Bike rack suggestions requested..

willald wrote:
Update: Hitch receiver (for the Fusion) is on the way (ordered from Uhaul), supposed to be here Wednesday, at which time UHaul will install it. Or, I may install myself, the installation looks pretty simple.

Was still 'thinking' on which bike rack to get, when one that was at the top of my short list went on sale today. Soo, I went ahead and ordered this Thule 4 bike rack today from Dick's Sporting Goods. Won't be here until next week, we'll see then how the bikes fit on it, etc.

Now, to address some of the specific, recent comments:

Before you buy any bike rack it is IMPORTANT to make sure your Ford can handle the weight of the rack plus 4 bikes. Your owners manual may give you that information

Owner's manual says nothing about that, just says that the hybrid drive train is not designed for towing, so towing a trailer is not an option (already knew that, and don't ever plan to). However, I'm not seeing why a Class II hitch receiver with a 350 lb tongue rating designed specifically for a Ford Fusion, shouldnt be able to handle a bike rack and 4 bikes that weigh a total of around 150 lbs?

Two of the bikes are adult bikes, two are children's bikes (much smaller). As noted above, the weight of the bikes plus the rack, will be nowhere near the tongue weight limit of the hitch receiver itself.

I would agree that 4 bikes on an 1 1/4" hitch is going to be a problem even tho Swagmen sells them.

..Not just Swagman, but Yakima, and Thule also make them, and they are two of the most well known, respected brands that make bike racks. If it was a 'problem', I seriously doubt Yakima or Thule would be making, selling them. :)

Another thing you may consider is to take your Fusion to a shop that installs trailer hitches

I did, U-Haul. They're installing the hitch, and they said it would work fine, when I explained what I was going to do with it. Told me towing would be a bad idea, but as I said previously, already knew that. :)

How about a 2" receiver on the front of the MH then you could take the bikes with/without the car?

..That presents the same issue I had with using a dual receiver and putting bike rack on back of MH: No way to take bikes with us, when we want to go somewhere with the toad that we can't or don't want to bring the MH. I doubt you'd be able to mount a receiver on the front of the MH, anyway.

I have tried just about every combination of bike racks over the years and have settled on a Yakima 4 bike rack that fits a 1 1/4" receiver and has an adapter for a 2" receiver. I can put the rack on my MH, toad, or use a dual receiver.

I've had the Yakima rack for about 5 years and it still looks like new. I had a Ford Edge with the 1/4" receiver for the first 3 years and replaced that car with a Flex with the 2" receiver.

There are many comments in this thread regarding the 4 bike racks and a 1 1/4" receiver. I actually took my bikes and rack to a local guy that weighed it and confirmed no problem with weights. I had a class II hitch that was rated for 3500 lbs trailer weight and 300lbs tongue weight.

My advice would be to make sure the hitch you install is a class II and not a class I. Also the 4 bikes PLUS rack will weigh more than the 150 lbs you mentioned. The thule bike rack you referenced above isn't as nice as the yakima in my opinion. I like the Yakima tie downs much better.