Hey Everyone! Longtime visitor but new to being a member. I live in Oregon where my husband and I love to go mountain biking. We want to upgrade our current sedan to an SUV so we can put bikes in the back. We are selling it and waiting for delivery of our new 2018 Outlander.

I’ve been advised to look into a roof rack or a hitch mounted bike rack. I don’t want to lift the bikes onto the roof so I was curious if anyone has experience with a hitch mounted bike rack? Any suggestions on a hitch brand or a bike rack brand?

 

Hey ChloeB,

I'm a mountain biker too and I've been using a hitch-mounted bike rack since my Outlander was new in 2008. I would definitely say they are the way to go if you ride much, and I'd also recommend the style of rack that holds your front wheel (instead of the frame). This type is best if you like your bikes.

My wife and I made quite a few road trips with two mountain bikes on the rack and two road bikes with front wheels removed mounted on a home-made fork mount plate inside the car (with back seats down). The Outlander is a good bike rig.

I had a Thule T2 for about eight years and I don't have anything bad to say about it except that it sat kind of low. Every once in a wheel when exiting or entering a parking lot it would scrape. After eight years I finally bent it enough so it wouldn't un-latch anymore. At that time I bought a Yakima Hold-up. I bought the Yakima because it sits higher than the Thule did. Unfortunately I haven't been totally happy with the quality of the Yakima. Meanwhile, we've bought a Kuat that we put on my wife's car and I like that rack quite well. Overall I think there are a few good rack options out there and I'd just suggest one that comes off the receiver and up a little (like a gooseneck design).

On other thing about the Outlander hitch receiver - it protrudes a bit past the back of the bumper. Some people don't like the aesthetics of this but it is nice for the bike rack because it moves the bikes farther from the rear hatch.

You can find good information on etrailer dot com about hitch receivers specific to your Outlander.

Let me know if there's any other questions you have. I know I have some photos but can't seem to locate them at the moment.

Rob

 

CURT hitch is super easy to install. Nothing different on the 18 from a 14 with how they mount. My wife's got one on her 14 (it would fit easy on my 16) CURT hitches are available for the Outlander and outlander sport.
My daughter has a CURT hitch also on her 17 outlander sport that came off our previous 13 model. You can mount any receiver style bike rack you want to then. I forget what brand we have, but you can fold down the top bike holder sections as well as the whole upright assembly so you can open the back lift gate.
Google CURT hitch and find the part # that you need. You can call them too. Nothing has changed in the body setup so if need be tell them it's for a 16 or 17 model year.

 

I got this one and love it

the receiver can be for 2" or 1.25"

it's a very sturdy lock, but beware, the key has to be inside while latching (or it falls off like my first one did - so now I have extra parts)

I second the motion for the CURT hitch, mine does stick out but that's helped me on more than one occasion, like when a trash barrel in a dust storm hit the back of the car, the hitch took the hit and there was no body damage. I used CURT for my other car and now I just change the receiver plate so I can take bikes with either car