Introduction To Hatch And Trunk Mounted Bicycle Carriers

    There are a lot of different bike racks available these days. If you're an occasional rider looking for an affordable way to bring your bike with you, a trunk or hatch mounted rack is a great option. With these strap on racks, there's no need to stretch and strain while lifting your bike up onto the roof. There's also no need to have an expensive hitch receiver installed on your vehicle, either. They are likely to interfere with rear of vehicle access while strapped onto your vehicle, though, so if you're a more frequent  rider with a lot of gear to haul, you may want to take a look at receiver hitch mounted bicycle racks or roof rack mounted bicycle racks instead. We hope this introduction to trunk and hatch mounted bike carriers will help you decide if a strap mount bicycle rack is right for you.

Trunk or Hatch Mounted Bicycle Carriers

    Most vehicles on the road today can safely utilize trunk and hatch mounted bicycle racks,  even on most hatches with glass or plastic at the top. Thule and Yakima's strap mounted racks have straps which can be threaded out from inside the hatch in these cases, instead of attaching load-bearing clips directly to glass or plastic areas. These racks won't fit on certain vehicles with spoilers, and some vehicles just aren't meant to carry weight on the trunk or hatch, so it's always a good idea to double-check your vehicle in The Rack Warehouse Fit Guides. These racks won't work with your vehicle's spare in the way, so if you have a rear mounted spare tire, you'll want to check out our spare tire mounted  bicycle carriers.
    Installation of these carriers is fairly simple. For most vehicles you will set the carrier's center hinge angle first. This involves opening the hinge by an amount specified in your carrier's instructions, and then locking it in place using an adjustment knob or switch. Then the top two straps are hooked into position on the top of your hatch or trunk. Then, with the carrier resting on its thick, finish-friendly foam pads, the side and bottom straps are hooked in place. Finally, all the straps get tightened, and you're ready to go!  
    Just like most hitch mounted bicycle carriers, these racks have two "arms" with special cradles that grip the top frame tube on your bike. If your bike lacks a  top frame tube you'll need a bike frame adapter for it. Most hatch or trunk mounted bicycle racks even allow you to fold the bike arms down if you'll be driving around without any bikes on the rack. This makes parking much easier!

    Hopefully, our introduction to hatch and trunk mounted bicycle carriers has given you an idea of the many options available to you to carry your bikes. We'll be going over spare tire mounted bicycle carriers and a lot of other gear hauling options later on, so be sure to check out carrackfacts.blogspot.com again. Of course, if you need some more personalized advice on bicycle carriers, feel free to give us a call here at The Rack Warehouse. We're always happy to share our expert advise with you at 1-800-272-5362.