# hitch for rack 2" or 1.25"? Advice needed.



## Vitamin G (Oct 11, 2004)

It's time to get a hitch and hitch rack for the minivan (Honda). Checking around, I see that I can get either a 2" or a 1.25" receiver hitch for this van.

In terms of racks, I'm most interested in the Yakima Holdup, although I might downgrade to the stickup to save some $$.

The issue is this, in the future, when we replace our other car (which is slowly dying), I'm sure that car would only accept a 1.25" hitch.

I will be using the rack on the van only for long trips with the whole family. For shorter trips just myself it will have to be the second car.

Do I buy a 1.25" rack so that I can use it on both cars? Seems to make the most sense to me. But then, for the van, do I go ahead and get the 1.25" hitch as well? Or is it better to get a 2" hitch and some sort of sleeve to make the 1.25" rack fit into the hitch?

Anybody else been in this situation? What did you do?

thanks,

-- G


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## wheelerfreak (Jul 3, 2007)

Sounds like for your scenario a 1.25" is the way to go then. IMO... personally I prefer the 2" hitches, there are just so many more easily available accessories for that size. I would just do what I did on our VW and weld (or have it done for you) a 2" receiver tube in place of the 1.25" tube that the hitch comes with... again just IMO.


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## timberstone (Feb 20, 2009)

I'm sort of in the same boat. Currently my truck has a 2" receiver however in 1997 I bought a 1 1/4" rack for my car. I use a 1 1/4" to 2" adapter. What I like is knowing cars have only 1 1/4" I can use my rack on really any car. 

Problem is I want to upgrade my rack to a new model and I want to go 2". Some of the cars I am looking at though will only take 1 1/4" hitches. My solution is going to be to wait until I have a new car or figure out what I am doing with my current truck and I will buy the hitch to match that vehicle. 

You can use adapters but the only thing I don't like about that way is the extra slop that you have. 

Something to keep in mind and the other reason I want a 2" rack is due to being able to haul 4 bikes. The Saris rack I'm looking at can only hold 2 bikes with 1 1/4" hitch vs 4 bikes with the 2" hitch. Something to keep in mind when looking. If you are only going to haul 2 bikes then it's no big deal either way.


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## Vitamin G (Oct 11, 2004)

wheelerfreak said:


> Sounds like for your scenario a 1.25" is the way to go then. IMO... personally I prefer the 2" hitches, there are just so many more easily available accessories for that size. I would just do what I did on our VW and weld (or have it done for you) a 2" receiver tube in place of the 1.25" tube that the hitch comes with... again just IMO.


Is that common to be able to get a custom 2" hitch made for a smaller 4-door car like a Civic or Saturn?

This is kind of driving (no pun intended) me crazy, because it will be at least 4 years off until we get that second car, but I don't want to buy another rack at that time because they are so $$.


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## EHCRain (Jun 23, 2008)

I would suggest the 2inch, it is stronger and would have alot less play in the hitch mount.
You should be able to get a 2in hitch for the 4door when you get to that point but i know that you can get an adapter to go from 2 inch to 1 1/4.


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## wheelerfreak (Jul 3, 2007)

Vitamin G said:


> Is that common to be able to get a custom 2" hitch made for a smaller 4-door car like a Civic or Saturn?
> 
> This is kind of driving (no pun intended) me crazy, because it will be at least 4 years off until we get that second car, but I don't want to buy another rack at that time because they are so $$.


I don't think it's common. I just modified the hitch for our VW to be able to use all the other accessories we already had that fit a 2" receiver. I found a hitch for the car for so cheap it made more sense to just cut off the 1.25" tube and weld on a 2" tube in it's place, rather than just fabricate an entire hitch from scratch. For many cars and mini vans the only hitches available are the 1.25", 2" hitches are largely a custom affair. Later on down the line when you do buy the car and buy a hitch, it shouldn't cost more than about $50 to modify it for a 2" receiver. I would go with a 2" rack for now and modify a hitch for whatever car you buy later. I would avoid an adaptor to go from a 1.25" to 2" receiver, they add too much sway and leverage into the system.


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## everyxnewxday (Jan 28, 2009)

I know you're asking about hitches, but the rack I just bought (Thule Ridgeline, 4 Bike) can be easily converted for use on either a 2" or 1 1/4" receiver. I'd rather have the 2" hitch on a van since it's stronger and can tow bigger stuff if you ever need to. Using the included adapter on the rack there is NO sway at all. I just got back from a 9 hour trip to NY carrying 4 bikes (including two incredibly heavy dept. store bikes). Worked great. I know that the next car we buy will only have a 1/14" receiver, but on my RAV4 I want the full towing capacity of the vehicle to be available.


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## talldaddy (Aug 30, 2007)

Love my Raxter rack on my minivan. A bit expensive, but built like a tank and can cary ANY bike - my daughters 12 inch wheel bike or my full suspension Blur. The tire holding arms are fantastic. Highly recommended. I'd check into a 2 inch hitch for your car, hopefully it is doable, installed the factory 2 inch hitch on our odyssey and it was perfect. http://www.odyclub.com/forums/index.php?s= has a nice writeup about the factory hitch and using a slightly smaller cutout on the bumper to make it very snug. Used a recommended vendor and had the hitch much less than the local dealer and it was easy to install - had clean holes prethreaded and all the parts you could need.


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