I drive a Honda Element and had been putting my bike in my vehicle for 2+ years. It can be a little labor intensive and can take an 15+ minutes of my day taking out my kid’s car seats, folding up the rear seats, taking off the bike’s front wheel (and then putting everything back again before the family can go out again). I finally talked my wife into letting me get a hitch mount rack and I’m glad I bought the DoubleDown. I almost made the mistake of buying “cheaper” and I’m glad I didn’t; this thing is a well made cycling tool. I’ve kept the rack on for a few weeks now – it tilts out more than enough for me to open the back of my Element. Now, I have my bike with me 5 or 6 days a week for rides instead of just 2 or 3 times a week.

I was initially concerned because for the first 24 hours it sounded like the rack was rattling around too much but I simply hadn’t tightened it enough. A few quick turns with the corresponding socket/ratchet and I can’t even tell the rack is back there. I should also mention that Yakima provides a few tools to assemble the rack; all you really need is a screwdriver. You should have a few wrenches and maybe a socket set ready to make sure everything is nice and tight – it comes together in a few minutes. Assembly = piece of cake.

It might be a good idea to visit a store like REI to touch a few of these racks in person first – Thule makes a similar product. Shop around to see who might have the best prices and then come back to Amazon – You’ll find a few vendors with free shipping.

*Well built
*Convenient
*Easy to assemble
*Well built (to me, that’s the best part)

This 4 Bicycle Rack by Yakima is very nice. We are very happy with the stability of the bicycles when strapped onto this rack. The only issue we have is that the rack does not fit as tight as would be preferable into the hitch and this allows the whole thing to bounce quite a bit when crossing railroad tracks. Otherwise would recommend this rack to anyone looking for a rack to carry 4 bicycles at the same time.

When I first put the double-down 4 on my 2″ hitch, I found it to be quite loose as well and was initially a bit disappointed. However, after I tightened the screw and washers that came with the rack, it was solid without much swaying at all. The upper arms folds down and the lower vertical arm folds down as well. The only negative in my opinion (and this just applies to both Yakima and Thule branded racks in general) is that they can to nickel and dime the consumer with every little acessory, whether thats a bike lock that works with the rack or a hitch lock that is specific to that rack bolt. At any rate, I have replaced my previous rack with this one and am quite happy. I guess you just really get what you paid.