Distance from Center of Hitch Pin Hole to Bar of Thule Hitching Post Pro

Question:

Hi, Questions about distance from stabilizing pin on hitch and distance to know to tighten stablizing pin- I have an outback and my current Helium 3 rack doesnt quite fit right. It was a gift : The knob to tighten the stabilizing pin to the hitch hits my bumper. 1. Is there a 3 or 4 bike bike rack that has at least 6 inches from the point on the stabilizing bar to the inside edge of the knob to tighten the bar into the hitch? 2. Seems like the TH934XTR is a great rack and less expensive and I could avoid the stabilizing bar/knob issue. Does it tighten into the hitch differently? Is it as strong as the Helium 3? Thanks!

asked by: David

Expert Reply:

The Thule Helium Aero 3-Bike Rack TH9043 makes an awful nice gift but you are correct that there is a short distance from the center of the hitch pin hole to the locking knob - just 4-1/2".

The Thule Hitching Post Pro # TH934XTR you asked about does not have that knob and is 13-1/2" from the center of the hitch pin hole to the back of the upright on the rack. The trade off is that it does tighten into the hitch much differently. Instead of turning a knob it has an anti-rattle bolt, which you could still tighten fairly easily but I recommend using the Ratchet with 3/4" Socket for Anti-Rattle Hitch Bolts # PT20104-38524 to do so.

The Hitching Post Pro also does not come with locks like the Helium Aero 3 does so if you wanted that security you would need to use the Thule Snug Tite Hitch Lock and Anti-Rattle Device # THSTL2 to lock it the rack to your hitch and the Thule Cable Lock # TH538XT to lock your bikes to your rack. If you wanted those locks keyed alike you would need to replace their lock cores with the Thule One-Key System Lock Cylinders # TH450200.