SwagmanXTC4 Hitch Mount Bike Rack

At our children's urging we recently purchased bicycles for ourselves so that we could take family rides together. Since we are not experienced cyclists, perhaps I am not the best judge of a bike rack; in fact, this is the first bike rack I have ever owned and perhaps that makes me a mite too critical.That being said, however, on the whole, I am very pleased with this rack. It holds our four bikes extremely securely, including my women's frame bike (one of the reasons we decided to go with a platform-style bike rack, like this one). The bikes, when firmly fastened, don't budge at all. I like the fact that the bike rack tilts upward, away from the road, which gives us an added sense of security when driving over bumps. I like the fact that the arms ratchet down, rather than screw down, as a competitive rack does, as I find that we are often securing and then releasing the arms to better the position the bikes. Screwing and unscrewing would drive me up the wall. Plus, the ratcheting allows us to get a really snug fit. My husband always gives each arm one last little shove before we take off and the ratcheting feature ensures an incredibly tight fit.On the downside, we still find getting the bikes on the rack a hassle. We bought the platform-style bike rack because we thought, based on various reviews, that it would be easier to load than a hanging rack -- and perhaps it is. Again here our inexperience shows. Using this bike rack, however, is still like fitting together a puzzle. Even though we've figured out which bikes fit best in which position and we've gotten the tire loops set just right, it's still a challenge. Invariably, the pedals are oriented wrong and getting in the way of installing the next bike, or rubbing against the ratchet arm, or one bike's seat doesn't slide under the other's handlebars exactly as it seemed to the last time we loaded the rack. It can be very frustrating, especially at the end of an exhausting and sweaty ride. (I would note from experience that it's best to stagger the tire loops as dramatically to the left and right as possible to make the loading as easy as possible.)Also on the downside is the weight of the rack. We store ours in a walk-out basement and it's all my husband can do to get the thing out and up the little hill to our driveway. I definitely could not install the rack myself.Some additional points: The rack I received was a newer model than the one in the picture. This created a few issues. For one, the assembly instructions which came with our rack was from the older model and completely useless. Moreover, we couldn't even look at the picture on the box for guidance because the picture was of the older model. Assembly was extremely frustrating. Also, if you are looking for a locking hitch pin, note that this rack (at least the newer model which we received) can not use a standard locking hitch pin; it requires a specialized threaded locking hitch pin which only Swagman seems to make.And finally, the rack we received contained parts in which the powder coating had chipped off and the rack began rusting immediately. We contacted Swagman about this problem. The company representatives we've spoken to so far have been friendly and more than willing to exchange the parts, but even that experience has been frustrating. No one I've dealt with at the company calls back when they say they will, or responds to email, and then when I finally received a box of parts, only one of the three damaged parts was actually in it. I've been promised the remaining parts and expect I will receive them, but this has been a ridiculous hassle. I'm never impressed with poor, unprofessional customer service.

This is my first product review on Amazon, even though I've been actively buying from the site for more than five years. I haven't even finished fully assembling this rack yet, but I've been driven to make some comments. On the positive side, it arrived in perfect condition and included the Swagman anti-wobble hitch lock and Avenir heavy-duty bike cable. Neither of these were expected and are a pleasant surprise as they save me a good amount of money. The directions for the assembly appear to be clearly written and straight-forward. I set about the assembly with a HIGH degree of confidence in the product and my ability to put it together. Everything appears to be of high quaility...however...Whoever designed the assembly process has a special place in design hell. In the best case, dropping the bolt through the cross bars after tilting the vertical bar out of the way is very tricky and frustrating. Despite that, three of the four bolts were in place within fifteen minutes (it's VERY difficult to manuever the bolt into position, particularly with big hands). However, even after 50 minutes of mostly patient effort doing everything I can think of, the fourth bolt will not go into place. After finally giving up for the evening and disassembling the incomplete arm, it appears that the holes as manufactured don't exactly line up. There is a overlap of perhaps an 8th of an inch which makes insertion impossible. I still think the product is going to turn out great, but I want to warn people to check the alignment of the hole BEFORE you try doing the actual assembly. I'll work something out with the misaligned holes this weekend and then once I've used the rack a couple of times I'll add to the review.Okay, I ended up having the holes drilled out at a local body shop for free so that the fourth bolt was able to pass through. Once done, the rack fit together quite well. It seems to hold the bikes quite well and they don't bounce around at all when on the rack. It is odd that when you tilt the rack upwards, that the corss bolt - which seems like it should pass through and then hold the rack in the upright position - does not. Additionally, the anti-wobble locking bolt has not worked in multiple attempts since I got the rack. The threads, just don't seem to bite at all. Still, the hitch doesn't seems to wobble much at all and the bolt still locks it all in place so I really don't care. After several months, I'm still quite happy with the rack, past the initial frustrations with assembly.

I was very disappointed with this product.The product itself is very well built however the first time I used with my newly expensive bikes.The upper arm supporting the upper frame of the bikes has the ability to remove the paint from the bikes frame. Very unfortunate

Having owned a number of hitch mounted bike racks, I feel the Swagman XTC-4 is good match between useability, quality and price.First the pros:-The sliding ratchet system to set the height on the top hook is excellent. It works perfectly, holds snug and is the best design I have seen for the hooks among any bike racks. This will be your favorite feature of this bike rack.-The stretchable bands that go through the wheels are easy to use and also fit snug.-The unit is strong, will hold even the heaviest bike and should provide many years of service.-The rack is angled up and away from the hitch which provides much needed clearance for most vehicles.-The rubber on the top hooks is durable, easy to clean and does not appear to scratch the bikes.-The bikes stay quite stable in place and don't move around too much even on the biggest of bumps.The Cons:-Heavy! Strength comes at a cost. Smaller individuals will have a difficult time installing/removing this from the hitch by themselves.-As convenient as the rubber straps are that go through the tires, they will over time deteriorate and lose their elasticity.-The "lock" that comes with this hitch is more trouble than it is worth. There is really not enough cable to wrap through four bikes and then back to the hitch pin. Plus, bending over to hook up the lock cable under the hitch pin while loaded with bikes is cumbersome and awkward. In the end I just a separate lock to lock my bikes together because I cannot be bothered to drag this burdensome cable around and fight with it to lock up the bikes.-While it will hold four bikes, you will need to be systematic in how you arrange the bikes as there is very little extra room when you have four adult bikes in the rack. (Pedals will likely need to offset to other bikes, seats may need to be lowered etc.)-Assembly. I am a handy capable individual with plenty of tools, and this still took me over an hour to put together. You will need a socket set to put this unit together properly.In short, while there are certainly better bike racks available on Amazon, few will offer this quality for this price. If you can live with the weight of the rack and don't mind a bit of hassle getting bikes on the rack, this may be a good purchase for you.

Lors du premier voyage entre la rive-nord de Montreal et Drumondville avec le support installe sur un GMC Sierra 2010 avec 4 velo (2x adulte environ 35 et 38 lbs) et 2x velos d'enfants (moins de 30 lbs chacun) le support est completement detruit, pratiquement inutilisable, tout a tordu dessus, les 4 velos bougent les uns sur les autres, bien qu'attaches solidement, du au lousse dans les bras verticaux, qui serrent a fixer les velos, ce qui a abime la peinture des 4 velos, voir photos en attachement. Reponse du vendeur, sans demander de photos bien sur, (Vous avez ete percute dans un stationnement ce qui explique que ce soit tordu, referez-vous ou manufacturier.) J'ai donc contacte le manufacturier qui lui m'a repondu que la suspension de mon vehicule est trop rigide pour ce rack, donc qu'ils ne sont pas responsable. Un produit donc de pietre qualite et un service apres-vente qui laisse a desirer qui fait que jamais plus je n'acheterai de produit de cette marque ainsi que de partager mon experience avec le plus de gens possible afin de leur faire epargner une experience semblable.

UPDATE MAY 2022 - THIS RACK HAS RUSTED TERRIBLY (see pictures). I contacted the seller and they told me because I leave in SW Ontario where they use salt in the road that is why. MY BIKE RACK IS IN A NICE DRY SHED FROM OCTOBER TO APRIL SO EXPLAIN THAT AGAIN TO ME???? I am so disgusted and so disappointed with this rack I will NEVER buy another Swagman product. Also after I had it about 2 months I could no longer get it to line up so I could put it up when my bikes aren’t being carried. So I basically spent $700 for less then 1 year of use. DON’T BUY THIS ONE.I do like this bike rack except for a couple of things.1) It is sooooooo heavy. There is no way on God’s green earth I could install this at the beginning of the season or at the end. Thank heavens for good neighbours.2) The security locking cable cannot be installed on my car. I have a 2020 Jeep Cherokee and there is not enough clearance on the bumper to fit the locking device on. So I will now have to go and buy a locking system.3) When I put the rack up when not using for bikes, the pin is really hard to get through the holes. They don’t seem to line up really well. The holes are lined up when the rack is in the down position and the pin goes through quite easily.4) When putting all 4 bikes on it does take some planning but once you have done it once or twice it becomes easier.

Solidly built rack. It was a bit of a pain to put together - a lot more parts than I guessed, but I put the TV on in the background and was done before the movie was over. The thing weighs about 63 lbs, so it can be a pain to put on and take off. I will say it is lighter than many other 4 bike platform racks that can go above 80 lbs!The only reason it only gets 4 stars is because the two inside bikes are position really closed together and does take some getting used to in order to get them in properly. I have used it half a dozen times since purchase and I am quite happy with the rack overall.

I waited til our road trip was complete to fully review this rack. From my point of view it does not disappoint. Assembly of the hitch itself was a little tedious, and figuring out the placement of the bikes took some trial and error. But after your initial time investment of putting together the hitch and figuring out the bike placement, loading and offloading won’t be a problem for future trips. For us what worked was two youth bikes on the inside and two adult bikes on the outside. The trip was great. I never felt like the bikes were going to fall off. They felt completely secure from the time we loaded them on to the time we arrived at our destination. Based on other reviews, my biggest hesitation with this big purchase was my worry that the hitch would not fold up properly (when bikes were not loaded) as it would touch my bumper. I have a 2016 Honda Pilot and it folded up just fine without any issues, as seen from the attached pics. The only downside is the hitch is a bit heavy, but I don’t mind that if the payoff is a sturdy, secure “fit.” It is also a bit expensive, but at the same time it is a bit less expensive than some of the comparable alternatives. If you’re looking for a good, long-term investment, this is it. In terms of shipping, it arrived earlier than expected in fully protective wrapping. Perfect condition.