[paranoid56]

question, i just got the hitch for my car, biggest one was a class 1 1.25 hitch. thule says that the t2 is too much of a rack for this hitch. let alone for two HD bikes. I know i have seen some pictures of a wagon with a hitch mount on it. i want to know how its holding up, which hitch you have, and how much wight you put on it.
i did a search to find these pics, and went through almost 3pages of searches. but no luck.
Please let me konw, looking to switch out my roof rack for something more MPG friendly.
please post up.
Thanks
Shane

 

[bdamschen]

A class 1 hitch can usually hold about 200 lbs of tounge weight. I'm not sure how much the rack itself weighs, but you could probably put two dh bikes at 50 lbs each on it. As long as the thule rack weighs less than 100lbs your probably fine. That's for two bikes though, four bikes probably wouldn't work out with a class 1

 

[EOBF]

softride makes a rack that will hold up. I have one on my subaru, not sure of the name, but it is the heavy duty version of the

 

[paranoid56]

got a pic of your setup?
i am only looking to hold two bikes too.

Shane

 

[davep]

The solution is to find a welding/hitch place to cut off your 1.125 and weld on a 2" receiver. Two bikes will work (for a while at least) but for any long term durabability, I would go with 2". I have seen LOTS of older, non T2, sportworks racks bend over time.

I had the hitch for my outback welded/converted to2" for about $70 IIRC. It is much more solid now.

 

[Jeremy R]

Acadian's rack had the Auto-dump feature.
He didn't even have to take his bike off the rack.
It was just laying in the road waiting for him.

 

[paranoid56]

well, welding is no problem. i am good at tig and mig. i was thinking of just cutting that stocker off and welding in the 2" just wasn't sure how much the rest of the rack would hold up to that.

Shane

 

[davep]

I think the outback hitch is a little beefier than the wrx one (it has been a while since I looked at a wrx hitch). On mine, they put a big plate on top of the receiver/cross bar to strengthen up that joint. I have seen this done on several wrx/impreza so I know it can be done, and last. If you can weld, just cut off the 1.25, weld on the 2" and reinforce wherever there is room.

 

[bdamschen]

There are places that make a 1.125 - 2" hitch adaptors.

 

[paranoid56]

yea, i will most likely just mod it next week. will take some pictures of it when i do it too.
yea, i have found some adapters, but it still leaves a damn 1.25 hitch, and that just seems real small.

Shane

 

[chrismac]

in hindsight you are much wiser than i...

i already had the thule t2 with a 2 inch fitting on it i used on my van, i went ahead and got the draw-tie reciever for my wrx, but as you found out the only one availible is the 1 1/4 inch. so i got an adapter which extended the rack out about another foot beyond the back of the car. you can open the hatch up w/o taking off a bike, but...

well two trips later and the bikes (two dh) were definetly sagging. the hitch reciever itself actually started bending near where it bolts on the car. heading to the open this year we were stuck using my car, i was starting to hit the rack on low entrances and holding my breath on large undulations while on the road (like going over bridges and pavement changes). on the way back my friend put the rack on his truck and took my bike home for me, we stuffed the other one in the car.

I have spoken with other people using the setup without an adapter, using the 1 1/4 inch rack, and no one had been having the problem i did. i think it bent from the extra leverage (length of adapter, about a foot), heavy bikes, and two different interchanges (reciever to adapter to rack). looks like it would be ok 1 1/4 to 1 1/4.

my next move is to weld up a new reciever or chop out the 1 1/4 and weld in the 2 inch. i would recommend the 2 inch route, 1 1/4 just seems a little on the small side, and most cars, aside from compacts, can get a 2 inch reciever. good luck

 

[Toshi]

The solution is to find a welding/hitch place to cut off your 1.125 and weld on a 2" receiver. Two bikes will work (for a while at least) but for any long term durabability, I would go with 2". I have seen LOTS of older, non T2, sportworks racks bend over time.

I had the hitch for my outback welded/converted to2" for about $70 IIRC. It is much more solid now.

case in point, my old rack:

 

[sam_little]

well two trips later and the bikes (two dh) were definetly sagging. the hitch reciever itself actually started bending near where it bolts on the car.

I had the exact same problem, although after more like 100 trips, rather than 2. On my last drive, it got so bad that the rack would nail the pavement on even the slightest impact, sending a burst of sparks sailing behind.

i think it bent from the extra leverage (length of adapter, about a foot), heavy bikes, and two different interchanges (reciever to adapter to rack). looks like it would be ok 1 1/4 to 1 1/4.

I think that the rate at which your rack bent was accelerated by the leverage, but as noted above, I had the same exact problem without the added leverage, just over more time. The problem is the hitch, and more specifically the point of connection with the frame (or rather, the plates near it)

my next move is to weld up a new reciever or chop out the 1 1/4 and weld in the 2 inch. i would recommend the 2 inch route, 1 1/4 just seems a little on the small side, and most cars, aside from compacts, can get a 2 inch reciever. good luck

DO NOT DO THIS. The problem you had was with the hitch near the bolts (where the plate bends, I bet). All adding a 2 inch receiver will do is increase the weight of the hitch and the rack attached to it, and thus you'll again have the problem with the hitch near the bolts.

I used to rally my car pretty hard with the rack on, so perhaps if you took it really easy, you'd be okay. That being said, we ride downhill, and the best trails are often up long logging / mountain roads that aren't well maintained. Potholes, washboard, and the like are sure to cause your hitch stress that it just wasn't designed for.

Tounge weight is deceiving when applied to these racks. Trailers are designed to be loaded so that the weight is evenly distributed, with a slightly heaver load in front to keep the trailer tracking on the hitch. When your rear wheel(s) hit a pothole, with a trailer attached, the impact doesn't drastically affect the tounge weight because the trailer is still supported by its own wheels; the tounge articulates on the ball, and the trailer maintains a relatively static weight distribution. With a rack, however, the tounge weight (force is probably more appropriate here, though I'm no engineer) is drastically, if temporarily, increased due to the torque on the hitch. This force is transfered to the frame, but is most severe at the junction of the hitch and frame, which also happens to be a relatively weak part of the hitch. The rotational force on the vertical plates causes them to bend over time, such that they become decreasingly vertical, and thus less able to handle vertical stress. Thus, your hitch will fail slowly at first, and then at an increasingly rapid rate.

The bottom line here is that the hitches available for the Subaru Impreza wagons are soft like a noodle, and they will bend over time. Do yourself a favor and get some King Cobras. I did end up getting a new hitch, but I only use the Sportworks with downhill bikes for highway driving, and I try to limit that as much as possible.

 

[paranoid56]

yea, this will be for highway driving only. i have a roof rack with two king cobras on it allready. it just killed the gas milage. droped to 18mpg from 28. so was hoping the hitch mount would help. i will crawl under the car again when i am looking at the hitch mounts, and see what i can beef up.

Shane

 

[sbabuser]

I have a wrx wagon with a drawtite 1-1/4" receiver hitch. At first I thought I'd be ok w/ an adaptor so I could run a 2" Yakima Hookup (their version of the t2, and also comes in a 1-1/4" model), but I had sagging issue, and the car just sits too low to put the bikes out that far and not drag on driveway entrances. So I sold the Hookup, made sure the rack was snugged up well (I don't think it was at first) and have had no issues w/ the Performance brand upright mount I'm using now. The advantage of the Performance rack is that the rack has an upward bend, to further lift it out of harm's way. The other nice thing about it is that it folds up completely out of the way, which makes it a lot easier to get the dogs in and out of the back of my car. It's not quite as sturdy or as quick to mount bikes to as the Yakima or Thule, but for the price and how much I use it, I think it's a good deal.

 

[paranoid56]

do you have any pics of this on your wagon?

 

[djjohnr]

Have you tried using a fairing for your roof racks?

All the racks on my roof did kill the MPG a bit - down to 20mpg on road trips doing 90. 28mpg was a rarity for me though even without racks unless I kept it under 80 on the highway.

I'm going to try a fairing vs hitch mount. The T2 w/DH bikes really doesn't like 1 1/4, and you'll slam your rear end alot.

 

[Acadian]

Acadian's rack had the Auto-dump feature.
He didn't even have to take his bike off the rack.
It was just laying in the road waiting for him.

I just had a minor seizure..

 

[beaverbiker]

i have a 06 wrx wagon with an 1.25" T2 rack. it's fine with 2 trail bikes, but 2 dh bikes would be a bit sketchy if you're going to be hitting bumps. if you're just cruising the highway, it'd probably be okay.

 

[Jm_]

I have a WRX wagon and use the 1.25 T2. I haven't had any problems with it, but I don't carry two 50lb bikes on it either. The rack itself is NOT light, so that's a big chunk of weight right there. If I have two bikes, I put the heavier one closer to the bumper. 90% of the time I just carry my own ride on it, and that's why I got it. The other times I will carry around two bikes, but I'm not doing a full on DH bike anymore, so I don't know how it would react with that. No problems with the rack over 120 mph.

 

[paranoid56]

hmm. i think i will get the 2" version and start the welder up This should be a fun project
any pics?
Shane

 

[davep]

I will try to get some pics today of mine (outback) on the car. The big difference, IIRC, is at the plates that mount to the car. On the outback, they are beef and mount with several bolts both in a vertical and horizontal orientation (to the frame rails and the tow points). To move much (sag), it would have to either sheer a 5/8 inch bolt on either side, or rip a 1" by 2" plate through 3/8 inch+ sheet metal (tow point) on the car.

I think the wrx one mounts to some body sheet metal by the spare tire. I know one friend with a wrx had some mods done to reinforce this area.

 

[Kntr]

I run the 2" version on a MINIVAN and no problems.

If you only use the 2 bike version you will be fine.

 

[Nagaredama]

I have a 06 WRX with a Reese hitch and Sportworks 1.125 2 bike hitch. All of the movement I get is from the hitch bending, not the rack. I'm fairly certain the Subaru hitch would fix this. Sometime soon I'll my rack to the dealer and try it out on a car equipped with a hitch.

The hitch bolts in place of the factory tow hooks used to secure the car during transport. It is not sheet metal at all. It uses 3 bolts that go into the rear subframe.

 

[paranoid56]

this is the one i picked up. it mounts with 4 bolts, not much else under the car to mount this thing to.

 

[sbabuser]

this is the one i picked up. it mounts with 4 bolts, not much else under the car to mount this thing to.

Interesting - that's the one I saw online, but the one that I ended up getting has square tubing all the way across, and then mounts to the frame with big bolts. It does not give/ flex at all. All the movement is in the hitch connection to the rack and then the rack itself.
That one you posted looks like it might work better w/ my exhaust, but mine looks like a lot burlier.

 

[Zia Monkey]

Not sure if it matters but I have a DrawTite hitch that attaches with 6 bolts instead of 4. I just bought a 1-1/4" T2 last week and have only used it once with 1 DH bike. So far it seems pretty solid. I also have a regular '07 Impreza too.

 

[Nagaredama]

Here is the best picture I have of my hitch and rack.

 

[paranoid56]

Interesting - that's the one I saw online, but the one that I ended up getting has square tubing all the way across, and then mounts to the frame with big bolts. It does not give/ flex at all. All the movement is in the hitch connection to the rack and then the rack itself.
That one you posted looks like it might work better w/ my exhaust, but mine looks like a lot burlier.

yea, i needed extra room for the exhaust. this one seem to fit the sti also, which i needed as i have the rear diffuser from the sti on my wagon.

Not sure if it matters but I have a DrawTite hitch that attaches with 6 bolts instead of 4. I just bought a 1-1/4" T2 last week and have only used it once with 1 DH bike. So far it seems pretty solid. I also have a regular '07 Impreza too.

Thats odd, the ones i saw hooked up just like this one, with just 4 bolts. do you have a pic of your hitch?
Shane

 

[paranoid56]

ha, looked at mine again, it uses 5 bolts, 2 one one side, and 3 on the other. goofy.

Shane

 

[beaverbiker]

I have a 06 WRX with a Reese hitch and Sportworks 1.125 2 bike hitch. All of the movement I get is from the hitch bending, not the rack. I'm fairly certain the Subaru hitch would fix this. Sometime soon I'll my rack to the dealer and try it out on a car equipped with a hitch.

The hitch bolts in place of the factory tow hooks used to secure the car during transport. It is not sheet metal at all. It uses 3 bolts that go into the rear subframe.

They make 1-1/8" hitches and racks?

 

[beaverbiker]

i think the draw tite hitches are the best. those 6 bolts aren't going anywhere. the weakest point in the whole system is the fact that the bending moment is taken up by a 1.25" square tube. it would displace a whole lot less if it were 2", but then you'd be adding to your overall tongue weight.

 

[Zia Monkey]

This is the drivers side...

 

[paranoid56]

wow, so that side uses 4 bolts? looks like three on the top and one on the side. guess i will add some metal to use that 3rd bolt on both sides.
also, whats up with the washers? and man, get some swaybars on that baby

Shane

 

[paranoid56]

Here is the best picture I have of my hitch and rack.

which rack is this? and damn, thats a lot of wind resistance

Shane

 

[Zia Monkey]

wow, so that side uses 4 bolts? looks like three on the top and one on the side. guess i will add some metal to use that 3rd bolt on both sides.
also, whats up with the washers? and man, get some swaybars on that baby

Shane

There are only 3 on that side. You might be confusing the bolt that holds the muffler hanger to the hitch. Drawtite included a long bolt (the one shown with all the washer) so I might go to HOmeDepot to find a shorter one so I can ditch some of the washers.

I'd love to add some performance parts but most don't bolt up to the 2.5i...

 

[paranoid56]

oh, i see. that lower bolt is to relocate the exhaust hanger.

oh, and they make lots of parts for your wagon. most wrx wagon susp stuff is the same on your car too. so just order wrx wagon items (suspension wise)

Shane

 

[Zia Monkey]

As far as sway bars go? I've heard that the strut bars and struts won't fit...

 

[paranoid56]

They will, just stay with the same platform. so, if you are buying a strut bar, get one for the wagon. the front, is the same from the sedan and wagon. the rear sedan one will fit the wagon, but it looks like ass. also, the sway bars are all the same between wagons. and the struts are the same between wagons.

Shane

 

[Nagaredama]

Shane-

Sorry for not getting back to your previous email, I've been out of town.

Roof rack is Yakima with King Cobra holders. They work okay but the trays keep cracking. Of course putting a 50 lbs Sinister in one doesn't help.

Tons of wind and weight resistance. Heading to Mammoth over Labor Day and I might have 4 people and their bikes and riding. Mileage will be about 16 mpg @ 80 mph.