KAC E2 1.25" and 2" Hitch Receiver Mount Bike Rack Carrier 2-Bike Capacity for Truck, SUV, and Car - Platform Tray Style, Compact Folding Design - (Adapter Included) – RV Use Prohibited

I just received this carrier today and was anxious to see how it performs. Assembly went fairly well, but the instructions could be more detailed. 2 extra "spare" plastic pieces were included, but not shown in the instructions, and almost no info on what they are for. My Prius has a 1.25" hitch which I had professionally installed when I purchased the car. I think it has a label with "Curt" on it. I just recently bought an ebike and I wanted a platform carrier to take it to nice riding locations. I only plan to place 1 bike on the carrier; it weighs ~50 pounds with the large battery installed. I may remove the heavy battery when traveling. One of the first things I noticed during installation is that the horizontal bar that attaches to the car receiver **has way too much vertical movement**. I don't want the rack/bike bouncing up and down a lot while driving. Since this might be due to the receiver opening being too large I decided not to deduct 1 star for this. I did attach a hitch clamp which essentially eliminated the vertical play. I also was not confident in the pin that goes vertically in the vertical bar, so I installed a good bolt to make that part of the rack more secure. Over-tightening the bolt slightly bent the 2 horizontal metal tabs the bolt goes through, but not enough to be concerned. The bottom of the vertical hook (near the adjuster knob) gets too close to my battery case. With some movements while driving this lower section of the hook bar would be hitting and damaging my battery case. So I added some cushion foam to the bar in that area to prevent that from happening. When I first tried to slide the vertical hook up to remove my bike, the top of the bike fell forward toward my car. The left handlebar hit my rear window and created a small scratch. This was due to the entire rack having a slight angle at the top toward my car. Adding extra bungie cords is a very good idea while traveling. The 3 included straps seem to be pretty strong. After putting the bike on I noticed how much my taillights and license plate were being blocked, especially by the large battery and the fat tires. I immediately ordered the Curt 53201 Auxiliary Automotive LED Light Strips. They should fit perfectly on the rack's rear right and left sides of the horizontal bar. Will need to do the wiring from the car, of course. I will check up to see if I can obtain a temporary license tag (or make a color copy of my license plate) to put on my rear window when using this rack with the bike on. I need to find out what the laws and options are in Oregon. Each state has different laws regarding the obscuring of taillights and license plates by rear racks, etc. Some have zero tolerance; some have 100% tolerance. Most are in-between. I went for a test ride for a few miles in the hills around my home and the rack/bike seem pretty secure----some movement, to be expected, but not enough to make me concerned. Should be good to go on the freeway at 65 mph. I'll soon find out! Overall, initially, I am happy with this rack.

I had read reviews on many “bargain” carriers because I really did not want to spend hundreds on a bike rack (especially after already spending more than I’d ever thought I’d spend on a bike with no motor lol!). After finally choosing this carrier, I kind of expected this somewhat lightweight package to arrive. I was quite surprised that the package was not all that lightweight! Parts felt heavy duty and well constructed. Instructions were pretty straight forward for the most part (although it took me a minute to figure out what the extra parts actually were…a backup pair of plastic inserts for one of the tire cradles…you’re welcome lol). I have a 1 1/4” receiver so removed the pretty stout metal 2” conversion sleeve. After assembly and installing on the vehicle, it is very stable! There is only slight movement due to being able to remove pins to fold the center stand down for lift gate access. But very solid at the hitch mount itself. Pretty substantial threaded bolt as opposed to a hitch pin, so not a quick attach/detach if you’re not wanting to keep the rack on the vehicle at all times. The bikes looked very secure without much movement when hauling…I kept checking the rear view mirror the entire time! Definitely worth the money, especially at the discounted price. My only complaint isn’t even about the carrier itself. It’s the fact that even without a bike being hauled, my reverse sensors start beeping like crazy thinking I’m about to back into something!

I bought the smaller 1.5"insert for my flat carrier. I don't recommend this one for full size bikes. maybe for kid size ones. I do own the larger 2" insert size, this one work great, I can put two pedal assist bikes on it, plus it folds up when not in use.

I am writing this review about 3 years after my purchase. I read the reviews saying it was not very stable, shakes, etc. My thoughts at the time was they must not have things fully secured and I was right. In the last 3 years we have used this rack on 2 different Toyota Camrys and driven about thousand miles with our bikes on it. I was sure to tighten everything extremely well as far as all the bolts go. I also make sure that the pin is securely in place and screwed down tight. To give it a little more security I use a ratchet type tie down to hold the bikes tight to the frame. On short trips I don’t do that because the adjustable bars will work just fine. This has definitely paid off and is in my mind an excellent product.

I just got my rack and assembled it and I am very pleased with it. I bought it for the discounted price but it is not built like a discount rack. The metal is a much thicker gauge than I expected. The nuts that hold the main bars on are teflon locknuts, the wingnuts and screws have lock washers, and the pivot points have hard plastic bushings to reduce rattle and make them pivot easier. I tend to be very critical about safety/structure and generally will decide to upgrade the hardware included with items like this or even add extra bolts, rivets, welds, etc to reinforce the structure but I feel no need to do so this time. The only thing I could see someone being unhappy about is that the instructions could be clearer, but there are not a whole lot of pieces so even someone without a lot of experience will be able to figure it out.