This platform rack carries 4 bikes when the whole family wants to ride, and it can be converted into a 2-bike rack for couples. An available ramp lets you easily roll your heavy bikes onto the trays. Folds up when not in use.
Features:
Specs:
Note: May interfere with bikes with front fenders.
The Swagman Skaha 2 Plus carries 4 bikes; however, the front 2 positions can be removed so there's less of a load on you and your vehicle if only 2 people are going riding. When it's not needed, simply remove the front section with the included Allen key and throw it in your trunk or leave it at home.
The Skaha has ratcheting hooks that grab your bikes firmly by the front wheel, not the frame. It's perfect for carrying bikes with a carbon frame or a custom paint job. To load your bikes, simply place your front wheels in the cradles, rotate the arms up and over the wheels, and press down firmly on the ratcheting hooks.
The wheel trays have ratcheting straps that secure your rear wheel to the rack. The straps slide along the tray to accommodate bikes with a variety of wheelbases. To secure your wheel, run the strap over the rim and back down through the strap buckle and pull tight. To remove your bike, press the quick-release button on the buckle and undo the strap.
When the rack is unloaded you can remove the pin at the base to fold it up for storage. This means you don't have to remove it to park in small lots at the trail head or in cramped parking garages.
The rack installs with a threaded, anti-rattle hitch pin. Simply slide the shank into your hitch receiver, insert the threaded hitch pin, and tighten it down with the included tool. This will reduce noise and movement while the rack is installed.
The included locks secure your bikes to the rack and the rack to your vehicle. A lock in each release button prevents the ratcheting hooks from being raised, so your bikes can't be removed from the rack. The hitch lock simply snaps onto the hitch pin. The hooks and hitch lock are keyed alike, so you'll only need 1 key for all locks.
An available telescoping ramp (sold separately) lets you easily roll your heavy e-bikes up and onto the trays so you don't have to lift your bikes onto the rack.
The Expanse cargo carrier (sold separately) is ideal for securing camping gear, toolboxes, and coolers when you only need to carry 2 bikes. Simply remove the front 2 bike positions and replace it with the cargo carrier. The connector drawbar (also sold separately) is required for installation.
Alternate Instructions
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hi everyone. Aiden here with etrailer. Today we're gonna be taking a look at the Swagman Skaha 2 Plus 4 bike rack and seeing how it fits on the back of our 2023 Subaru Outback. Now this is going to be a platform style bike rack that holds the bike in these cradles and primarily by our front tire. This one is going to be a very bulky and large bike rack but with a ability to carry 4 bikes that is kind of to be expected to some extent. With this making contact on the tire and not the frame it is good for carbon frame bikes and alternative frame bikes because we're not relying on that frame contact to hold the bike.
And for some of the bikes it can support E-bikes. These first two trays can support 60 pounds per bike and the outer two trays can support 30 pounds per bike. So with that in mind, that's just something to kind of know for most platform style bike racks that with a 4 bike rack, you're generally not gonna be able to support all E-bikes in every single slot because as you get out here further from the hitch it's just going to be a lot of weight back here hinging on that hitch and we're already probably pushing the limits of what the hitch on the Outback can handle. So do keep that in mind and be sure to not overload it. But with this bike rack you should be all fine for your Outback.
There aren't any tilting features with this rack. So if we want to get to the access to the back of the Outback, we do need to get the bike removed. Now obviously for all four bikes that's going to be easier towards the outer trays. We can still get it done back here. We'll start off with the rear wheel strap pushing in that green button and pushing that ratcheting strap out.
One thing I like about this strap is that whenever you fold it over the weight of itself just hold itself out of the way. It's a minor thing but it's a nice quality of life feature. And then for the wheel hook there's going to be a handle that does lock so you can make sure your bikes are secured but give that a squeeze, push up and out. And that lets us get our bike. And for this inner cradle you're probably better off stepping between the car and the rack, space is kind of limited but it is possible.
We can lift the bike up and away and set it to the side. Now because of that wheel hook, there's nothing in the way in the center of the rack so it's pretty open to get everything loaded up. The large trays do accommodate a wide range of tire widths and the back wheel strap does fly back and forth to accommodate for different wheel bases. So that's a nice feature to have too. And it works well with a wide variety of bikes, especially because these trays are spaced apart so far from each other. Folding all this up, we can take this opportunity to get some measurements starting off with our ground clearance at the back. The lowest point at the back end is going to be 22-1/2 inches from the ground, which is typically a pretty good ground clearance but with how far it sticks out from the back of the Outback I would still be cautious on steep driveways and hills because that does add a lot of length. How much length, let's find that out. Going from the bumper, the furthest out point to the furthest out point on the rack it is going to be sticking out 56 inches which is quite a bit. Again, to some extent that is to be expected with a four bike platform rack. If that number concerns you and you don't like that some alternatives would be a hanging style bike rack. Those are a lot smaller typically, or maybe even the Hollywood Racks Destination 4 Bike Rack. It's a 4 bike platform rack but it's a lot smaller. And I do wanna check out real quick with the hook down and the bike unloaded you can get access to the back of your vehicle and honestly depending on your handlebar situation you could probably leave your outer two bikes in place and have room for the hatch to clear. This second tray I think as the hatch was opening and closing it would probably hit the handlebars right here, but if you don't wanna fully unload it to get to the back maybe you're at a gas station on a road trip or something you can just unload these first two and still get access to the back. Now there is a folding feature here. There's a pin right here at the center with a retaining clip. Just pop that out and you have to kind of step in and lift up to relieve some pressure on that pin. I'm not gonna lie, it's very awkward because the rack is heavy and it does bind the pin just a little bit there. But from here we can fold it upright and reseat that pin and the newly aligned holes at the bottom. Kind of shaking this back and forth to make sure it all lines up and popping the clip back in place. This is a great way to have the bike in the hitch or the bike rack in the hitch between rides saving you a lot of space and then it's just ready to go for next time. In this state it only sticks out 14 inches so it is going to be very compact and easier to pull into parking spaces but it is, like I've said before, quite large. It's gonna block your backup camera whether you have bikes on here or in this folded state, it's gonna be an obstruction. And this arm actually perfectly lines up with the backup camera, so I wouldn't be relying on that to see many things. Your license plate does remain largely visible. Your taillights are somewhat visible off to the sides of the rack, but it is quite wide so I would be a little bit worried about that. And then this back tray and arm does obstruct the view of your back windshield quite a bit. And if your Subaru is equipped with the camera up here for the electronic rear view mirror, it's probably gonna be blocking that too. So it's pretty in the way. In this situation one of the smaller options that I've recommended before would also be a great solution. Moving down to the hitch, it's working with our 2 inch by 2 inch receiver tube and it will only work with a 2 inch by 2 inch receiver tube and it comes with a locking anti-rattle bolt that keeps things relatively solid in the hitch. Getting that anti-rattle bolt lined up was kind of awkward because again, it's a heavy rack and it's hard to hold those holes aligned while you're threading the bolt in. So I'd be worried about cross-threading, but it's nice that it locks and it's key to like with the hooks up top. Now aside from the recommendations that I've already made before if you're looking for something like this that doesn't make frame contact and some E-bike support, I'd recommend the Kuat NV. That 4 bike rack, although it still is quite heavy and quite large, it's very nice construction and I would trust it a lot more than this and I think it would be a better fit for the Subaru Outback. But regardless of which option to go with, that was our look at the Swagman Skaha 2 Plus on our 2023 Subaru Outback. Thanks for watching.
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