Any suggestion to stable my bike rack

[MN4R]

Hello, last night I purchased a used one-arm reese bike rack from a local guy. It is a 2 inch hitch mount one. I have never used my hitch before. Before my 5gen SR5, I have been driving a 95 chevy blazer for 7 years and never used the hitch, shame on me...

My question is that, the installation sounds easy but it wobbles at the hitch joint. Although it didn't wobble that much, but I am bit concerning about highway driving or passing a bump. Will it give out a lot of noise? or do you have some suggestions about additional accessorites to secure the bike rack?

Thank you.

 

[dpreich]

Hello, last night I purchased a used one-arm reese bike rack from a local guy. It is a 2 inch hitch mount one. I have never used my hitch before. Before my 5gen SR5, I have been driving a 95 chevy blazer for 7 years and never used the hitch, shame on me...

My question is that, the installation sounds easy but it wobbles at the hitch joint. Although it didn't wobble that much, but I am bit concerning about highway driving or passing a bump. Will it give out a lot of noise? or do you have some suggestions about additional accessorites to secure the bike rack?

Thank you.

Does it use a bolt to secure the rack to the hitch? If so, I have the same type of rack. I have never been able to completely get rid of the wobble. You can go to Home Depot or any similar home improvement store and buy a pack of shims that are used for door/window installation. The best type I found are the recycled ones. They are made of recycled plastic and hold up pretty well. depending on the size of your hitch, they should fit in the space between the rack and the hitch. Tap it in with a hammer. It should reduce the wobble that comes from bumps and road undulations.

 

[BeerShark]

Hello, last night I purchased a used one-arm reese bike rack from a local guy. It is a 2 inch hitch mount one. I have never used my hitch before. Before my 5gen SR5, I have been driving a 95 chevy blazer for 7 years and never used the hitch, shame on me...

My question is that, the installation sounds easy but it wobbles at the hitch joint. Although it didn't wobble that much, but I am bit concerning about highway driving or passing a bump. Will it give out a lot of noise? or do you have some suggestions about additional accessorites to secure the bike rack?

Thank you.

Hi MN4R,
This may be one area I can offer assistance since I've used the same hitch mounted bike carrier for over 10 years and in 3 different trucks. Nearly every vehicle I've used the hitch mounted bike carrier on it has had a different fit. Some mounts wobble side to side, others top to bottom, and some not at all. Some of this movement was in the construction of the 2 piece bike carrier, some in the hitch mounting being a bit loose. Going over road bumps and driving to camping sites I cant remember the hitch movement being excessively loud.. And, if there was silence I'd would probably be breaking my neck to see behind me if the bike had fallen off.
If there was any noise/movement complaint I made it's that at highway speeds the wind resistance noise could be heard and I could see the bike "jumping" on the mount in my rear view. On my first trip I nearly lost the bike to a side-to-side wind gust. That set my main concern on the bike moving on the mounted carrier, less than the mount moving in the hitch.
My fix was to secure the bike to the rack well with elastic cords and locked the carrier into the hitch.... never had a bike fly off scare again or an overnight theft. As for fine tuning your hitch to reduce noise you could try a shim.

 

[Antman]

I used a hitch-mount carrier for years before switching to roof racks. I experienced similar issues with mine. Easy solution- get a ratcheting tie down. Place the hooks in the loops on each side of the receiver hole. Wrap the strap around the "T" portion of the carrier and ratchet it tight. It will not move!! Did it this way for years- happy biking!!

 

[MN4R]

dpreich, BeerShark, Antman -- thanks so much for the replies.
Now I am feeling much more eased and can't wait to go shopping tonight for shims and ratchet stripes.
I appreciate a lot for your sharing experience. will update about how it goes:lookout:

 

[Tengu]

I use a Softride Dura bike rack and have never had any issues. It's quiet, solid, and solves two issues with 4runner hitch mounted bike racks. It Lowers so you can get in the back, and it does it in a way that you don't have to take any bikes. It also comes with a hitch lock so it isn't extra.

I had it on my gen 4 for over a year without ever taking it off. No wobble, nothing. I'm about to mount it up to my gen 5.

(was planning on doing a write up with pics in the near future but here is a pic all be it a not very good one.)

 

[Quentin]

My Thule 916XT has a threaded hole through the part of the rack that goes into the receiver. It includes a bolt, washer, and spring washer that you tighten through the receiver hole and it keeps the wobble away. It is a great setup.

 

[4boer2]

So I have used two bike racks with my car (a Northshore now and a Saris previously) and both were pretty loose in the hitch. For the northshore, I first tried welding beads onto the hitch tube then grinding them down to make it seem larger. This worked a tiny bit, but mainly made it hard to put in and ugly (not the biggest problem). Tightening the anti-rattle pin does nothing btw. Some time later (today), I installed the StowAway Hitch Tightener. Unfortunately with the way the tow hooks are, I had to install it upside down, which fights gravity. But I have to say, after hitting speed bumps at 30, this works. No more clunking or banging, I'm not watching the bike rack wildly bouncing in the rearview. I haven't tried with a bike on it yet, but if it doesn't work then, I will report back.

 

[wfo9]

This should take care of it.
Link: http://a.co/bm7OAjD

I use a much larger version to carry my moto on a hitch carrier. 0 wobble....