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Agreed. I was just thinking about people who already had one.
Bike Rack on the Tow Bar!
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Is there some minimum distance one should maintain from the hole for the locking pin to the end of the shaft that inserts into the receiver?
I’m a bit wary of asking someone to hack off a half inch or so of the one I got in case it matters.
Hmm. If only there was someone around who’s an expert in structural engineering....
Wait!!
Not exactly sure what spatial warping happened overnight but after taking measurements and checking again looks like mine fits!
So works for a Thule Camber. Can be had for 2-bikes or 4-bikes. It need 1.5” receiver depth and the OEM hitch has about 1.75” depth.
@hafroe check out the Thule Camber or any rack whose insert needs <1.75” receiver depth
All good here!
![3518]()
Not exactly sure what spatial warping happened overnight but after taking measurements and checking again looks like mine fits!
So works for a Thule Camber. Can be had for 2-bikes or 4-bikes. It need 1.5” receiver depth and the OEM hitch has about 1.75” depth.
@hafroe check out the Thule Camber or any rack whose insert needs <1.75” receiver depth
All good here!
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645 Posts
Wow. 1.5" or even 1.75" of receiver depth is really tiny. I'm amazed that there are racks that say they only need 1.5". With four bikes that's some serious moment to react out over such a tiny distance. And the fixity is going to be really small compared to having a longer penetration depth.
Certainly you would never want to do an bumpy off-road travel with only 1.5" of insertion. Yikes.
Seems like the hitch was really designed with a ball joint in mind, and not a bike rack. Good to know that there appear to be some racks that will work, but this is a huge bummer for me. The 1up rack wants 4.3" per the spec.
SUPER frustrating that none of these specs were available at purchase time. In hindsight you might have guessed that it was the Volvo part and gone from there, but I didn't know.
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Give me some specifications (depth of insertion and metal thickness) and I can do some rough calculations to see if it's good, iffy, or no good.
The depth of insertion does matter, but so, too, does the weight and how far the center of gravity of the weight/bike rack combo is from the tow hook. A longer insertion depth translates to less stress on the socket, principally.
The depth of insertion does matter, but so, too, does the weight and how far the center of gravity of the weight/bike rack combo is from the tow hook. A longer insertion depth translates to less stress on the socket, principally.
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Let's make sure we are all using the same terminology here. The Thule fitment guide, for example, has two specs: one for the "pin hole depth" (the distance from the aft face of the receiver to the center of mounting hole) and one for the "receiver depth" (the available insertion distance in front of the hole, measured from the center of the hole forward).
So, for example, for the Thule Camber, it wants 1.5" of pin hole depth PLUS 1.5" of receiver depth. So this is a total of 3" of inserted metal. Does the hitch have 3" of room? If so, I was misunderstanding the earlier posts.
See:
Fitting compatibility
So, for example, for the Thule Camber, it wants 1.5" of pin hole depth PLUS 1.5" of receiver depth. So this is a total of 3" of inserted metal. Does the hitch have 3" of room? If so, I was misunderstanding the earlier posts.
See:
Fitting compatibility
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Are there technical drawings for the hitch available? Can someone post a link?
for clarity, I’m defining “receiver depth” as the distance from center of lock pin the to end of the receiver hole.
overall distance from receiver opening to end is substantially more than that, at least 3” or so more.
I can’t find schematics easily.
But If work slows down and I can find a ruler I’ll pop out to make more measurements. Let me know what you need!
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I always prefer more than 1.5" of insertion 🤣 But seriously something seems very fishy here. There is no way that PS put a hitch on that can't accept the vast majority of bike racks. I for one will be pretty upset if I spent $1K on something I can't use without going to a welding shop (not happening). I would test this out with my Yakima but it's way too cold right now, so not finding out until Spring won't change anything. I'll be pissed or happy either way.
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This seems much more likely for the entire depth. Else there's no way the ball attachment would be able to go in deep enough to trail 2K lbs.
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Thanks is much @polerad. Absolutely no rush. It will be weeks before I have my car again anyway.
I don't think your definition fo the "receiver depth" is unreasonable, but just wanted to be clear that it differs from Thule's definition!
I'd love to know the total possible distance from the aft face of the hitch before you run into something. The location fo the pin hole doesn't matter to me for my hitch (which doesn't use the hole). I just need to know how far you can insert something before you run into something.
Thanks! Sorry you are working on the weekend. Me too...
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I would like to applaud the considerable restraint exhibited by our forum members when talking about insertion.
to be clear any measurements I take will be from a graduated ruler or similar and not estimated via any appendages. I like my car but there are limits - especially as this would be in my work parking garage.
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I withdraw my previous post.
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Guilty! 😈
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Forum interruptus.
using nomenclature from here
Don’t have the most accurate ruler (paper, pen, iOS measure app) but:
aft opening to pin hole center (‘pin hole depth’ in that pdf) is ~2.5”
Pin hole center to full depth (‘receiver depth’ in that pdf) is just under 2”
Overall depth from opening to end is just under 4.5”
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SWEET JESUS! That makes my day!!!! I need 4.3 inches. So 4.5" for the win!
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Reminds me of an old (and dated and sexist) parallel parking joke from high school:
Q: Why can't girls from [insert rival school here] parallel park?
A: Because for years guys from [rival school] have been telling them that this [hold fingers 3" apart] is 12".
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