Best Way to Carry Bikes and Skis for Seasonal Sports on 2022 Ford Bronco with Spare Tire

Question:

Hi - I recently purchased a 2022 Ford Bronco with 32 inch tires. Im looking for a dual purpose rack that I can use for biking in the spring / summer / fall months and then convert to carry skis in the winter. The distance from the hitch pin hole to the tire is about 12. Ive looked at Yakima FullSwing bike rack, which I think would work. Its just heavy, bulky and from what I read can be a pain to swing out and swing in. I also looked at the Thule and bulky. I also looked at the Thule hitching post pro. Its lighter and cheaper, but when tilting down, I wont be able to open the back door at least not much...which could impact both biking and skiing. My questions: 1 Do they both have the ability to convert to ski racks? I couldnt tell on the site. 2 Are they the two best options for my purpose biking and convert to skiing? 3 Any other advice / considerations?

asked by: David R

Expert Reply:

I have 2 different solutions for you and the biggest factor is honestly your budget. The more cost-effective option gives you exactly what you're asking for on your 2022 Ford Bronco so I'll start with that, but it also sounds like you're a pretty active person so I want to throw another setup in the works after that.

For the cost-effective setup that gives you exactly what you're looking for you need the Kuat Pivot 2 # PVP20B, the Thule Range 4 Bike RV Rack # TH9057, and the Thule Tram Ski and Snowboard Carrier Adapter # TH9033. The Pivot 2 gives you that swing away function to clear your spare tire and open up your rear door and the the Range is a solid bike rack that works with the Tram so you can either carry 4 bikes or up to 6 pairs of skis or 4 boards depending on how much you're needing to carry.

For the "all-out" setup I recommend checking out the Yakima EXO Swing Away 2-Bike Rack # Y92VR which uses that swing-away feature so you can open up your rear door and then this is a modular system to you can remove the bike rack portion and replace it with the SnowBank Ski and Snowboard Carrier # Y57VR for your winter sport activities. Then in the future if you end up wanting to build out the modular system you can get the TopShelf # Y94VR for the bike/ski rack part and get the GearLocker # Y44VR for the lower part of the EXO.

I call this the "all-out" setup for 2 reasons; it gives you a quick and easy way to accommodate a wide variety of sporting activities, but it also means you'll have to move your spare tire elsewhere like on your roof since the EXO base doesn't sit out far enough to clear the spare. If you don't already have a roof rack then this option gets pretty pricey pretty fast but I still wanted to throw it out there to you even if it's just something to have on your radar. If you do end up wanting to go with the EXO and move the spare tire to your roof just let me know and I'll help you find the additional parts to make this happen.

Attached are some review videos for you to check out.