Swagman 3 bike rack installs 11.5 inches from my bumper, not a good fit
I have been meaning to get a bike rack for quite a number of years. When the kids were small this was not an issue because they could not ride far anyway, but they are growing. We don’t have a large car, so a bike rack is now a necessity. The Swagman 3 bike hitch bike rack seemed to be the strongest and lightest but well made bike rack I could find. It works very well but the experience of installing it provided some interesting surprises.
Before looking for a rack I asked various people what type of bike rack best suited our needs. Friends had a trunk mounted bike rack, which scratched their car up quite badly, which steered me away. They have since abandoned their trunk mounted racks. Since my car has no roof rack and no option to add a roof rack, this type of bike rack was not possible. The last option was the hitch mounted bike rack. Since I am not a trailer type guy and have no friends that are, I also had to research, purchase and install a trailer hitch, already documented in my blog. It’s all still good.
I am an avid internet researcher, so before looking for a rack brand name I scoured the internet. Mountain Equipment Co-op sold a couple types of bike racks. For a couple of decades now I have been using MEC as a trusted source of outdoor gear and they have not let me down. Now in the internet age I use them as a gold stamp of quality for potential purchases. They sold Swagman, so here is where I started my research.
It is clear that Swagman has a good reputation on the internet, with many happy customers. Robust design, strength of materials, good fit and finish and solid racks were all common remarks. Certain rack styles have issues with certain types of vehicles. You need to match your vehicle and needs to the many available rack on the market.
Hitch pin hole too far out, and the S shape does not allow rack to seat deeply enough
My requirements were pretty simple. I have a type I hitch, 1.25″ receiver, capable of holding dead weight of 100-200 lb, depending on who you talk to. Nissan says 100 lb. The U-haul hitch says 200 lbs, but then says 100 lbs for carrying bikes. The dead weight maximum also includes the bike rack, so if the rack weighted 30 lbs, this means there is less available weight for your bicycles. A lightweight but strong bike rack was in order. I settled on the Swagman single arm Original 3 bike rack, model 64121. It’s design is simple and therefore there is less to fail. It does not fold down because I have no need for this feature. Even with the bike rack installed I can still get to my trunk with ease. I would rather have a stronger rack with fewer possible points of failure. It does not have fancy locking mechanisms. Many people who purchase bike racks have said in hindsight that all the fancy locking mechanisms on their racks are ineffective against bike theft, so the upgrade is unnecessary. Why lock your bike to the bike rack, only to have the thief take both your bikes and bike rack? No, we would be using our rack to transport bikes to a park, then disconnect the rack and put it in the trunk. A simple but robust locking mechanism was best. Unfortunately MEC did not sell this type of rack, and the folding version that they did sell was out of stock in Toronto. I decided to order locally and picked up the rack.
S shaped bend creates a kink, does not allow the rack to seat deeply into the hitch receiver
Firstly, the Swagman bike rack came well packaged and finished in the box. Instructions were not too clear and seemed written for an older design version. Since there are few parts, it was not difficult to put it together. The rack materials are thick and seem extremely strong. Bolts, nuts and washers were all provided, and were heavy and strong. One issue that became evident was that the enclosed square stock that attaches to the hitch receiver was way too long, putting the bike rack upright a full 11.5″ away from the bumper. This stock also did not push all the way into my hitch receiver, resulting in a weaker connection. When the rack and bikes are so far from the hitch receiver, this provides a much longer lever arm, which greatly increases forces and vibration to the hitch receiver and therefore the car. Swagman had also designed in an “S” shaped curve in an attempt to raise the rack 2″, but these curves slightly kinked and fattened the square stock where it went into my hitch receiver. I was not too impressed.
Straight bar stock makes Swagman bike rack fit closer to bumber and deeper into hitch receiver
No matter, I had the Swagman web site, so I sent off an email from their “contact us” page, and got a confirmation email that stated an email was sent. I received no reply from the Vernon, BC company. I took some pictures, put up a web page outlining the issue, and sent this off to Swagman. Again no reply. Upon reading the instructions I could not find any warranty information. The store that sold me the rack suggested I email Swagman and ask. Again, for the third email sent, I received no reply. To this date, Swagman has not replied to any of my emails.
My solution was to not use the Swagman provided square stock and to find my own. I settled on a 10.5″ length piece of 1.25″ diameter square stock. I drilled the hole for the hitch pin and the holes to attach to the rest of the bike rack. Overall the rack is now 5.5″ away from my bumper, resulting in a much smaller lever arm and therefore force on the hitch receiver. There is now only 2″ between the bike rack and the hitch receiver. Though I could have reduced this residual 2″ I felt it was more than adequate.
Once installed I found the innermost bike would clang against the bike rack upright. My solution was to sew a long sleeve and attach to the bike rack, preventing metal on metal contact. It also covered up the Swagman logo.
Overall I am happy with the Swagman bike rack, but I had to do some work to make it fit properly. If you do not have the tools to cut heavy metal square stock and drill 3 holes, then maybe consider another type of bike rack. I almost returned this Swagman rack because of the very poor fit to my car and poor customer service.
Here are some pros and cons to the Swagman bike rack:
Pros:
- Strong construction, great fit and finish of bike rack
- Lighter in weight than other racks, but still heavy duty
- Came with all necessary components
- Does not excessively shake when carrying bikes (after I replaced the square stock with a shorter one)
- Inexpensive ($130CAD)
- Simple and relatively light (Original 3 bike version, model 64121)
- Comes with a hitch pin (does not say on the box)
Cons:
- No email or other support for their product
- No warranty. Not stated on box or instructions. No email reply about warranty. No warranty info on their web site. Other manufacturers offer at least a 1 year warranty on their products. Thule, Yakima and Saris all offer a limited lifetime warranty on their products. Even Canadian Tire bike racks (SportRack) have a 1 year warranty.
- Rack did not fit well into my hitch receiver and would have bounced a lot more and with a lot more force (due to 2 times longer lever arm) if I did not fabricate up a shorter piece of square stock.
- Instructions were for an earlier version of the rack
- Innermost bike will clang against the bike rack upright. I sewed up a cloth sleeve to protect my bike and the bike rack.
