I have a Jeep Liberty and want to carry 2 bicycles. The Jeep Liberty has the rear window that raises up when opened and the tailgate hinged on the left. Using a rack that goes into a hitch receiver makes opening the rear door impossible. I also fear the bikes mounted on the back of the Jeep would make seeing the brake lights difficult and dangerous. I was wondering about a roof mounted rack. Does anyone use this style? Is it a pain to load and unload bikes on a roof? Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

There are hitch mounted racks that swing away allowing you to access the tailgate search for "swing away bicycle carrier". These will be more expensive. If the Jeep is a toad you can use a Swagman bike carrier from Camping World which slip on the tow-bar hitch draw bar and then carry the bikes between the RV and the toad.
Swing away type carrier - yakima pictured


Swagman mount on tow bar draw bar style (mounts on any 2inch draw bar)




-- Edited by RVDude at 16:34, 2009-01-01

Thanks RV Dude. Yes the Jeep will be our Toad. The swing away rack looks interesting. We would like to have the bikes on the Jeep when we venture out! What do you think about blocking the brake/tail lights?

We're also looking for a bicycle rack, but need one that will accomodate 4 bikes.  Any suggestions?  We'll be using a fifth wheel set up.  Thanks!

It looks like one of those "swing away" carriers may be best. I would sure appreciate hearing from anyone using this style. I tried putting the bikes inside but they don't fit! I would of liked the roof mount style but fear it would be a pain to load and unload and therefore I would hesitate unloading and going for a quick ride. What about the dirt aspect? Does this harm the gears? The back of the jeep sure gets dirty when driving in wet weather (I live in Ohio and we get our share of lousy weather....but full-timing means WARM!) Thanks for the responses....hopefully I'll hear from others! Paul Weaver

I've used a swing away many times and really like them though I don't own one. Get a quality one, like a Yakima/Thule or other top brand. They can be fitted to carry 1 - 4 (even more) bikes as you need. You won't regret buying the quality. I would also try out a few to see if you like the way swing works (like the swing lock release, and the bike retention devices). Many can also convert to be ski racks too.

The only "issue" is that the swing arm styles are heavy and a little awkward when not installed due to the swing arm mechanism. SO, if you plan to remove the hitch often it might not be right for you. They might obstruct taillights but not to the point of obscuring - we are talking bikes which have a lot of empty space to see through - and you always have the center brake light that would probably be in clear view.

Note there are "swing down" styles that might be good for you too. I little tough and heavy to swing down with bike loaded and may not provide the clearance to open tailgates. But might be an option than the swing arm style.

I would definitely buy a bike cover, things get real nasty back there especially under tow not to mention the sun exposure. Camping world has bike covers for hitch mounted bike racks. I also use several bungies to keep the cover from flapping in the wind and thus tearing it up.

I use the Swagman style mounted on my tow bar carrier. Hence it sits between my rig and toad as I often have a different hitch mounted carrier on my toad hitch. I then carry a very small cheap hitch bike carrier to use on the toad hitch when I am camped and remove the other toad carrier.

We have a Yakima Double Down 4 Hitch Bike Rack and love it.  It holds 2 bikes with gobs of room. We've never loaded 4, but it looks like they would fit fine.  The bike arm folds down when not in use, and the rest of the rack folds down to allow easy access to your vehicle.  The folding and unfolding is very easy.  And the rack is solid and steady. The bikes don't move at all on the road.

Right now this rack is on our MH. But, we're getting our toad (Jeep Wrangler) set up next week.  So, we're looking at installing a hitch receiver on the Jeep so we can continue to use this great bike rack.  (We have a Thule spare tire 2-bike rack on it, which we're ready to replace.)

Hope that helps!

Hi Natasha I've heard alot about Yakima but have never found anyone that carries them. Where did you find yours? I've decided that maybe a regular 2 bike rack (not swing-away) is the route I'll go. I'll just use the back doors of the Jeep Liberty to access the rear end. Thanks Paul

Paul -

We bought ours at REI.

Here's a link:
http://www.rei.com/product/767986

Another option to consider:  A roof rack. 
We have a soft top on our Jeep, so that's out of the question.  But, it could work for a Liberty!

Hope this helps

- Natasha

Thanks again guys! Yeah....life seems to be full of minor pains. Guess the secret is to keep them minor...not let them both you. I started thinking a roof mount was the best route, was informed about the swing away and believe now I'm settling on the standard hitch mount using the back doors to access the back of the Jeep. Ahh....decisions, decisions, decisions. Thanks for the help Paul

Paul...

I use a swing-away type as well on my Liberty and the best thing I did was get an extension tube for the hitch that puts the rack out past the spare tire allowing you to access the back window panel without a problem. Mine is older and sways a lttle bit but so far no issues to report.

We haven't found an ideal one yet.  We originally bought one from camping world that hangs off the ladder, but we found it to be flimsy and didn't like how much it moves around.

We ended up installing one that mounts on the RV bumper (the following link has a picture of it): http://www.rvstuffusa.com/2bikervbumpermountrackbyswagman.html .

This one works ok, but it is kind of tedious securing the bikes with bungie cords.


We do take our bikes in the truck fairly often to go for bike rides away from where we're camping.  We have just been throwing them in the back of the truck, where they get all greasy from the hitch - so we're thinking about getting another bike rack for the truck.

-Colleen

We have a Thule that mounts onto the spare tire mount. The spare tire then mounts over the bracket and then the carrier for the bikes mounts onto that. This carrier will allow us to swing open the rear door of our Grand Vitara with the bikes still fully mounted. We found it listed on Craigs list for $65.00