Carrying Bikes and Towing Trailer With 2012 Toyota Sienna

Question:

I have a 2012 Toyota Sienna. I want to use this to bring my bikes and tow a small Thule covered trailer when we go camping. This works great with my 2003 Highlander and my prior vehicle, a 2009 Acadia because the receiver height was just right for the trailer to be almost perfectly level. We dont own the Acadia anymore constantly needed repairs and the Highlander is too small for the family and all of our stuff, so we need to take the van. I have a Curt hitch installed and am ready to go, but the receiver is so low on the van that there is about an 8inch rise needed to tow the trailer level. Is there a similar product that maybe has a receiver at the end, instead of a ball so I could put an adjustable hitch on the end of the bikerack? Thanks!

asked by: Greg S

Expert Reply:

As a first step, I recommend taking a measurement to determine the exact rise you need in a ball mount. Measure from the top of your receiver (outside of tube) down to the ground. When we installed Curt Class III # 13105 on a 2012 Sienna, we found this measurement to be 12 inches. Then with the trailer up on its jack and level, measure the coupler height by measuring the distance from the underside of the coupler to the ground (17 inches is typical). The difference between these two measurements will be the rise or drop needed. In your case, since the trailer coupler is higher, you would need a rise.

If your Curt hitch is a Class III with a 2 inch receiver, I have a solution that might work for you.

Achieving a ball mount rise while carrying a bike rack is possible, but not with the style of bike rack like the # S64675 you mentioned. We offer a bike rack that can slip over the ball mount. Take a look at part # S64664. When used with a long ball mount like part # D-28, this rack would allow you to carry two bikes and have a ball mount with a 4 inch rise.

The only 4 bike towing racks we offer would not have the rise you were needing, and the # D-28 has the largest rise of any of the long ball mounts we offer. A long ball mount is necessary with that type of bike rack to provide sufficient clearance between the rack and the rear of the vehicle.

In other words, we cannot get you everything you were looking for in this case, but it is possible that you can live with carrying 2 bikes or find an alternative solution for the third and fourth bike. The ballmount does not have the rise you were looking for, but if you do the measurements and find that the 4 inch rise will put you within 2 inches of leveling the trailer, you will be fine.

expert reply by: Mike L