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Hitch Mounted Bike Rack Option - Kuat

16568 Views 10 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  BoulderBill, 
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The factory Crossrails don't have enough room nor can they carry enough weight to reasonably handle four bikes. As such, I got the trailer hitch added onto our car by the dealer. That, and we've driven more than our fair share of nice bikes into the side of the house over the years.

I looked at the Thule/Yakima options, but after some research, I settled on the Kuat NV and the NV Add-on. Expensive, but rock solid and attractive. Rock heavy too unfortunately. But once dialed in on the back of the car, 4 bikes are carried securely with ease.

Drawbacks are that the back up alarm goes nuts. In addition, the rack has to come off the hitch to close the garage door. Did I mention that it is heavy?!

Here are a few photos. What options have the rest of you tried?



Bill

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I've seen a bunch of those on cars around here. They look awesomely over-engineered (a good thing) and very solid.

You know there's a button by your left knee that should turn off the beeping? But I think you need to re-press it each time you start the car.
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I did not know about said button, so thanks!
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dgandbver
The Kuat is HUGE! Thanks for sharing the pics!
I use a Yakima hitch rack for the 3 bikes I need to haul around and can park in garage with it on, minus the bikes of course. This was one of the requirements - being able to park in garage with it on.
Yes, as Sinecure pointed out, I disable the rear sonar using the button described and also turn off the power lift gate - another of those button by your left knee.
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Thats an awesome bike rack, it looks to be high quality and to have a good weight cap.
How do you find parking to be with this? Do you ever reverse park or just go front end in first?
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dgandb, I would have preferred to be able to drive into the garage, but it was already tight. There is no room for any hitch mounted bike rack. They certainly build garages bigger these days. My house is not from these days. :)

Thanks for the heads up on the lift gate switch. I hadn't thought of that, and didn't know I could disable it. Been meaning to read the manual on my wife's car.

Ifan, I haven't tried parking too much. With the rack up, it wouldn't be a problem. With bikes on board, I would likely be pulling in to the tractor trailer parking area!
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Sinecure said:
I've seen a bunch of those on cars around here. They look awesomely over-engineered (a good thing) and very solid.

You know there's a button by your left knee that should turn off the beeping? But I think you need to re-press it each time you start the car.
Click to expand...
On the QX60 & QX80 there is a tow mode that you can turn on and it will only disable the rear sonar and keep your fronts on still...

The easiest way I found to turn this on is to turn on the camera either the button on the dash left of the "dest" and above the "route" button... Or just put it in reverse....
The hit settings and it will pop up settings click that and scroll down and you will see "tow Mode" turn that on and you will be golden...


-D
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BoulderBill said:
dgandb, I would have preferred to be able to drive into the garage, but it was already tight. There is no room for any hitch mounted bike rack. They certainly build garages bigger these days. My house is not from these days. :)

Thanks for the heads up on the lift gate switch. I hadn't thought of that, and didn't know I could disable it. Been meaning to read the manual on my wife's car.

Ifan, I haven't tried parking too much. With the rack up, it wouldn't be a problem. With bikes on board, I would likely be pulling in to the tractor trailer parking area!
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply!
I know if it's up to me I wouldn't even take the chance to inch it in between 2 cars. Instead I can see myself parking at the end of a lot where i can just pull in and out quickly without worry.
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Is anyone can explain about two connectors under car/back/right passenger site. I attached pictures

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BoulderBill said:
The factory Crossrails don't have enough room nor can they carry enough weight to reasonably handle four bikes. As such, I got the trailer hitch added onto our car by the dealer. That, and we've driven more than our fair share of nice bikes into the side of the house over the years.

I looked at the Thule/Yakima options, but after some research, I settled on the Kuat NV and the NV Add-on. Expensive, but rock solid and attractive. Rock heavy too unfortunately. But once dialed in on the back of the car, 4 bikes are carried securely with ease.

Drawbacks are that the back up alarm goes nuts. In addition, the rack has to come off the hitch to close the garage door. Did I mention that it is heavy?!

Here are a few photos. What options have the rest of you tried?



Bill
Click to expand...
Bill, thanks for posting pics. I've been looking for a 4-bike hitch carrier for the past few months, so this is very helpful.

I was settled on the yakima because of the company's reputation and small size but your post got me thinking. Why did you end up with the Kuat? The size also looks "large" compared to with the Yakima, so I'm assuming this didn't play into your decision?
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Hi Yeller,


I've been terrifically pleased with the KUAT rack. Wonderfully functional and it looks great. A cycling friend of mine has the Yakima. It is more flimsy, is not as simple to attach or use and simply lacks the aesthetics.


Big thumbs up from Colorado. :)
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