggle to tilt back up to lock, but all in all I'll take that disadvantage given the ability to get in the back if I absolutely need to. Also, the arms drop down and lock when you're not carrying a bike. Great flexibility and I couldn't be happier.

We have used the carrier 3 times and it has worked wonderfully. The bikes are very secure and the anti sway feature does keep the bikes from swaying back and forth. The carrier is very sturdy. I would recommend this carrier to others.

I have been using this bike rack for about one month now and have no regrets with my purchase. I researched bike racks for about six months before buying and I felt this Yakima rack offered the best quality of any on the market.

When the rack is folded down it stores away very neatly in the garage. It is fairly lightweight, so carrying it out to mount on my SUV is very easy. The mounting straps are the most rugged I've found and most bikes are very easy to get up onto the bar. Small to Medium-sized kids' bikes seem to present the biggest challenge - they are too small for the bars to fit between the bike tubes.

I was looking for a bike rack (for the 2 in. receiver)for my Toyota FJ Cruiser. I needed to clear the spare tire in the rear. The Kingpin did this with room to spare (maybe pun intended!) It holds my bike firmly without any problems. It even holds my wife's "girlie bike" easily without adding the additional "male" crossbar for another $30! For the money - a great buy!

This hitch is fantastic -- it doesn't wobble on the car, it fits all of our bikes (I have a woman-specific that doesn't fit on our other bike rack), it's sturdy, steady, and reliable. We've used many, and this is the best we've tried yet.

This rack is functional under a certain set of limitations, but really requires some more outlay if you live or park anywhere that someone might have some interest in stealing your stuff, or if you need to carry a full-suspension bike or a women's bike. Of course, Yakima is all to happy to sell you solutions to fix all these limitations. Add $35 for a Deadlock and $30 a pop for a Tubetop for any "non-standard" frame to come up with the real price of the rack. For me, it added about $100 to the price. YMMV. This rack would be ideal right out of the box for someone who lives and rides in the middle of nowhere and plans to load only hardtail men's bikes.

Once you've got accessories for the accessory that lets you carry your bike, it works great. Loading up and unloading take some practice, but once you get it down and you know how the puzzle all fits together, it goes fast. Expect to sweat the first few times you load up.

The fold-down feature is not meant to operate while the rack is loaded. It says so right there in the instructions. You're alos instructed not to load more than 120 pounds on the rack. Even approaching that weight, I think there's some strain on the pin that keeps the rack from folding down. This pin is the weak point in the design.

There's some wobble in the rack as it rides along, which is unnerving, but the bikes have all remained secure so far. All the movement seems to come from either the interface between the hitch and the rack or from the car's suspension, so I try not to let it worry me.

Overall, an adequate, but not stellar product.