 "Good carrier for *three* bikes." | 2009-09-22 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1NN2JMJFV0K93 |
I bought this rack based on the good reviews here on Amazon.
The rack arrived very quickly. It is well designed, sufficiently strong tubing and joints, straps and buckles. It is simple to attach to the rear door of our Toyota Highlander without needing the instructions (which are at best a distraction, anyway... see below).
The box was sufficient to protect the contents, but there was no internal packing, not even a plastic bag; had the box been subject to rough handling or rain, I am certain the rack would have arrived damaged. Luckily mine arrived in perfect condition.
It is a bit of a misnomer to describe this as a "four-bike rack"; it is a good size for carrying three bikes. Two adults' mountain bikes, one youth's bike and one child's bike is a *very* tight fit; with the handlebars turned 90 degrees and the pedals removed to take up as little space as possible, the last bike sits just at the upturned end of the horizontal bars. Four bikes is possible, but if you have pannier racks or other accessories that add to the width, you'll probably need to remove them.
You should replace the plastic wing nuts supplied with steel nuts and apply thread-locking compound, and use bungees or extra straps to anchor the bikes to the rack.
The instruction leaflet included in the box is laughable. I suspect it has been included as a legal requirement; it is no use whatsoever.
The list of compatible cars is printed in tiny pale type; barely readable. But what is the point of including this? Surely you do the compatibility research *before* buying the rack?
The instructions are out of sequence, and have you jump forward a few pages for an SUV, then back again to the beginning. The illustrations are not helpful.
Lastly, the translations into Spanish, German and French are among the worst I have ever seen. Whoever typed them could not even get the spaces in between words in the right places when copying the text to do the page layout. Abysmal. |
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 "Works like a charm" | 2009-09-12 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2W0RBHXLMJC93 |
| I was able to use this rack to mount 3 bikes on my Toyota Matrix and traveled more than 400 miles without a hitch. The trick is to make sure all 6 anchor ropes were tightened again after the bikes are mounted or the extra weight may shift the position of the rack. The only concern is how durable the ropes can last due to the high tension. Hopefully long enough. |
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| "Great purchase!" | 2009-08-25 |
| - Reviewed By User: AKIXRUKMH439D |
We bought this bike rack to use on our Mazda MPV. We were really looking for a bike rack for a pop up trailer but those cost anywhere from $300 on up. We decided to see if any manufacturer made a trunk mount rack that could hold 4 adult bikes. We were so happy to find this unit! We used it right away for a 600 mile round trip at highway speeds and the rack worked great. The straps never loosened and the bikes stayed in place beautifully. We ended up taking all the front tires off (they were the quick release kind) so it was so easy to just slip the bikes onto the rack. We highly recommend this rack!
Just one note: if you are going to use it while pulling a trailer like we did, be sure to hook up the trailer and connect the trailer wires first! We didn't think to do that, so we had to take off 2 bikes to get at the trailer crank handle. Oh well, you live and learn right?! |
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| "ONE AWESOME BIKE RACK!" | 2009-07-22 |
| - Reviewed By User: ARMCGRPUMSF1K |
Hollywood Racks F4 Heavy Duty 4-Bike Trunk Mount Rack
Okay this was one amazing bike rack for us!! We were so worried after reading "many" other reviews on trunk bike racks (many which ended up breaking or losing ones bikes on the road or couldn't handle road speeds and still seemed to cost a fortune)so we were about to give up all together and just rush and get a hitch when lucky for us we read about the Hollywood Rack F4 and all its good reviews...we then decided we'd give it a try for the price and hope for the best as we were really not wanting to pay for a full hitch hookup yet. So being very nervous we made the purchase on Amazon and got the rack in 2 days! And let me tell you, we should "not" have worried, it was "the" best buy for the price. We not only gave this bike rack a solid test, but to be honest, we ran it through the ringer!!! We took this bike rack from Bellingham WA all the way to OR then up to the California Redwoods with twisty, potholed roads and high speeds with "4" yes I did say "4" ADULT mountain bikes strapped on the back and it never even faltered (over 14 hours of traveling time one way)! We then proceeded to push it even further and decided to extend our trip and turn around and go back up to Crater Lake OR which was another 7.5 hours from where we were in CA! Again twisty sometimes 70 mph roads with some nasty bumps and again it never showed signs of loosening, sliding, or even moving (and I was nervous and constantly looking back I can tell you)! In fact this bike rack got almost 2 weeks of serious use and was taken off and on probably 6 times and again it held strong each time it was put back on! For buyers who hope to have the same experience as us, I have 2 excellent tips and that is to make sure "all" straps are seriously tight like it says, and that you tie up all loose ends, and tip 2, take a bungee cord and wrap all the tires together one time(after you have them on the rack) so they don't spin while driving (This kept our bikes solid and non moving) (not even a tiny scuff from the rack or bikes was to be found). We had "plenty" of room for 4 adult mountain bikes (we were driving an 07 Toyota Sienna Van) We simply would alternate each one so they were not all facing the same direction. Again, I can not stress how great this rack was, the first time putting it on with 4 adult bikes (reading directions very carefully, took about 20-25min) after that first time we were doing it in 10min (if that) tops! Thanks to the maker! If all your racks are made the same then I highly recommend this product!! |
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 "Good value but a goofy manual" | 2009-07-18 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1JZ5S1MWE56V2 |
Hi there,
The carrier is really sturdy and easy to install on our Benz station wagon and Dodge minivan. The manual is goofy because for what vehicle it works should be on the outside of the box and in the web site description and not inside the box. Otherwise I am really happy with it. |
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 "Current info incorrect" | 2009-07-15 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2LI87XPTJWAYT |
| Nothing against the product, but the compatibility chart on the website said this rack would fit Toyota Prius 00-09 but it does NOT fit models past 03, according to the info manual with the rack. Of course, I have an 04. Next time I will call the company first instead of depending on website info. Otherwise the product looked good and arrived quickly. It is probably not really fair to give this a one star rating for this reason, but I'm hoping other prospective buyers might take note and double check before they order so as not to be disapointed. |
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