[spam16v]

well i want to get a 1 1/4" hitch rack, screw this roof rack bull.... son-of-a-b....ing bike fell off once out of the big clamps and fell over on the highway and the shin bugger scratched the glass on my side window, how it didnt shatter and smash the roof i dont know but....

anyways i want a hitch rack for my 04' GTI hatch back. i like softrides but the hanging rack wont work too well with the Norco Shore frame really, need to lean twords the wheel mounted racks. but im looking for something that will "tip" or drop out of the way some how so i can get in the back of my POS, kinda like the softride does, too bad my bike wont hang on it.

any input guys?

 

[TreeSaw]

Get a 2" receiver (you can get the adapter from 1 1/4 to 2" if they don't offer a larger hitch for your car) and buy a Sportworks DH/Freeride rack. Holds 2 bikes with virtually any size tires (I have 2.8s on my DH bike and 1.95 on the XC racer) and tips down so you can get into your car. VERY stable and WELL worth the money I invested!

 

[spam16v]

yeah but $300 is alot of cash for a rack..... might weld something up at work.

 

[rooftest]

Watch the width of your bikes - my XC bike is about a foot longer than my Jetta is wide (would stick out 6 inches on each side)

So, this forced me to get a roof rack, and I'm very happy - have you considered buying accessories that allow a sturdier hold? (likely cheaper and less labor for you.)

 

[hooples3]

Graber and other companies make a Bike Beam. it allows you to hang your bike on a hanging rack. its used for bikes without a "normal" toptube


Bike Beam

 

[Echo]

You're pissed that you couldn't properly mount your bike in a real, engineer-designed roof rack, but you think everything will be good when you ass-rig something up at work? Good luck with all that

 

[jacksonpt]

You're pissed that you couldn't properly mount your bike in a real, engineer-designed roof rack, but you think everything will be good when you ass-rig something up at work? Good luck with all that

yea man... I know the last place I'd want any of my bikes was in a homemade rack on the back of my truck travelling down the road at 70mph.

A good rack is well worth the money, and in my experience, the sportworks racks are the best. Sportworks sold part of their outfit to Thule, so you might see prices drop just a bit. Regardless... it's well worth the money. Suck it up and buy a good rack.

 

[luken8r]

you must have set it up wrong or have a wally world special rack. ive had my bike on my old 01 jetta as well as my wife's gti (same rack monts) and traveled hundreds of miles with the bike on top.
just your standard thule roof mount job with a fork mount attachment

 

[TreeSaw]

yeah but $300 is alot of cash for a rack..... might weld something up at work.

I know what you mean about price, but trust me...it's WELL worth the cash. SO easy to use and can be used on multiple vehicles. I wouldn't trust my bikes to anything else at this point (and I have a roof mounted rack as well).

 

[BigMike]

Yeah, Sportworks is DEFINANTLY the way to go!! They do make a 1 1/4" rack in the T2 Version

 

[luken8r]

if youre going to spend X amount on a bike, dont you want to have a real means of securing it to your car and not some mickey mouse setup?

 

[spam16v]

i did race car fabrication for 2 years before i joined the army, did alot of cutting and welding in the army, in addition to the fact that i grew up on a farm and didnt have the luxury of vehicles with a warranty. now im a registered Audi tech. im not 15 trying to duct tape my frigging bike onto my mommies honda so she can take me from suburbia to the woods for the day while she goes to her book club. i am a very experienced metal worker. my Kona Stab doesnt exactly fit in the factory VW rack very well with its large and VERY high down tube and in the rain the lil rubber clamps must have gotten slippery and it slid out on a huge dip in the highway. looking at these fancy racks, im sure with the right tools and access to a torch for bending, a Mig as well as a Tig welder and the odd grinders and cutting wheels that are in my tool box at work, not in my daddy's garage. i can make something equivelant to these plastic and stamped steel contraptions. my dealer has an account with a shop that delivers tubing and such. and if i get froggy enough ill weld the whole thing out of stainless steel or aluminum and polish it when im done. shool is starting back up kids, enough with the flame war.

 

[spam16v]

you must have set it up wrong or have a wally world special rack. ive had my bike on my old 01 jetta as well as my wife's gti (same rack monts) and traveled hundreds of miles with the bike on top.
just your standard thule roof mount job with a fork mount attachment

all my bikes have 20mm fixed axles. not even qr20's. bit of a pain to use fork ups too.

 

[spam16v]

Graber and other companies make a Bike Beam. it allows you to hang your bike on a hanging rack. its used for bikes without a "normal" toptube


Bike Beam

thank you for the rational post, im looking into that.

 

[spam16v]

Watch the width of your bikes - my XC bike is about a foot longer than my Jetta is wide (would stick out 6 inches on each side)

So, this forced me to get a roof rack, and I'm very happy - have you considered buying accessories that allow a sturdier hold? (likely cheaper and less labor for you.)

ive looked into different things to hold my bike upright on my rack but factory VW stuff is limited due to mounting and propritory designs. just b/c its Thule doesnt mean a damn thing that Thule makes will attach safely or at all.

 

[spam16v]

there is also this model which someone i went to Diablo had. it works okay but id be worried about rated tounge weight on a class I hitch which is all thats available for a VW golf/jetta, thats rated 2000lbs pulling and 200lbs tounge weight. now 1 or 2 50+lb fr or dh bikes with 2 or even 3 feet of leverage is quite a bit of weight. have to research that more and look at actual hitches. i used to work at a VW/Audi dealer and could look at them all day but didnt, and now im at an Audi/Porshe dealer and no more Vw's to look at up on the lift.

 

[Echo]

Hey man, if you feel confident that you can make a better rack than the companies that have been doing it for 20-30 years, have at it. Nobody was flaming you. This is the Lounge, thin skin doesn't work to well in here.

 

[narlus]

there is also this model which someone i went to Diablo had. it works okay but id be worried about rated tounge weight on a class I hitch which is all thats available for a VW golf/jetta, thats rated 2000lbs pulling and 200lbs tounge weight. now 1 or 2 50+lb fr or dh bikes with 2 or even 3 feet of leverage is quite a bit of weight. have to research that more and look at actual hitches. i used to work at a VW/Audi dealer and could look at them all day but didnt, and now im at an Audi/Porshe dealer and no more Vw's to look at up on the lift.

i have that hitch, but the updated version. i use it on my honda civic (class 1 hitch). i had my bro-in-law weld a 2" receiver to the hitch mount, and i use the 2" receiver rack. the only problem w/ this is that the 2" receiver tube sits lower, so i also had to pay $60 for a high-rise tube. pictures would show it a lot clearer, but i don't have 'em w/ me now. it works pretty well, and i'd say is far more secure (as well as more economical, gas-wise) than a roof rack. i use 'em for DH bikes as well.

let me know if you want pics.

 

[BigMike]

i did race car fabrication for 2 years before i joined the army, did alot of cutting and welding in the army, in addition to the fact that i grew up on a farm and didnt have the luxury of vehicles with a warranty. now im a registered Audi tech. im not 15 trying to duct tape my frigging bike onto my mommies honda so she can take me from suburbia to the woods for the day while she goes to her book club. i am a very experienced metal worker. my Kona Stab doesnt exactly fit in the factory VW rack very well with its large and VERY high down tube and in the rain the lil rubber clamps must have gotten slippery and it slid out on a huge dip in the highway. looking at these fancy racks, im sure with the right tools and access to a torch for bending, a Mig as well as a Tig welder and the odd grinders and cutting wheels that are in my tool box at work, not in my daddy's garage. i can make something equivelant to these plastic and stamped steel contraptions. my dealer has an account with a shop that delivers tubing and such. and if i get froggy enough ill weld the whole thing out of stainless steel or aluminum and polish it when im done. shool is starting back up kids, enough with the flame war.

If you feel you are qulified, by all means, build one yourself. But just let me know where you will be driving......... I could use a new Kona Stab

 

[spam16v]

i have that hitch, but the updated version. i use it on my honda civic (class 1 hitch). i had my bro-in-law weld a 2" receiver to the hitch mount, and i use the 2" receiver rack. the only problem w/ this is that the 2" receiver tube sits lower, so i also had to pay $60 for a high-rise tube. pictures would show it a lot clearer, but i don't have 'em w/ me now. it works pretty well, and i'd say is far more secure (as well as more economical, gas-wise) than a roof rack. i use 'em for DH bikes as well.

let me know if you want pics.

that'd be cool if you could take a snap shot.

 

[narlus]

i will post 'em tonight if i remember. ideally the 2" receiver tube would have taken the place of the 1.25" but we didn't cut it to fit. instead, we welded it via two small strips to the underside of the hitch.

i didn't want the 1.25" -> 2" converter because as you mentioned, it adds to the lever arm. the 2" was desireable because our van also has a 2" hitch receiver (and you can get a 3rd bike extension holder, for the 2" hitch version only. but i wouldn't push my luck w/ my home-made welded job, and i'll limit that use to two bikes).

 

[spam16v]

class I hitch seems sturdy enough for 2 full sized bikes eh? what high rise adapter did you have to use? im sure the pics will answer my queery. thanks

 

[TreeSaw]

I didn't mean for you to and hope you didn't take offense to my posts. I looked at several hitch mounted racks and knew that I needed something that would accomodate all styles of bikes (from road to DH--and I like to run really big tires). After all of my research, I found the sportworks to be the best bang for my buck. It's awesome that you have such skills and could build your own rack. My husband built a rack to fit his Dodge Ram pick-up and it works GREAT!!!

I too would not recommend using the 1.25"-2" converter as it sticks farther out and makes the hitch racks more "bouncy". That's why I opted for the 2" hitch (couldn't get it factory installed, but luckily my husband is handy and I was able to order one that was made to fit my car--a drawtite hitch--from etrailer.com for much less that I anticipated). Not sure if that's an option for your Jetta or not, but might be something to consider. Also, be sure to post up some pics of what you decide upon...I'm curious to see which route you go and if you make your own how it turns out. Good luck

 

[jacksonpt]

i did race car fabrication for 2 years before i joined the army, did alot of cutting and welding in the army, in addition to the fact that i grew up on a farm and didnt have the luxury of vehicles with a warranty. now im a registered Audi tech. im not 15 trying to duct tape my frigging bike onto my mommies honda so she can take me from suburbia to the woods for the day while she goes to her book club. i am a very experienced metal worker. my Kona Stab doesnt exactly fit in the factory VW rack very well with its large and VERY high down tube and in the rain the lil rubber clamps must have gotten slippery and it slid out on a huge dip in the highway. looking at these fancy racks, im sure with the right tools and access to a torch for bending, a Mig as well as a Tig welder and the odd grinders and cutting wheels that are in my tool box at work, not in my daddy's garage. i can make something equivelant to these plastic and stamped steel contraptions. my dealer has an account with a shop that delivers tubing and such. and if i get froggy enough ill weld the whole thing out of stainless steel or aluminum and polish it when im done. shool is starting back up kids, enough with the flame war.

Lighten up man... no one's flaming you or implying that you're an idiot.

I can bend, cut, and weld metal to, that's not the hard part. The hard part is designing and fabbing an effective locking/clamping mechanism that can hold the bikes in place at 70mph, but also open/release easily so you can get the bike out of the rack.

Not to mention the fact that you're going to have $150 or so in materials by the time your done, plus a lot of hours just to end up with an (at best) unproven rack. I'd much rather buy the DH version of the sportworks and add a few gussets if necessary.

 

[narlus]

don't forget the cost of the hitch itself, which will run over a $100...

sorry, i didn't get to the photos last night. hopefully after work today.

 

[Five]

Watch the width of your bikes - my XC bike is about a foot longer than my Jetta is wide (would stick out 6 inches on each side)

So, this forced me to get a roof rack, and I'm very happy - have you considered buying accessories that allow a sturdier hold? (likely cheaper and less labor for you.)

I have a Jetta and a hitch mount sportswork rack - rack and bike are wider than the car too. What's the big deal? I don't think that's a reason to not go w/ a hitch mount. Actually using a roof rack lessens your gas mileage.

 

[spam16v]

just the damn load bars kill my gas mileage. let alone the damn bikes up there.

 

[spam16v]

Lighten up man... no one's flaming you or implying that you're an idiot.

eh...i just get my licks in when i can too. no worries, beer's on me in Hartford. lets drink up.

 

[spam16v]

Treesaw: you have a truck and you need a bike rack? wtf? got that 8 foot bed that never has to be made!

 

[TreeSaw]

Treesaw: you have a truck and you need a bike rack? wtf? got that 8 foot bed that never has to be made!

I drive an '05 Chevy Equinox with a roof rack and a hitch mounted rack. My husband has a Dodge Ram pick-up with a rack in the back so that 5 bikes fit upright (held in by tires) and we can still stow gear under them.

 

[narlus]

here are some photos which should help explain my setup:

the receiver welded to the hitch:

this was a bit too low for the stock hitch set up:

so i bought the rise part:

any other questions, give a holler.