Review of Allen Deluxe 4-Bike Hitch Mount Rack for Vehicles with Rear Mounted Spare Tire (2-Inch Receiver)

Allen Deluxe 4-Bike Hitch Mount Rack for Vehicles with Rear Mounted Spare Tire (2-Inch Receiver)
By: Allen Bike Racks Average Rating: 3.5 Total Reviews: 11
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Very good - do not waste time shopping

On: 2009-07-15

Only comment: they should add holes in the hitch-mount piece so that it could be adjusted as close as possible to the vehicle (given the space available) .

bike rack

On: 2009-02-12

Havent found a better buy. Best bike rack around. Works for the car, van, trailer, or camper. Amazon was very helpful, and we got free shipping. Great buy.

Just the ticket!

On: 2008-12-22

This bike rack is just the ticket for me. When mounted on my truck I am still able to raise and lower my tailgate without removing. Just what I was looking for at a great price.

Sturdy bike carrier, but not quite as stable as one might like

On: 2008-11-28

We bought this 4 bike carrier to use on our Jeep Wrangler (which, of course, has a rear-mounted spare tire).

Overall the rack is very good. The J-shaped mounting bar has ample automobile clearance - even from large off road spare tires. In my opinion, though, the large horizontal and vertical distance from the rear of the vehicle to the bikes on the rack creates a bit more on-road sway than is necessary.

As a work-around, I secure a nylon strap (left over from an old weed trimmer) between the spare tire and the rack to eliminate in-motion sway.

Again, a very good value for the price - just one small issue that is relatively easy to remedy.

Rubber is cheap and breaks down

On: 2008-07-07

The contstruction and ease of use is very good with a pickup truck. Loved it for the first few years. However, the rubber material that the tube frame of the bike actually rests on does not hold up. Ive had mine for a few years but really havent used it that much and the rubber loops where the straps go through are all coming off. This will eventually lead to the inability to secure the bikes.

Does not work with side hinged rear doors

On: 2007-07-05

I was very disappointed to find that this rack does not work with side hinged rear doors. It only works with hatch style rear doors. No where on the packaging or in the manual is this mentioned. I quickly put the rack together (very easy to do so) and was quite pleased at how solid it was. I then put it on my 2006 Hummer H3. So far, so good. Then, I went to test the mechanism that allows the rack to fold down so the rear door can be opened. I folded it down, but was stunned to find that my rear door only opened about 5 inches before hitting the bottom area of the rack (yes--even with the rack folded down). Surely, I thought, I must have installed it incorrectly. But, I hadnt. I then called Allen, and spoke to someone there who very readily admitted that the fold-down mechanism does not function well with side hinged rear doors. Oddly, he wouldnt admit that the rack is useless for such vehicles because "technically, the rack still works--you can put bikes on it". He suggested that I carry around a pair of 3/4 inch closed wrenches, and "simply take the rack completely off when the rear door needs to be accessed". I thought he was kidding, but he wasnt. Of course, this is not a viable solution. Oddly enough, the folks at Allen decided to use an image of a vehicle with a side hinged rear door on the box. You can actually just look at that picture and see that the rack would not work with that vehicle.

I would have given this product one star, but added a star to reflect its strength and the ease at of putting it together.

Shake Rattle & Roll

On: 2007-06-08

This design does not work well. The rack would shake when you put three bikes on it. The design was such that it would rattle while driving. I returned for a refund.

Allen Deluxe 4-Bike Hitch Mount Rack

On: 2007-03-12

This is my first bike rack so I dont have much to compair it to. I knew it had to be a sign when I came across the add because I actually have a Defender-90 like the one one the display. Once installed, the rack does wobble a little, but overall the bikes are pretty secure. The rack has a quick release to allow the top portion to fold down, allowing access to the back gate, but I am runnign Mud-Terrain tires on my truck and the difference between the tread is just enough to make this function useless to me because the tip of one of the knobs on the tire hit a part of the rack that does not fold. I would say if you have 32 inch tires of larger you will only be able to open your rear door a few inches, but then again, my door swings side to side, so if you had a tailgate that dropped down, you would probably be ok.
The safety PIN that secures the rack is a nut and bold. I noticed Allen offeres a locking quick release to replace this for an additional charge, which would be nice, but I guess that is why the rack is priced so low to begin with. For the money I think this is a very good rack.

Allen Deluxe 4-Bike Hitch Mount Rack

On: 2007-03-11

This is my first bike rack so I dont have much to compair it to. I knew it had to be a sign when I came across the add because I actually have a Defender-90 like the one one the display. Once installed, the rack does wobble a little, but overall the bikes are pretty secure. The rack has a quick release to allow the top portion to fold down, allowing access to the back gate, but I am runnign Mud-Terrain tires on my truck and the difference between the tread is just enough to make this function useless to me because the tip of one of the knobs on the tire hit a part of the rack that does not fold. I would say if you have 32 inch tires of larger you will only be able to open your rear door a few inches, but then again, my door swings side to side, so if you had a tailgate that dropped down, you would probably be ok.
The safety PIN that secures the rack is a nut and bold. I noticed Allen offeres a locking quick release to replace this for an additional charge, which would be nice, but I guess that is why the rack is priced so low to begin with. For the money I think this is a very good rack.

good quality

On: 2006-11-04

After buying this a couple of months ago, I still cant get over how well built this is for the money. Extra time and materials were used, compared to cheaper products made in Asia. This is a true "Made in USA" product.
The extra length alows me to carry the bikes on my truck, and still open the tailgate to let the dog in. This rack is one thing I bought, that Im proud to own.

good quality

On: 2006-11-03

After buying this a couple of months ago, I still cant get over how well built this is for the money. Extra time and materials were used, compared to cheaper products made in Asia. This is a true "Made in USA" product.
The extra length alows me to carry the bikes on my truck, and still open the tailgate to let the dog in. This rack is one thing I bought, that Im proud to own.

allen deluxe 4bike carrier

On: 2006-06-27

The product is great. Delivery was very prompt. Very easy to put on my van. The only problem was that when my husband was putting it on for the first time.One of the brackets broke off. I called the one eight hundred number. They got right back to me.But I still have not recieved the bracket. So I rate it a 4 out of five.

Easy to mount, easy to use

On: 2006-04-03

I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised with this bike rack. Normally when they print on the box "easy assembly, mounts in minutes", you need a whole afternoon before the device is actually assembled and mounted! Not the case this time, 15 minutes after unpacking the rack, it was mounted on the car.
So far no bad surprise but I only used it twice. Why not 5 stars then, especially if you consider that it is not that easy to find racks for 4 bikes? I would have prefered that the metal "clip" used to secure the rack to the car be padded with some kind of foam.