# 5-6 Bike Hitch Carrier - Softride?



## Neuner (Feb 14, 2005)

Kids are getting older and the bikes bigger. Now having difficulty getting three bikes inside the mini-van and our two on the back. Our current rack is a hollywood hitch tray which we like. Not a fan of the hanging hitch racks. Don't want a roof rack.

Would like to find a hitch carrier that can carry at least 5 bikes of varying sizes if possible from mountain 26" on down to 16".

Found the following which is really cool but not sure if I could tweak it to hold the shorter bikes:
2013 Softride Access Hang 5 Vertical 5 Bike Trailer Hitch Receiver Mount Bicycle Rack


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## Flyer (Jan 25, 2004)

Not sure about the fit. We have a regular Softride sitting around but it is one solid rack...very well built. This one you linked to is the same base but with a different extension. It may be the most solid rack I have seem. I have used T2s, Kuat NV, and the Saris Cycle On Pro.


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## GpzGuy (Aug 11, 2008)

It seems to hang the bikes really far behind the hitch, and loaded with five bikes that would be a large lever arm that could overwhelm your vans rear suspension. I think that a Northshore NSR-6 rack would work for you too and hold the bikes weight a little bit closer to the back of the van. It may not work with smaller bikes that aren't mountain bikes though. But either way you'll need to be mindful of the weight. Maybe some helper springs on your vehicles rear suspension would work if it sags too much.

You can see here how the NSR holds the weight just a bit closer. Personally I use a T2 with an add on, which hangs way back there and only holds 4 bikes. That added lever arm puts a lot of weight on my heavy duty offroad suspension and I couldn't imagine if all it had was OEM.


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## Neuner (Feb 14, 2005)

Good point and I appreciate the concern however I already have that covered with the air suspension I installed.

I once thought of getting a small foldable trailer but that had a bunch of other issues on it's own with storage, licensing, etc.


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## GpzGuy (Aug 11, 2008)

Air springs are good. I should think that you should be able to mount up the small bike just fine with some ingenuity if it doesn't adjust to the smaller size...nylon straps or ratchet straps would work nicely and small bikes are light.


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