Need help with comparing/buying a hitch mounted bike rack for 4 bikes



B

baa

Guest
We are going to be buying a hitch mounted swing way bike rack for our family
of 4

I have narrowed it down to two

The Thule Trailblazer 998XT
and
The Yakima FullSwing 4

Both of these seem to have the same features.
Can anyone give me anymore information
For example, were you in a car wreck with your bikes attached and how did
the rack handle the accident
Is the locking mechinism better than one or the other

If these two units have been compared recently in some magazine - I will
gladly go hunt that issue down if anyone knows that as well

The Yakima costs a little more than the Thule so I'm trying to figure out if
its worth the extra $30

Any help would be appreciated

Feel free to respond offline as well

Blake

[email protected]
 
baa wrote:
> We are going to be buying a hitch mounted swing way bike rack for our family
> of 4
>
> I have narrowed it down to two
>
> The Thule Trailblazer 998XT
> and
> The Yakima FullSwing 4
>
> Both of these seem to have the same features.
> Can anyone give me anymore information
> For example, were you in a car wreck with your bikes attached and how did
> the rack handle the accident
> Is the locking mechinism better than one or the other


I have the Thule tilt-down, not swing-away. At the time, Yakima didn't
have anything similar (with the two arms versus the single small tray).
Both of these look pretty good, as long as the arms fold down, and it
doesn't use the small tray, it's fine.

In a hitch rack, look for:

# Dual fold-down arms
# Pivot-out or fold-down mast
# Anti-wobble device included
# Integral locking of the rack to the hitch
# Rubber Hold-downs with straps that don't come off to lose

I once had someone hit my car with the rack on, but with no bicycles. It
did a lot more damage to the car than would have occured had the rack
not been on there, because the bumper did not take any of the impact. It
was not a high speed crash, and initially it looked like only the rack
was damaged. On closer inspection, the hitch had transferred the impact
to where it was mounted, and there was more than $2000 worth of damage.
So remove the hitch rack when not in use.
 
I have a Sportworks rack. Have you looked at them? Mine is not 'swingaway'
but when I was stopped at a stop sign and rear-ended, it saved the car from
hundreds if not thousands of dollars of damage. The rack mount arm was bent
really bad, but the rack itself was fine. They are made really, really
stout!

Pat in TX
 
Pat wrote:
> I have a Sportworks rack. Have you looked at them? Mine is not 'swingaway'
> but when I was stopped at a stop sign and rear-ended, it saved the car from
> hundreds if not thousands of dollars of damage. The rack mount arm was bent
> really bad, but the rack itself was fine. They are made really, really
> stout!
>

I second the opinion on Sportworks. I love mine and so does almost
everyone who sees it in action. This rack allows loading or unloading
bikes in about 10 seconds each. I never take it off the car. I believe
SW is now owned by Thule.