Silvercivic27

Not a lot out there on this subject, except the obvious "don't put your wheels too close to your exhaust" generic advice. Have you had or do you know anyone who has damaged wheels and/or tires using a hitch rack? If so, what vehicle and rack was involved? Was it a center or offset exhaust? Carbon wheels? Please share your stories.

link0

I've never had any damage to my wheels, both carbon and alloy from my hitch rack. It's not THAT close to the exhaust. Standard 2 bike hitch rack on a compact sedan.

StanSeven

I've never seen any hitch where bikes are even close to the exhaust

Team Sarcasm

Take a look through this thread

Hitch for Sedans

I have 2012 Civic lx and plan to get a hitch and platform rack. I doubt it will be a problem. I believe yakima has their platforms raised above where the exhaust usually is located.

Nachoman

Ha! It wasn't a hitch rack, but just one of those typical low budget rear trunk racks. Back in college I set it up so the bike's rear tyre was dangling about an inch from the exhaust pipe (yeah i was real smart back then). It blew the tyre after about a forty five minute ride.

chewa

I did the same thing! A Rhode Gear shuttle on the back of a Jag XJS! It also allowed the bikes to "float" off the end at 75mph - secured only by the bungees!

coachboyd

There was a velonews article a couple of years ago where somebody had melted an enve rim due to it being right on the exhaust for a while. That exhaust does get very hot. Enve now has a warning on their website about this very thing. I just got a new trailer hitch bike mount and the position if the exhaust was the first thing I checked.

fuel0707

My wife and I have a Saris hitch rack on our Jeep Wrangler and have had no issues due to the exhaust. However, I did have to purchase a little part called a hitch extender in order for the bikes to clear the spare tire. That extender, while not officially endorsed by Saris, is a well-known requirement for vehicles with clearance issues on spare tires. Perhaps it could be a consideration for someone who has a vehicle that places the exhaust tip(s) near the bike's wheels.

Here's an example of a hitch extender: Hitch Extender For 2" Trailer Hitch Receiver 7" Brophy Hitch Accessories HE06

Looigi

I imagine it is possible, but most hitch racks position the bikes fairly high, above the exhaust. You'd have to look at the specific vehicle, hitch and rack and decide if there's adequate clearance.

JerrySTL

I had a friend who basically cooked off a tire from the exhaust. Didn't bother the wheel once he cleaned off the braking surface with extra find steel wool.

I had a hitch rack on one car where the exhaust came straight back at the wheel. A cheap chrome tailpipe extension or tip, which pointed downwards, fixed the problem.

Something like this: https://b.cdnbrm.com/images/products/...rndown_tip.jpg

tgibson

Help me here...An 8-mile drive of 15 minutes did this? Real question...

Then a 3 hrs drive did not do anything with the same set up? No damage at all to the tire....

Darth_Firebolt

3 hours of fast moving air on the interstate is better than 15 minutes of sitting at lights with no cool air moving over the rim to keep it cool.

JagR

Type of wheel?

Sy Reene

Was this an experiment? You saw what happened after 15 minutes at slower speeds, so you tried another 3 hours presumably with more highway driving?

Ben I.

Guy on Youtube that has his own channel, Clint Gibbs, had this happen. Believe he had a Honda Civic coupe and a Transit platform rack. Ruined a nice set of carbon mtb wheels. Made the tire blow and melted or at least delaminated the carbon.

In most circumstances you'll be just find but hitch racks and sedans sometimes are problematic because the hitch is so low. Good luck

tgibson

Roval Carbon 29er

tgibson

Both were on the highway and no it was not an experiment...damage was done and I thought it was a material failure or spoke tension was too tight..

gsa103

Was that section at the bottom, directly facing the exhaust?

Results vary widely depending on the exact rack, car and hitch mount. If you think it's marginal a simple steel or Al baffle can re-direct the exhaust below the wheel.

And in general, low speed idle after a freeway drive will be the worst. High speed provides plenty of mixing with ambient air. Low speed after freeway, you've got hot exhaust due to the freeway, and not much airflow. It's a recipe for cooking wheels.

Chandne

I have seen pictures on the MTB forum a while ago but the exhaust pipe was pretty close to the wheel. This was on a sedan but I cannot see it happening on most higher vehicles. The hitch tray usually sits well above the exhaust.

SydneyFife

enzo thecat

I think this is all a myth. I have a Thule T2 Hitch. I carry my Carbon bike with Carbon (Aeolus 5) wheels behind a SUV with probably the hottest (4 port) exhaust made (Mercedes GL63 AMG). My wheels aren t even warm to the touch when I reach my destination whether its city or highway driving. Admittedly, I don't let my cars idle for inordinate amounts of time but I do carry the bike on the hitch position closest to the SUV.

PeregrineA1 

A buddy with a Lexus GX 470 and a One-up. Two carbon rims....slow learner. Ended up putting a turn down exhaust tip on and no more melted rims. I saw them both. Distance was ~12-14" clear space.

MikeEckhaus

Long time ago when I was young and stupid, as opposed to old and stupid like I am now, I had a mountain bike on a trunk rack hanging off the back of a Nissan Altima. I live on a mountain and drove the bike about 10 miles downhill to where I was riding with some friends. No issues. On the way back home, after driving uphill (more throttle) for a few miles, BOOM, tire blown. The (cheap aluminum) wheel was pretty hot, so that made it obvious what happened. Haven't screwed up since.

VegasTriker

Call me Mr. Skeptical. During the summertime where I live the road surface gets darn hot. I think I remember seeing one of the local weather reporters pointing a thermometer at the road and reading 190 degrees. You can get some serious burns by simply picking up a metal tool that has been sitting in the sun so the rims on a bike must also get pretty hot. I don't hear or read about bikes falling apart because of the heat. Sure the exhaust will be above ambient temperatures but on most vehicles it is a long way from the engine to the tip of the exhaust so it has time to cool substantially.

San Rensho 

Are you guys kidding? Put the wheels inside the car if you think the exhaust may affect them

While your at it just put the whole bike inside the hatch/trunk.

Sheesh.