Hitch Extender for Carrying Bike Rack in Hitch on 2004 Jeep Wrangler

Question:

What 2” hitch extenders do you offer that have the option to tighten down to avoid rattling or extra movement? It will be for a 2004 Jeep Wrangler TJ to clear a spare tire for a Yakima Holdup bike rack. Thanks!

asked by: Andrew B

Expert Reply:

Let me begin by saying that Yakima isn't fond of using hitch extenders with their bike racks. This being said, using an extender will lower the hitch tongue weight capacity by half. If your hitch has a 350 lb tongue weight capacity (check the ID sticker on the hitch) using the extender would lower that by half to 175 lbs, which means that the weight of the bike rack and the bikes couldn't exceed 175 lbs.

I can't contradict anything Yakima says regarding using an extender, but if you didn't exceed half the hitch's tongue weight, you should be okay using an extender. An 8-inch long extender like part # C45791 should work well. Most Yakima bike racks feature an anti-rattle hitch pin or lock that would secure the rack to the extender. To secure the extender to the hitch receiver, I'd use the etrailer brand # e99007.

Even when using the anti-rattle hitch pin feature on the bike rack along with an anti-rattle device like # e99007, you still might get some movement of the bike rack. This is caused by having an extra component (the extender) mounted between the rack and the hitch receiver. This is unavoidable.

expert reply by: Mike L