Hey guys, figured I would share my hitch-mounted bike rack since there seems to be so few on the forum.
I bought a Swagman XTC2 platform rack that holds 2 bikes off Amazon. I also installed a Curt 112653 hitch.
Since nothing can block the tail lights in Europe, I added 2 LED trailer lights to the rack. To do this, I bought some 4 function lights off ebay (amber turn, red tail/stop, plate lights) for about 20 bucks and a US trailer wiring adapter kit from Amazon, the Tow Ready 118405. The amber turn is specific to Europe and my car is American, so I had to do some DIY electrical to make them work. Since brake and turn functions run to the same lead on the US harness, I needed to run a separate brake wire to get proper function with the euro tails. No big deal, and now I have taillights even when the bike rack is loaded up. I like it so much that I will continue to do this for everything blocking the tail lights on all my vehicles when I go back to the states. We honestly need to get on board with those types of regulations. Anyways...
The rack shakes like CRAZY because it is a puny 1 1/4" hitch. To help with that, I bought some super-hard-to-find Curt bike rack straps that hook to the trunk. They are great inventions with a loop on one end and a cinch strap with a trunk hook on the other.
Here it is:
I bought a Swagman XTC2 platform rack that holds 2 bikes off Amazon. I also installed a Curt 112653 hitch.
Since nothing can block the tail lights in Europe, I added 2 LED trailer lights to the rack. To do this, I bought some 4 function lights off ebay (amber turn, red tail/stop, plate lights) for about 20 bucks and a US trailer wiring adapter kit from Amazon, the Tow Ready 118405. The amber turn is specific to Europe and my car is American, so I had to do some DIY electrical to make them work. Since brake and turn functions run to the same lead on the US harness, I needed to run a separate brake wire to get proper function with the euro tails. No big deal, and now I have taillights even when the bike rack is loaded up. I like it so much that I will continue to do this for everything blocking the tail lights on all my vehicles when I go back to the states. We honestly need to get on board with those types of regulations. Anyways...
The rack shakes like CRAZY because it is a puny 1 1/4" hitch. To help with that, I bought some super-hard-to-find Curt bike rack straps that hook to the trunk. They are great inventions with a loop on one end and a cinch strap with a trunk hook on the other.
Here it is: