# Fold down or Swing away hitch bike rack?



## walkman (Jan 1, 2005)

Which is better for a minivan installation?

It seems like the fold down style would be hard to lift if it was mounted with 4 bikes.


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## cracksandracks.com (Oct 22, 2009)

walkman said:


> It seems like the fold down style would be hard to lift if it was mounted with 4 bikes.


that is the advantage for using a swingaway bike rack...you can move the rack easily to access the rear of the car.

it's really heavy with just 1 bike on the fold down rack to use that feature with bikes loaded.

unless your minivan has an independently operating rear glass, then go for the swingaway...


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## louisssss (Jun 24, 2009)

link to the swingaway bike rack


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## cracksandracks.com (Oct 22, 2009)

yakima swingdaddy is a good rack....so is the thule revolver....
both excellent swingaway features...if i was partial to one or the other, i might say the yakima swingdaddy is a little nicer.
but alot of that depends on the type of bikes you're carrying..full-suspension geometry is hard to fit on a swingaway or fold down without a frame adapter.
that's where the tray-style racks come in really handy.


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## louisssss (Jun 24, 2009)

cracksandracks.com said:


> yakima swingdaddy is a good rack....so is the thule revolver....
> both excellent swingaway features...if i was partial to one or the other, i might say the yakima swingdaddy is a little nicer.
> but alot of that depends on the type of bikes you're carrying..full-suspension geometry is hard to fit on a swingaway or fold down without a frame adapter.
> that's where the tray-style racks come in really handy.


tray type is the way to go... too bad they don't have any that swing that i know of.


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## walkman (Jan 1, 2005)

Thanks for the replies. After looking at the racks at REI I decided that the tray style rack is the way to go because of the speed of loading and unloading. 

REI guy said that the fold down style racks are not meant to be folded when they are loaded with bikes.


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## louisssss (Jun 24, 2009)

walkman said:


> Thanks for the replies. After looking at the racks at REI I decided that the tray style rack is the way to go because of the speed of loading and unloading.
> 
> *REI guy said that the fold down style racks are not meant to be folded when they are loaded with bikes.*


wait what??? when the rack is FOLDED, how the hell would u put any bikes on? lol...

my sportrack XC2 tray rack folds, and there is no way to install any bikes on it when its folded hahaha

anyway, tray style racks are between the Swagman/sportrack for $125/$150 respectfully. Then u can go into the $300+ for raxter, thule,yakima...


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## canuckjgc (Jun 22, 2007)

I think he meant they are not meant to be dropped down with bikes on them to access the rear hatch. 

This of course is not true -- my Thule T2 has a warning that the rack will drop down quickly with bikes on it (or something like that) but it does not mention that it shouldn't be done. The whole point is to access your vehicle while your bikes are loaded.


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## cracksandracks.com (Oct 22, 2009)

the upright racks, like the thule 914, for example cannot be tilted down while there are bikes on it...the t2, and the holdup, however, are designed to be folded down, towards the ground with bikes loaded as a way of accessing the rear door with bikes loaded.
this feature of the tray-style racks may or may not be possible with your car....depends on how deep the hitch is underneath the bumper, how low the door comes to the bumper, etc...1 bike loaded on the outside tray is usually enough for any car to access the rear.

why is this important? the rear of the car is where your camelbak, shoes, helmet (and cooler) are usually kept and it's nice to be able to sit down to put your shoes on, etc...


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