Swing Out Bike Rack and Hitch Solution for 2017 Subaru Forester

Question:

I have a 2017 Subaru Forester with a factory installed maybe Dealer1.25 inch hitch. No doubt just class 1. Further, the pin hole is only a half an inch from the end. I would like the rack to carry at least two bikes with fenders. I would also want to access the back of the Forester with the bikes attached with a swing away or tilt feature. I like the Kuat racks would they work for me?

asked by: Gary G

Expert Reply:

The factory hitch of your 2017 Subaru Forester is going to prevent you from being able to use a bike rack with the features you mentioned wanting due to the very shallow pin hole location and the hitch size.

So what you'll want to do is remove the factory hitch and install the Draw Tite hitch part # 76182 so that you could use a pivot adapter like the Yakima BackSwing part # Y02483 and a bike rack that grabs the bikes by the frame and not the wheel since you have fenders like the Yakima OnRamp part # Y36FR.

Or if you plan to carry more than two bikes you could use the Thule Apex Swing part # TH9027XT which is a 4 bike rack with a built in pivot assembly.

expert reply by: Jameson C