I'm no engineer and don't generally read instructions but would never be comfortable having 5 bikes bouncing around back there on any rack.

ZombieTaco is correct that the adapter could not have been properly mounted unless it was removed after the break and before the photo. It bolts in, and cannot slid deeper into the receiver than the rest of the hitch. What's also odd (and this is not shown clearly in the manual) is that there is an 'anti-sway' piece of metal that should fit in that 45 degree corner cut where the hitch broke. You can see it here:

When the hitch is properly mounted, that piece snugs down right at the weak spot in the hitch. If that piece wasn't mounted, then the hitch would have extra movement right at the worst possible spot. Perhaps that piece broke off and disappeared, but it also bolts to the hitch, like the adapter, and so should be visible in the photos. I think there might have been two places where there was operator error.

If this hitch was as rarely used as the OP says, then it would be easy to mount it up without remembering the proper procedure ("Manual, we don't need no stinkin' manual"), with this as the result. If the OP can't be bothered to come back and clarify, I have to agree with ZombieTaco.

oh it's aluminum? hmmm my Swagman Titan is solid steel

aluminum shaft? with a hole drilled in it outside of the hitch for a lock? that's kinda asking for trouble. is this industry even regulated? are there any standards that must be upheld? this kind of failure at highway speed could have caused a death

and etrailer's demo video is lame. they should load that sucker up w 5 bikes & take it over road some obstacles

I would assume that the OP removed the adapter to show the break. Until he posts again, we won't know. since he was a first-time poster, I assume he opened an account here (and probably elsewhere, as well) solely to vent his spleen. Looks like we opened up a lot of questions he did not plan on. If, in fact, he was not using the adapter, you can bet that he won't post here again.

Weld failure of mount put a whole family's bikes & rack on the road 20 feet behind Me (on my bicycle) .. about 6 years ago..

big Thud..

RF, not so sure. For a two inch receiver, the shank should have had the two inch adapter, which appears to be screwed on to the shank (Figure 2a in ZombieTaco's post). I don't see that part screwed onto the shank in the OPs pics. The adapter adds some meat and strength to the shank. Still a goofy design: a drilled part, with the drill size significant in relationship to the shank, drilled diagonally (!!!) thus removing part of the more highly stressed edge of the shank, and with the drilled hole stressed in bending moment (even worse: an oscillating bending moment) rather than just tension.

The lack of adapter may have resulted in higher than normal bending forces and stress on a weakened (drill holes) part with stress concentrators (diagonal hole). Can't quite see the fraction angle, but it looks like either a fatigue failure or a failure due to high episodic (OP hit a bump) stress.

I agree. I've always assumed such things to mean 2 adult bikes and three smaller children's bikes for a family camping trip. We used a 4 bike rack when I was a child, with the fifth in the back of the van, I couldn't even imagine getting five adult bikes to fit, let alone being comfortable with it.

After using roof racks, I just can't get comfortable with any back rack anymore. SO much more secure up top, so long as you remember they are up there.

Shouldn't a 5 bike rack really have a 2" shaft rather than an adapter like that? Did a quick Google search and have not found yet anyone else have similar problems.

why is anyone thinking the adapter wasn't used? who in their right mind would use a 1 1/4" shaft in a 2" hitch? I don't see it in place in the photo but still ... can it even be installed and not rattle without the adapter?

+1
Of course something is not right with OP's photo. The adapter doesn't appear to be sticking out of the receiver like it is in the manual diagram and the video above. But again, how is the post suspended in the receiver in OP's photo?

ZombieTaco is insisting it broke where one of the two m8x30 bolts should be for the adapter, but it clearly broke through the angled hole for whatever that locking thing is.

Looks like it from the break. Never seen steel break like that.

I'm really hoping the OP can let us know if he was using the adapter. My opinion is that it's user error, but I'd like to know for sure.

After using, and continuing to use both types, hitch racks and roof racks are both very secure. Assuming you're using quality products.

I disagree. That locking knob is angled 90 degrees offset from the hole that we see. It probably just tightens down onto the flat bit of the square stock. The hole we see runs from "full corner" to "full corner" (Top right to bottom left) where as the knob in the diagram goes from top left to bottom right.

I think what happened is the OP lost the "anti sway" (or whatever it is)bar that also holds the adapter in place with the "click" (Cells C and D in the diagram) When that bar is lost, the adapter can move if it's not screwed in with the... bolts. If the adapter moves backward, the arm loses support, and effectively creates a huge lever.

I'm betting user error. (Sorry OP, everyone makes mistakes. I lost a bike off of my hitch rack once.)

My question is this. Why not just make the rack with a freaking 2 inch square bar? Why go through the process of designing all that crap just so they can use what looks to be a 1 and 1/8" bar? The answer is obviously money but why? Maybe they reused parts from a smaller 2 bike rack that's 1 1/8" compatible?

You're right about the angle of this hole. I edited a picture I found on the web:

http://i767.photobucket.com/albums/x...ons/Rack_1.jpg

You can see the remains of this bracket we are talking about in OP's photo. The hinge for this lock thing is in red. The bracket rotates down and seems to have holes on either side that line up with the diagonal hole, blue. Why there is a hole there, I am not sure. Unless something comes in from the bottom, there are no bolts that are supposed to go through it. This bracket is clearly separate from the 2" adapter.

Unfortunately, I have little hope that our OP will show back up to set us all straight.

Edit: There is a pin (was, before the thing broke) that goes through the diagonal hole (blue circles). When the knob is tightened, the bracket pivots on the pin and pulls the wedge (silvery part) to the left and expands within the receiver. This is shown in the video above. This secures the rack into the receiver. I imagine if you REALLY overtightened this knob, you could put stress on this weak portion of the rack, where the diagonal hole is. Seems far fetched to me, but this is how the mechanism works.

Edit: Since this thing secures into the receiver via the wedge, you can insert it as far as you want into the receiver. It would seem the OP put it as far as it would go before securing it with the wedge. Hence, why you can't see the 2" adapter in the photo, BUT IT'S THERE!!! Otherwise, the portion remaining in the receiver at this point would be floating!

So, how are the bikes that were on the rack?:eek:

What I see:

1) Looks like the adapter is only partially there- the turnbolt and the lower portion of the adapter are missing, and the hinged arm appears to be broken, with what looks like a tensile failure (which could be consistent with a break taking the whole thing apart). However, the bolt should've still been attached.

2) The shaft looks to be attached at 90° from the direction it is supposed to be. I can see no way that adapter could've been attached with the shaft as it is shown, nor can I see any way that the adapter breakage could happen with the shaft mounted as show, therefore, I must conclude that the picture was staged after failure, when the OP inserted items incorrectly into the hitch carrier for this picture.

3) Q.E.D., the adapter was attached properly, and the failure was not due to incorrect assembly.

Questions that need answers:

a) Where is the rest of the assembly, and what does it look like?

b) What was the total weight of the 5 bikes mounted, and was it overloaded?

To the OP: I know you came here to cast doubt upon the manufacturer of the hitch, but instead you have opened up more questions. Also, you can bet that somebody at the manufacturer has become aware of this thread, and now has a fairly complete dossier on this issue, as they await your warranty claim. Right now, you need to collect ALL the parts of the failed hitch, as well as the damaged bikes. You also need an accurate weight of the bikes mounted. Good luck!

Follow-up from OP
 

Thanks everyone for the many comments and questions and very sorry for the delayed response. I never expected this kind of interest or response.

There's no way I can address all your questions but I'll try to hit the main themes.

Firstly, I didn't post here simply to besmirch Thule. I did a lot of research before purchasing this product. I've seen hundreds of their racks bouncing down the highway with 4 and 5 bikes (and sometimes even several child bikes and other items loaded upside down on top of the lot). They have a good reputation for quality and are not cheap. I've no reason to think otherwise just because of a freak accident.

Total bike weight was about 140lbs. Less than the max rating and with the kind of stress and forces the thing will experience, I suspect a good amount of tolerance was built in beyond the max weight.

Yes...everything was installed correctly. It's impossible to use it any other way. I'm pretty sure the 2" adapter came installed since I have no recollection of assembling it. In any case, there's no way to use it in a 2" hitch without it. I went with the heavier hitch because I've seen the 1.25" hitch installed on some vehicles and always wondered why someone would opt for that. It doesn't look very sturdy. Even if you don't plan on towing more than a light weight bike rack or hitch hall, the extra girth of a 2" hitch just made me feel better. I don't know why Thule gives the option to use this rack with either 1.25" or 2".

We've never taken it off road. Only highway and local roads (it's a mini-van). Thankfully the failure occurred only a few miles from home on local roads and not on the highway or far away from home. A few seconds before, the vehicle was stopped at a light and had probably accelerated to 25-30 mph at the time of the incident.

Thanks for the excellent pics and diagrams. I'm wondering if Thule modified the adapter since I purchased my rack 4 years ago. It definitely doesn't extend beyond the opening of the receiver when the rack is inserted.

Take a look at these pics. You can see the adapter inside the receiver. The pic with my finger shows how the pin goes through the hitch and into the adapter. This is shown in figure D of the manual (only the adapter doesn't extend beyond the opening as shown).

The end of the post with the adapter is jammed in the receiver. Once I manage to get it removed I'll post a pic. But what you are looking at is exactly how it was when it broke. Not staged.

I think some of the parts flew away but I've included a pic of the parts that we did collect or salvage. There's also a pic of the main part of the rack where I am pointing to the place the adjustment knob screws into the post.

As for the bikes, I'm yet to have the full damage assessed by a repair shop but I'm hoping to get a way with just replacing some bent rims and tuning 5 tuneups (fingers crossed).

Thule did get back to me a couple of days ago with warranty forms. I filled out the online warranty form for the hitch rack and they sent me another form for the bike damage. I'll let you know how that all works out.


Update - 8/16/16

I've had a couple more emails with Thule to get the warranty claim process moving. Brought the bikes and the broken rack in to the bike shop to get an estimate of the damage/repairs on the bikes. (PLUG: Rich and his crew at Bicycle Tech are great). Rich said he thought it was strange that my rack had 1.25" post since all the 5 bike racks he sells (including Thule) have a full 2" post. We took a second look at Thule's website and sure enough, the technical specs for the Apex 5 says it fits only 2" receivers. Searched around the Thule website for pics but everything I see there is the 1.25" with adapter. Not too surprising that manual illustrations and marketing photos aren't updated or precise to the model. However, I did an image search on the web and did find this pic of the Apex 5 hitch mount on Rack-it.com. Viola! It has a 2" post.

I guess this was a design change sometime in the last 4 years. The [MENTION=337442]Kevindale[/MENTION] posted was from April 2012 and states 1.25" or 2" with adapter. I searched around for newer videos and found one for the which still has the 1.25" with adapter but the reviewer states that it's only recommended for use with a 2" hitch. While this review of the on that model. Etrailer also compares the Apex and Vertex and notes that one of the feature differences is that the Apex has a built in anti-rattle device (what the RackWarehouse.com review calls the :) but no mention of the post width. I can't imagine why they would use a 2" post on the Vertex 5 and a thinner post on the Apex 5 (which is an upgrade from the Vertex).

I'll update this post when I learn more.

Update - 8/17/16

Managed to get the broken post out of the hitch receiver. Pics attached. Also got the bike repairs estimated. Not too bad for dropping 5 bikes from a moving vehicle but more than I want to spend at the moment.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N12GEUE/ (rack)
+
Trailer Hitches, Cargo Carriers, and Bike Racks from CURT Manufacturing (hitch)

Hasn't failed me yet. :)

so was it the acceleration that broke it?

It looks like you deleted your later post from this evening. Next time, please carefully consider the situation before you tell someone flat out "You Are Wrong" and whatever else you said to me about my ignorance.

So much confusion wrapped into a single post. It's glorious.

Thanks to the OP for returning and giving us the rest of the details. I hope Thule does the right thing and makes you whole regarding the bikes and the rack. I still can't believe the design of that support post with that huge diagonal hole through it. It's like cutting a 6 inch slot for a bit of plumbing in a 2x10 floor joist - you now have the equivalent of a 2x4 as a floor joist. Anyway, thank goodness you weren't cruising down the freeway at 70 with traffic behind you. Good luck.

You need to take GOOD quality pics of EACH item, especially where the break occurred, then bag and tag each item. Send ALL the pics to Thule, along with your damage claim. Do NOT send the broken items-they are your proof. Send an itemized repair claim, along with pics and weights of each bike. Looks like you have a valid claim here. I was just playing "devil's advocate", looking for all the things that they will be looking for.

Thule Comes Through
 

Thule is sending me a check to cover the bike repairs and a new rack. Process was pretty hassle free. I exchanged a couple of emails, sent a few pics and a repair estimate. That's it. I did ask if the new Apex 5 still has 1.25" post with 2" adapter. Per Thule, "It’s still a 1.25” with the adapter, though the design and materials have changed so that this no longer happens."

I'll post again when I get it. But I'm very happy with how smooth and easy the process has been so far.

That's nice to hear. It's when things go wrong that you can really tell the true nature of a company. It looks like Thule passes.

FWIW, when I took a course titled "Design for manufacturing" required for my mechanical engineering degree, I doubt that a design such as this would get a passing grade. It's both elaborate as well as insufficient. Looks like it was designed by a committee.

But then, I may be prejudiced; I looked at racks a few years ago, and found Thule's offerings both overpriced and underwhelming, so I bought a Yakima.

best wishes, it could have been much worse

http://i738.photobucket.com/albums/x...psaiy1bsot.jpg
Now you've got me worried. I've been known to cram up to 7 bikes (albeit kids bikes)
onto this 2 inch hitch mount using a 1.25 adapter.
Also, I never imagined having to read a manual for a bike rack.