Go for the platform type or the arm type? Will be going on a '99 Suburban with 2" receiver.

Been just putting my bike in the back, with the third row folded. Doable, but a real pain (not to mention it's starting to take it's toll on the upholstery).

Swinging arm types tend to have more flexibility in mounting bikes- our two diamond frame adult bikes and two small kids mountain bikes, complete with racks, fenders, etc. would never be able to fit on a platform rack unless it was REALLY long, because of interference issues. But platform racks help to reduce the number of dings from the bikes swinging. With a Suburban, I suspect you could put on just about any kind of huge platform rack you need. :-)

I had to stop on the causeway west of here, and pull a whole bundle of the family's bikes
off the road way, out of the traffic lane when the welding of the receiver gave way
and dropped the arm rack on the road.
I was on my bicycle, just missed being hit by the thing falling away.

How about a small cargo trailer , and a set of bike racks within the trailer?
maybe even an enclosed type, so, on the road, when you park to eat, etc, no one will be tempted.

then the load is not cantilevered off the hitch , but instead only have the tongue weight on the hitch.

More in line with the stress range that the hitch receiver was intended for.

I don't think that the whole issue has played out yet but a bicyclist in the St Louis area recently got a ticket because his hitch rack mounted bicycle partially obscured his license plate.

Huh? Hitches are typically rated for a tongue load 1/10 of the towing limit, like 500 and 5000 lbs for a puny class three and 1000/10000 for a class IV. The integral rear bumper hitch on many compact pickups is rated for 300/3000 lbs. My boat or box trailer puts way more load on my hitch than any bike rack would.

Be that as it may... I have hitch rack that hangs two bikes from their top tubes which works well, but for our new carbon bikes just got a Saris Thelma hitch rack which holds the bikes by the wheels. I haven't had the opportunity to use it much but so far, I'm happy with it.

After doing a bit more thinking, I think that I'll explore the realm of folding bikes. That way, if I can convince my wife to give up her 'burban, I won't have to worry about if the rack would fit another vehicle.

Yea the fuel cost savings alone, will pay for some really nice folding bikes , if you dump the Guzzler.