I hated my bike rack setup on my 4Runner. I had the OEM crossbars (came with the truck) but no trays that fit them between a 1up tray, Rockymount, and Thule bigmouth that were carryover from old vehicles. In order to carry more than my hitch mount would handle, I had to install these 72” wide crossbars to get any bikes on the roof... time consuming, looked ridiculous, noisy square bars. Also, the hitch stuck way out the back and couldn’t clear the tailgate when in the stowed position.
Looked like this.
My wife’s MINI has t slot bars, so the Rockymount and 1up worked fine for it but mismatched trays annoyed me.
So, I made changes.
Enter the 1up tray to hitch adapter. Clears the tailgate in the stowed position! Build quality is great and I don’t mind leaving it installed all the time versus the Thule that was showing wear even though it was in the garage almost any time I wasn’t riding because of the length and annoying double motion required to enter the cargo area.
So, what to do when I have the wife and kid along? 2 Yakima Highroad trays. They are aero bar and T slot compatible so they work on both cars and install in minutes.
They even come in the right colors. Plus, since I now have 4 bikes with Lefty forks, I don’t have to use the adapters to roof mount them.
Bonus, I kept my old Rockymount tray so I can go 3 up on the MINI or put it inside the 4Runner for more security without having to put all the rear seats down.
For what I sold all of my old stuff, it was $100 or so out of pocket. More garage space, less clutter, more zen Quen-tin. Pretty happy with this setup for my family of 3 (and 10 bikes [emoji23] )
Latest pickup: minty fresh 2001 Cannondale F700
Looks like it was never ridden. $200 on Facebook. I put another $400 into it with grips, brakes, shorter stem, wider bars, and pedals as my neighborhood whip.
My mountain bike that gets the most love these days is my Bad Habit. I have 29er and 27.5+ wheelsets for it. Weighs a ton more than my XC race bike but so much more fun. I guess I’m hitting that age where having fun matters more than Strava segments.
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