Recreational & Family - Hitch mounted swing away bike rack

After some research on the different types of bike racks, I've decided on purchasing a hitch mounted swing away bike rack. We own a Toyota Sienna and we like the idea of being able to access the back of our van while the bikes are still loaded. I have read many reviews for the Yakima Full Swing, as well as the Thule swing away Revolver. Does anyone have any experience with the Allen Deluxe swing away or the Surco swing away? They're not as expensive as the Yakima or the Thule so I was wondering about the quality of the racks and the ease of use.

I have no info on the swing away racks although we do have a swing away mount for a tray.

Do you have a hitch on the van yet? If not there are some good resources for the Sienna about how to mount if you diy.

So I tried looking up the swing away mount for a tray and I couldn't find any information. Do you know where I can find some more info on that style?

Also, we don't have a hitch yet.....I looked at some other posts and I don't think I want to install one myself; uhaul is an option; or the dealer. Are there particular resources you can recommend?

Thanks!

We use the four-bike Revolver from Thule that swings to the side on our Highlander. It is expensive and heavy but also rock solid. We had a local independent shop mount a 2-inch Reese hitch for us.

So I tried looking up the swing away mount for a tray and I couldn't find any information. Do you know where I can find some more info on that style?

Also, we don't have a hitch yet.....I looked at some other posts and I don't think I want to install one myself; uhaul is an option; or the dealer. Are there particular resources you can recommend?

Thanks!

Proline Racks (http://www.prolineracks.com/hitch-cargo-carrier.html) has an assortment of hitch carriers. Thule and another company (don't recall the name, I think Stowaway is the product name) offer swing away boxes. They work quite well. If you detach the box you have a swing away arm that you can mount any platform you'd like to it (within weight limits of the arm).

I used this forum on Sienna club (http://www.siennaclub.org/forum/index.php?showforum=42) to pick and install our hitch/lights/airlift combo. It is not too difficult. If you have a newer model, be aware that the hitches do sit somewhat low to the ground (~7-8" clearance), hence the airlift. Total install time was about 3 hours of messing around and figuring out where I wanted to run the lines. I would say to not go to the dealer to get the install done, they are usually more expensive than other options plus I think there hitch is just a more expensive rebrand. UHaul can be hit or miss. Read around the Sienna club for more info.

You pretty much can't go wrong with Thule, Yakima or RockyMounts. Saris is mostly good. There are other manufacturers that make good things but I just don't know them.

Good Luck.

We combined the Swagman XC RV (model #64664,$129-169) with a Red October swing away base (MWE Racks, $299). This model Swagman is designed to slide onto a hitch extender and works great on the horizontal leg of the Red October. Now we can open the back doors of our conversion van without removing the bikes. I drilled a new pin hole on the leg so the Swagman could be attached closer to the vehicle. It also has two bolts to secure it to the leg. We looked at the Thule and Yakima swing aways, but we wanted a platform rack, rather than have our expensive bikes hanging from a bracket.My wife's bike is a step through, so the platform rack is much better than buying a bar for her frame.

Rack tilted up Bikes swing away completely
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