I am going to do the same, probably going to use my parents new trunk mounted rack. I don't think it would have any problems. I'll take a picture of it maybe this weekend if I go mountain biking.

 

Hi, I, over many years, have tried various types of bike carriers some of which were not very safe and ultimately damaged the rear of my vehicle. The best solution for me is a trailer hitch with a hitch mount bike rack; such as a SwagmanXC2(or any similar other); a hitch mount with two adjustable wheel inserts and and a locking arm pressing down on the down tube or top tube of the bike. The pin threads into the receiver making the rack solid on rough roads, braking and cornering situations. I had this on my previous vehicle and I am anxious to get a hitch installed on my Patriot for this purpose ASAP.

 

i agree.
i have a thule hitch bike rack.
it's perfect.
all others are prone to damaging something:
roof ones are quite difficult to access, as the vehicle is quite tall (not to mention lifted ones),and you might scratch something when lifting the bike.not to mention you always get bugs onto the bikes and they come out quite hard.you can't use any covers because they can tear off.
rear gate mounted ones always damage the paint regardless of their protection (mostly rubber or foam),because those parts actually rub onto the vehicle even if you tighten them as hard as you can.
with the hitch rack you just need to be careful not to touch the rear gate,but that's not so hard to do.you can use covers with no problem.
another plus is the fact that you can use it as a luggage box if you fit a box on the rack instead of the bike carrier system.
that is definitely a plus.

 

I have had them all, and the hitch mounted is definitely the way to go. Even if you aren't going to tow with it, a hitch receiver is great to have for accessories.

I had the trunk/gate mounted version on our old voyager, it marred the paint, and the straps had a tendency to come loose on longer trips when rain was involved. I had a roof rack mount on my Durango, it was great, but i lost my grip when hoisting my trusty Gary Fisher up there one day and it cost me 300 bucks to get the scratch fixed.

For now I have the el-cheapo Bell 2-bike rack that I bought at Target, it has never let me down, but we are outgrowing it as the kids bikes don't fit in the riot as well as they did in the Durango. I have my eyes on a Yakima Double Down 4, and as soon as the wife produces a coupon for Dick's, It's mine.

 

Agreed on hitch mounted. I have one that my in-laws gave me. Its the type that straps to the rear hatch. I have no idea how to use it, I have not attempted, and I do not plan on attempting it because by the looks of it, its going to do some damage.

 

I've used the hatch ones in the past on a minivan. They work quite well with not damage if you drive carefully, slow around turns and bumps. They are cheaper than the hitch ones but I don't have a hitch anyways. I wish I did though, it would be nice to have a tow hook on the hitch or something I could use when offroading.

 

I had a Saris hatch-mount rack on my old Cherokee. It worked well enough, keeping the bikes away from the gate, but it was a pain to put the rack on with all the straps that had to be tightened. It also made it impossible to open the hatch, which I use all the time to haul the dog around.

When we bought our Liberty, I briefly considered a roof mount, but it's so tall that I figured I'd wreck my shoulders, so I went with a spare-tire mounted rack. I always expected bikes and tire to fly off the back when traveling down the highway.

With my Pat, I again considered and rejected a roof carrier. I installed a Mopar hitch and splurged on a Yakima Holdup, and have been extremely happy. Now if it would just stop raining so I can hit the road again.

 

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I guess my next order of business is to figure out how to put a hitch on my Jeep.

 

I guess my next order of business is to figure out how to put a hitch on my Jeep.

There's an app for that...

But seriously, there are threads for installing a hitch on the '07-'10 and another for the '11. If you aren't adding it for towing and have no need for a wiring harness, and you have an 07-10 riot, you could probably add it in less than 30 minutes.

 

Hitch is super easy, it is kinda a pain in the but going behind the bumper cover for the last 2 bolts but for me it's still way easier then removing the whole rear bumper cover. It literally took me under 10 mins to...

1. lay a old towel under jeep
2. fit hitch under and behind bumper
3. have my friend hold it for few seconds so i put bolt through
4. put all bolts through add soem lock tight to threads and tighten.

the hardest part was tightening bolts closest to bumper because of exhaust.

 

Sounds like most folks went the hitch route. I use a roof-mount, a Thule model with Thule cross-bars. It's a really high-quality setup and very sturdy--I went with the roof model because we also tow a trailer occasionally, and I take the bike, too. I'd recommend Thule products for sure.

As for a hitch, I installed one of the ones that U-Haul recommends. It's smaller and sticks out from under the bottom trim, but I didn't have to cut into the body, which I didn't want to do. It was a snap on the Pat, though--just a few bolts and boom, it was done. The wiring harness was a little trickier, but if you're not towing, you don't have to worry about that.

Good luck!

 

No problems and no damage after taking it on the interstate for a while

 

Nice bikes there C-Man.

 

I fold my seats down and put mine in the back... to bad my downhill does not fit in the back. I need a bigger 4x4.

 

I need a bigger 4x4.

ABSOLUTELY!!!!

 

I have a yakima bigdaddy 4. We have used it for 400-500 mile trips consistently without any issues. Goes into the hitch and folds down if u need to acess the rear. I even mount it on my wrangler and go thru some harsh terrain and the bikes are fine. Another vote for hitch mounted!

 

I have the Allen 5-bike hitch mount for my patriot. Cost about $100 works great