Trailer Hitch - Reese Shadowmount: Bike Rack Worthy?

[richard612]

I am considering a Reese Shadowmount receiver hitch for my '99 Toyota
Solara.

The Reese Shadowmount is not a conventional square receiver design. It
uses a ball mount that is about 3/4" thick and about 2" wide. This
proprietary hitch design is more cosmetically appealing than a
conventional 1 1/4" or 2" square receiver.

Will I be able to find a bike rack that works acceptably on this hitch?
It appears that I have two options.

The first is a Reese rack that I have never seen and probably wouldn't be
able to lay eyes upon unless I order one.

The second option is a ball mounted rack. I'm skeptical of these. A ball
mounts to a ballmount by means of one single bolt/shank. How would a rack
be prevented from rotating if it were bolted into the ball's mounting
hole? If there is some kind of "stop" that limits rotation, how does this
"stop" adjust to accomodate different hitch configurations/models?

I'm close to just doing the ugly thing and buying a conventional 1 1/4"
hitch but I thought I'd put my net-feelers out first...

RM

PS - Please copy any follow-ups to my e-mail address. I don't read half
these groups.

[Paul]

As far as the ball-mount bike racks go, I have one and have had no problem.
There really isn't any serious force trying to turn
your rack around, so it is not a problem - the bolt being securly tightened
is more than enough to keep the rack from turning. The only advantage that
I have seen on the receiver-hitch racks are that some allow you to lower the
rack (with bikes *still* attached) to get into the rear hatch of your
vehicle.

richard612 wrote in message ...

[Sven]

The ball mount rack we sell (DrawTite #4862 $69.72) is mated to the ball
mount by means of an inverted piece of channel, that stradles the ball
mount to prevent rotation.
--
Sven
The Expediter
1-800-330-1800 / fax 1-888-330-1888
Dealers and manufacturers, please visit our web site.
http://www.expediter.com

[Scott]

richard612 wrote in message ...
>
>I am considering a Reese Shadowmount receiver hitch for my '99 Toyota
>Solara.
>
>The Reese Shadowmount is not a conventional square receiver design. It
>uses a ball mount that is about 3/4" thick and about 2" wide. This
>proprietary hitch design is more cosmetically appealing than a
>conventional 1 1/4" or 2" square receiver.

Check out
<www.hitch-web.com>

They have receiver-type hitches for the Solara--the hitch search engine
even specifically lists the Solara. It's a Dalan Class 1 Receiver hitch
(1-1/4" Square Receiver with Ballmount) for $113.23.
They also sell Reese bike racks for the hitches (ball and receiver mount),
but I was looking at Thule's
<www.thule.com>

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