D_k

I had the Yakima Q towers, and I didn't like it at all. The rubber seal on the door started to rip, water was leaking on the driver side door and the q clips scratched the paint (even with 3m clear film under it).

I am in the market for a new bike rack, and I'm hoping somebody can guide me to a trunk rack that is SAFE for the car? I was also considering installing a hitch, but would like to avoid that if a safe trunk rack is available. Thanks guys!

ggesq

iTrader: (1)

:ibTLTri__girl:

Adobeman

IMO - Hitch rack is the only thing that will be completely safe from marring the finish. You may be able to get a trunk rack where part of it touches the license plate but the other part will rest on paint. For that you can apply some 3M Scotchgard Paint Protection Film (easily found on ebay) to the areas that it touches. Not a perfect solution but better than all the scratches you'd be getting otherwise. But, you also will have a good chance of some part of the bike contacting your bumper as well and that's going to move and bump around.

I've used the 3M stuff on areas of my bike where stuff rubs and it's really pretty durable. That said, I'm not sure I'd like segments of it on my trunk lid all the time.

A 1 1/4 in hitch is pretty simple to put on the TL and is all you need if you are just carrying one or two bikes. Don't even bother with lighting wires.

Edit - Just saw you mentioned 3m clear film in your OP. Sorry to be redundant but others may be interested so I left it.

D_k

I've been looking at hitch racks, but most of them require some drilling, which I really don't want to do. Is there one you can recommend that is "bolt on"?

lleron

iTrader: (1)

I don't believe that there are any "bolt-on" racks available for the TL as it really wasn't designed for a hitch. All I've seen require holes to be drilled in the trunk floor (although almost all the weight is being carried by the tow hook, not the thin sheet metal in the trunk).

Adobeman

Exactly what I've seen too. Two holes would be drilled in the spare tire well and a U clamp is used on the rear tow hook. The hitch weight will actually be in cantilevered as an up force into the bottom of the spare tire well. Easy-peasy

I would not be too concerned about drilling holes in the bottom of the spare tire well. It's easy to seal/plug it up later if you remove the rack without anyone ever seeing it. It's the slot you need to cut in the cover panel (for the receiver) that might look odd once the hitch is removed. You could always replace that but it ain't cheap @ $75 (p/n74550-SEP-A00).

Other con is that the rear tow hook is also a rear jacking point. Not sure if the rack would interfere or get damaged if you tried to jack with it still on.

I ride a lot but rarely need to transport my bike. The rare times I do I just use the hitch rack on my wife's CR-V.