Thule Camber Hitch Bike Rack (Black) (4 Bikes) (1.25 & 2" Receiver)

Nice bike rack but must be screwed into the trailer's receiver. Instead of a normal 0.5-inch pin that keeps the hitch mount attached to the car, Thule uses a smaller than 0.5-inch diameter threaded bolt that has to be tightened when you want to use the hitch and every 50 miles thereafter until you remove the bike rack by unscrewing the special bolt.

If you don't mind letting the heavy bike rack installed all the time, then you need to worry about your license plate being covered and rust. The vertical bar may interfere with your car's lift rear door or trunk. You may need to rotate the vertical bar down away from the car to open the rear door, gate or trunk.

The two-inch cross-section drawbar slides nicely into a standard two-inch receiver. You can remove the two-inch adapter with an Allen wrench and use the 1.25-inch square drawbar in a smaller receiver; the smaller drawbar is to be held in place with a bolt rather than a 0.5-inch standard pin. The bolt that holds the bike rack to the hitch has a smaller diameter (0.41in) than the standard (0.5 in) pin and will probably wear an oval hole in your car's hitch receiver. Attaching or removing will take a few minutes. There is no provision for a pin to keep the bolt from backing out. Switching the rack on or off the car will take a few minutes.

The vertical bar rotates to make it easier to put bikes on the rack and then latch in the upright position. If your car's trailer hitch receiver is a little short (does not stick out much), you may not be able to release the latch to allow the vertical post to rotate.

The steel material is quite heavy (at least 40 pounds) and has a smooth painted finish; I expect that with the passage of time, rust will develop if you keep the unit in your car's hitch receiver all the time. I am concerned that the bike rack should be removed when not carrying bicycles but the bolt-on, heavy-piece could be a handful. The rack cannot be used for tandems or recumbents). The bicycles' front wheels must be on the right side.

I have not assessed the bike's security when leaving the car and bicycles unattended.