I am in the market for a swingaway bike rack and was considering Swingdaddy and Thule for our Sprinter. Would appreciate any recommendations pro and con.
I bought a sportrack swing away in 2006 and love it. Was much cheaper than Thule. Good for 3 bikes and holds it in place much better than the rubber straps. Personally, I know it was build better than Thule. I think Thule has now bought out Sportrack.
* This post was
edited 04/30/12 05:48pm by thriftydutch *
Observations:
The arm is just long enough in the swung-out position to allow the rear passenger door to reach its 90 degree detent. Maybe 1/4" left over. Works for me, not sure about 2007 and newer Sprinters.
The Yak locks to the 2" receiver and comes with a same-key built-in cable lock. Good casual security. U-locks can be used for better security.
The 4 bike mounts are easy to adjust. Bear in mind that almost any three bike combo will fit but for four bikes they may need to be similar enough to nest close enough. A problem for most multibike racks. Moral: get more capacity than you need.
The Yak is bulletproof--and you pay for it. (Mine was half price as an LLBean return)
It is a shame that swingaway type racks can't be offset enough to allow the rear passenger door to open with an empty rack in its closed position. I take the rack off between vacations as I use the rear doors a lot and it is extra work to swing out the empty rack if it is on the hitch.
I have the Thule Revolver and love it. It does double duty, carrying a couple of bikes and a couple of recliners. The rack swings to the right side of the van, with the bikes and chairs on and allows both back doors to be opened. It's a bit pricey at around $375, but I'm impressed with the quality and functionality.
Alan
2007 Roadtrek RS Adventurous
FMCA F386555
W1ALM
Just installed our Yakima Swingdaddy. Not as easy to operate as the videos portray. I guess we will get used to it. We are having about 1/8" problem opening the doors, but my "get-r-done" hubby says he can fix that. ;-)
We have now used our Yakima Swingdaddy on one trip. It has been great! "Get R Done" shaved the 1/8" off a very small section of the rack and we can easily open the doors when the rack swings away. We can't lock the right side door, but that has not been a problem. We can use a bungee cord to hold it if we find it necessary.
We road over 22 miles in two days on the bikes. The Orange County Bike Trail is fabulous and safe. The scenery was magnificient and Downtown Winter Garden is great ! Bike stores, boutiques, Baptist Church and restaurants. We stayed at the Encore RV Park there and road our bikes to downtown. Great weekend !
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