Allen Sports Deluxe Locking Quick Release 4-Bike Carrier for 2 Inch Hitch, Model 542QR, Black

Bought this bike rack because we were going on a road trip & wanted to bring the bikes for more outdoor things to do. I am also always bringing the bikes back & forth to our campground & having to load them into the bed of the truck can be annoying. When I was looking at the reviews for this product I saw a bunch that were geared towards SUVs & only a couple for pickup trucks. Here's my review after taking one test drive with this bike rack.1st I have to say it was easy to assemble & seems pretty durable. I liked how the rack folds down & then can be moved away from the tailgate. When I lowered the gate it does rest on the bike rack & I wouldn't recommend standing on the tailgate while it's resting on the rack, but it does allow you to get the Tonneau cover off if you have one. From there you can climb into the bed of the truck. The 1st time I did this it was without bikes, so it was rather easy. Once I got back from our 20 minute test drive I tried lowering the bike rack down with 4 bikes on (pic attached). You might want to have 2 people for this since the rack is pretty heavy with all the bikes & needed some pressure to get the pin out. Also I recommend having someone guide the bikes down so they don't slam. In the end it worked, but will take a little bit more effort. Yes, raising the rack back into place is more difficult, but it can be done.Now the process of actually putting the bikes on. My one boy's bike is oddly shaped. Of course this was the 1st bike I tried to put on and it was a bit of a challenge. That is until I figured out that the mounts for the bikes rotate, which turned out to be a huge benefit. Once I got it figured out I was able to secure the bike nicely to the rack. I have attached a pic of how I had to rotate it & turn it upside-down. This also turned out to be benficial for the other bikes since they're all shaped a bit different & being able to rotate the area they mount allowed for the bikes to be secured well. I read that some bike racks need a bar for bikes, like female angled bars, to be attached correctly, but I didn't have an issue putting all 4 bikes on.Once the bikes were on and secure I used a tie down strap to secure all the front wheels. This would keep the handlebars from moving & swaying during travel. Now we set off on the 20 minute drive from our campground back home. The road getting out of the campground is a bit bumpy, but I didn't have any issues with the bikes. The remainder of the ride was mostly highway, going about 75 mph. The bike rack & bikes held up great!Finally, the security feature. I really like that I can lock the rack into the hitch. It was easy to tighten & seemed to do a good job at securing it. That doesn't keep somone from stealing the bikes off of it though. What I did was bought a 15' security cable & lock. I wound the cable around the bikes & used the lock to secure it to the hitch. I feel with both these measures out bikes should be pretty safe.At this time I give this bike rack a 5 star rating. If for some reason I have anything to add/change I will update this review. We are about to go on a road trip (about 3000 miles) so I should know more about it's durability then.UPDATE: This thing went 4000 miles without a single issue. At times the speed limit was 80 mph & I was worried after seeing some reviews about the arm bars bending. Well this thing is a tank & I highly recommend!

Years ago, I had a very basic, similar-design hitch-rack for a Forerunner, without some newer features found on Allen (key twist-lock, lower hinge for tailgate access, and upper to minimize empty rack protruding, tie-down frame clips). This rack is sturdy, easy to put together and use. The locking crank for attaching/tightening into the receiver is genius. twisted into place (easily) it is rock-solid- NO SWAY. Clearly, someone without a key, but with a wrench could disassemble your rack at the lower elbow to steal it, but would get away with only (useless) half of your equipment. Such people DO EXIST. Keep in mind, though that (with the key) removing the rack from the receiver, folding, and stowing it while you bike is A QUICK defense of your property. I was pleasantly surprised at how two different style bicycle frames fit snugly into the frame clamps, and cinched down. the clamps are sturdy plastic, but I tend to believe such materials (in my golf push cart, for example) have a definite lifespan limitation. I would almost suggest buying a spare set if you plan heavy use, or outdoor storage. I myself had hesitated to purchase when reviewers complained of the horizontal bars bending irreparably under the weight/use on the road. I cannot refute such complaints, but don't personally anticipate such damage with balanced placement on ordinary roads. I got the four-bike model for two of us(why not? more space, almost the same price, and hey, I might carry FOUR bikes some day. Besides, one of the eight frame clips might be used as an emergency spare in the event of breakage). I use a tie-down with rubberized hooks, and foam rubber Pipe insulation tube from hardware store to protect bike finish where frames might rub. Take a picture of your setup for reference and enjoy.

I like the Allen Sports Deluxe Locking 4-Bike rack for 2” hitch so far, but bear in mind that I have only carried 3 adult mountain bikes twice so far. I also added two strap loops for belaying the outer arms to the top of my Subaru Outback. These are probably unnecessary since there have only been a few catastrophic failures out of the 2800 positive reviews so far on Amazon, but I hate surprises. Thus I went to the local hardware store and purchased two 4” mending braces (though pipe straps, tube straps, or conduit straps might also suffice). I bent each into a “C” shape using a hammer and vise. I also purchased two 2” ¼-20 bolts and two nuts with nylon inserts. I removed the 2 bolts that hold the red caps onto the ends of the horizontal arms, and replaced each of the old bolts (but left the red caps on) with a “C” brace and a new nut and bolt. This allows attaching a strap to the end of each horizontal arm. A standard 15’ nylon cargo strap just reaches through the new C brace loop and then through the tie down loop on my Outback roof rack. These straps relieve some of the downward weight of the bikes, and also prevents the bike rack from ever falling backwards if the bike rack hinge mechanism were to fail.While at the hardware store I also purchased a 6’ length of black 1.5” dia pipe foam insulation and some large black tie wraps. I cut off a few feet of the foam tubing, split it open, placed it over the vertical tube of the bike rack, and tie wrapped it in place. Now the vertical tube has a nice soft foam layer to protect the bikes. I also cut several smaller 6” lengths of the pipe insulation, split them open, and place them on the bike frames if they contact the frame of other bikes.I have had no trouble with the spacing of bikes on the rack as per other reviews. The spacing seems adequate if you follow the loading directions and stagger the bikes properly.After loading the bikes I use a long bungy cord (actually two shorter ones in series) around the frames through the wheels to secure the bikes to the vertical bike rack tube, which prevents them from swaying back and forth.Other than adding the straps, I like the Allen Deluxe rack for:- its lower cost- its lower weight- its lockable feature- its snugging feature so it does not rattle and sway back and forth in the hitchI chose the Deluxe over the Premier for its lower cost, and I like the security/simplicity of being able to see the steel pins and cotter pins snapped into place.When I originally purchased my 2016 Outback, the dealer quoted ~$600 for a 1.25” trailer hitch and another ~$500 for a high end bake rack. The Outback can hold 3 bikes inside its cargo area if the bikes are partially dissembled, so I used this method for several years before I finally broke down and decided to get an exterior rack. I purchased a 2” Draw-Tite 76227 Max-Frame Trailer Hitch from uspartsoutlet for ~$145, had a local body shop install it for $150, and purchased the Allen Rack from Amazon for a lot less than the dealer's system.