cnl83

I have my reservations made for my bike trip, but I have no way to get there. I drive a 1998 Toyota Camry. Im not so sure about getting a bike holder for my trunk. Any suggestions?
Anyone here use their car?


It might look real funny, because I have never seen anyone do this.

djbowen1

You should be able to take the front wheel off and fold down the back seat and slide that ***** right in.

robertsdvd

Um, am I missing something about the question? Is it a regular ol'bike? Just go to a bike shop and look at a Thule or something... That's a very non-exotic car, so I have little doubt a standard trunk rack would not fit it. Otherwise, its a mid-size sedan... I can fit my bike in the back of my Saturn SL2 (compact sedan)... just pop off the front wheel like the other poster said and shove it on it.

cnl83

Never thought about that! Good idea, I will try and post back how it works out. Now lets keep in mind, that I have two bikes to do this with..

fujibike

Years ago we put a rather plain vanilla bike rack on the back of our 83 Accord with 2 bikes, loaded the trunk, and mounted a cart top carrier on top. Took a two week camping vacation through New England and Nova Scotia without a problem. One of my most memorable vacations.

tabby

Take the wheels off of the bikes and shove one, or both, in the trunk, and one in the back seat (assuming you don't have a lot of other gear.) I would bet that you can get both in the trunk.

madpogue 

This will sound like a broken record to regulars here, but beware of one BIG risk with trunk, hitch, or bumper-mounted racks. If you get rear-ended, your bikes are probably shot and your trip is over. This happened to me once; it didn't ruin a trip (it was in town), but it trashed a nice bike I'd rebuilt by hand.

With a roof rack, you have to be mindful not do drive into a garage, car wash, etc., but you're not at the mercy of the nutjob following you. Though unless you're hauling a tandem or recumbent, or are going to be using it a lot, or for three or more bikes, I'd put 'em inside. Esp. if you don't need the back seat up, and can use the pass-through, they're most safe and most secure inside the car.

If you do choose to get a rack, there are plenty available on eBay, for a fraction of what they cost new. Go to "Sporting Goods", and search on the three main brands, "Saris", "Thule", "Yakima" (they're in several categories, so a search is best). If you get a roof rack, you can get clips that specifically fit the rack to your car.

roadfix

Do what? I'm expecting to see a photo of some very unusual contraption. There are tons of trunk racks out there..... what am I missing here?....

George

SteveE

I have an old trunk-style bike rack made by an outfit called Enflite (no longer in business, unfortunately). It carries two bikes up high over the rear trunk so in a minor rear-end collision the bikes aren't likely to get damaged. There are mounts that hold the front fork and a bar (actually part of the bike rack frame) to support the rear wheels, along with straps to hold the wheels in place. The bikes are held facing the direction of car travel (as opposed to being carried perpendicular to the direction of travel). I just throw the front wheels into the back seat of my sedan. It's easy to take on and off the car and keeps the bikes out of harms way. Heck, you don't even have to worry about driving into the garage! I have no idea why no one makes this style of trunk rack anymore as I think it is a great design.

DEK

I use a Saris Bones rack. Holds 3 bikes very securely and fits almost any car. I would think it should work well on a Camry.

Portis

I keep reading this over and over. It leads me to believe that I am in the minority. I am 35 and have NEVER been rear ended. By reading on this forum one might think that getting rear ended is common. Come on there is a chance with everything. Are you not going to buy a roof rack because some times vehicles roll over? In Kansas we also get Tornados, Hail, Deer collisions (yes some hit the rear of the vehicle as well as the top) So anything can happen to a bike mounted on a car. Your house can also burn down and that won't be good on it either.

Seriously I don't consider possibly getting rear ended a reason not to by a rear mounted rack. If anything you may get a brand new bike and rack or even a car for free.

DEK

And if you're rear-ended and your bikes are in the trunk it seems to me the outcome is the same. True, if the impact is minimal the trunk offers some protection but any impact strong enough to crumple the trunk will do the same to a bike.

RonH

Go to www.yakima.com or www.thuleracks.com to find out which racks will fit a 1998 Camry.

djbowen1

The roof rack is the best option, you can leave it on year round. The others you have to ( or should) take off because they is no way to use the trunk with it on. Anothe decent option is a trailer hitch. You bolt these on so they arent going anywhere either.

cnl83

Well here is the scoop, I went home for lunch and popped the front wheel off, and put the bike in my trunk. It barely made it in there, so im not so sure that it will work with two bikes in there, now I can get two of them in there but the trunk will not close. I will have to tie it down.
I will get a rack I can take off. My car is a very nice, and sporty looknig car. Im a business man, and require a nice vehicle to pull in up the internet cafes in. So it will have to be removable. Any body got a picture of their racks on their cars.

bac

Get a hitch mounted rack. Nothing will touch your car, and it can be removed without a trace in seconds.

cnl83

Good Idea unless I can get them both in my trunk, now putting on in the back seat is a bit risky. I can see it now, puncture wholes in my seats in every where

madpogue 

Are the rear wheels quick-release? You may still get 'em both inside by removing all four wheels. One caution, however; if this is also your "impress people" car, you'll want something on the trunk floor and seat back to protect them from possible chain grease stains.

If you go with a roof rack, the Saris load bars are, AFAIK, the quickest to install and remove. Each load bar and pair of towers is one unit, and it's self-centering. You can do it from one side of the car by turning a screw handle from either end of the load bar to tighten/loosen it.

djbowen1

the word camry and sporty dont fit in the same sentence together.

cnl83

... well, I have the sport model, with the 15 inch rims, wood grain, leather, spoiler, 5 disc cd changer, v6 .
would you like to see a picture?

DEK

Use an old beach towel over your seats. It will protect them from punctures, oil, etc.

Portis

I just got a drawtite hitch installed on my 99 Cirrus LXI. You too will need a hitch if you want to used a hitch rack. It looks pretty decent. I will post a pic when i get home. I don't have the rack yet but I am going to order one of these next week.

cnl83

Here is my brother and I for my wedding. Now this may not be nothing to some of you rich boys, but me being only 20 its the best thing that I have got. I have a bra on it now. So that made it nicer.

madpogue 

I don't have any statistics in front of me, but it should be pretty obvious that rear-end crashes are a LOT more commonplace than rollovers, tornadoes, hail, structure fires, etc... Probably moreso than all other such possibilities combined.


An impact strong enough to crumple the trunk compartment might do some damage to a bike stored inside, but more likely it will just push it forward. A trunk or hitch rack, and any bikes on it, will be the first thing to take even the most minor impact, however. The kind of crash that would normally just do some bumper damage will pretty-much destroy a rear rack and anything on it.

'Course, you're not completely off the hook with a roof rack. I've done the ultimate no-no with one: driven into a garage with a bike on the rack. Damage report: garage: two pieces of aluminum siding dented; rack: upright mount bent, wheel tray kinda twisted, tower foot crushed; car: slight cave-in dent in roof, paint scratched; dignity: deep discoloring bruise; bike: no damage (but I'm sure that was dumb luck).

XtalMan

There is a particular bike rack I've seen, where the front fork mounts on the car roof, and the rear wheel is secured to the trunk. Looks to work great for sedans and coupes.

Anyone know who makes this?