KUAT 3 bike rack and swing away installed on Bronco

[GroovyGeek]

Kuats are nice but IMO nothing beats a 1UP for both functionality and looks. Very streamlined look that matches the industrial look on an off-roader, great functionality, rock solid stability particularly if you need to take MTBs off road... And a price to match

I couple mine with a Kuat HiLo extender to provide clearance around the spare tire. For a 37 incher one may need to order a reversed bracket special order from 1UP.

I understand the potential draw of a swing away. However the Thule one I owned about five years ago was too much of a hassle to deal with each a d every time I needed to open the swing gate. The 1UP never fully moves out of the way but for most uses I can be moved down in under 10s.

I also don't think they the setup you have requires the anti rattle bracket. Never used one with Kuat and 1UP stuff and never found that I need it. Neither one uses theu-hole pins for securing the rack to the hitch.

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[GroovyGeek]

Kuat are nice but IMO nothing beats a 1UP for both functionalitu and looks. Very streamlined look they matches the industrial look on an off-roader, great functionality, rock solid stability particularly if you need to take MTBs off road... And a price to match

I couple mine with a Kuat HiLo extender to provide clearance around the spare tire. For a 37 incher one may need to order a reversed bracket special order from 1UP.

 

[GmoneyDD]

We had the Kuat NV 2.0 3-bike rack and added the Pivot V2 when the Bronco arrived and we too are very pleased. Did a lot of research and this is a great set-up IMO!

Just a little FYI, my wife and I are adopting a 9yr old boy named Anthony. We are both in our 50's and have not had any kiddos in our house in some time. And one of Anthony's favorite things to do is ride a bike. So I went and bought 3 bikes, mine, my wife's and Anthony's. Now here in Florida we have city and county trails everywhere, in particularly the Pinellas Trail, it stretches the whole length of Pinellas County and then some.

So it is about a 3 mile drive to get to it from my house. So I went researching bike racks that would have capabilities of carrying 3 bikes and functional for access to the tailgate, not to mention clearing the big ole 37 hanging off the tailgate.

After a couple of weeks and talking to reps, I selected the KUAT Pivot 2 passenger side for $398.00 and KUAT Transfer V2 rack for $549.00.

I received them both and installed. I am very pleased with quality craftsmanship of both items. Very nice setup and very much functional in every area I was looking for.

 

[BD6G]

Congratulations to your family and Anthony, it’s awesome y’all are giving that young man a loving home.

 

[JohnnyBronco]

Did you find the Pivot anti rattle setup insufficient? Looks like a different style installed??

Mine is excellent anti rattle as well. The kuat system is zero rattle and I went PA-CO-PA-NC-PA last year on a 4500 mile rounder

 

[Grumpy]

Congratulations to your family and Anthony, it’s awesome y’all are giving that young man a loving home.

Thanks, he is a wonderful 9yr old.

 

[Grumpy]

Congratulations to your family and Anthony, it’s awesome y’all are giving that young man a loving home.

Here's is the newest addition to the Bronco family, 9yr old Anthony.

 

[BD6G]

Here's is the newest addition to the Bronco family

So great to see! The smile says it all congrats again to you all. It’s awesome he loves to bike, that is my son and my hobby together is mountain biking great times.

 

[Grumpy]

So great to see! The smile says it all congrats again to you all. It’s awesome he loves to bike, that is my son and my hobby together is mountain biking great times.

Thanks, and he loves fishing. He wants to go with me everyday. Life is good!!!

 

[BuckYeah]

That rack solution is pure genius, @Grumpy! A two-bike equivalent is in my future.

 

[murphtron]

I just got back from the White Rim trail in Canyonlands - multi-day mountain bike and 4x trail. We took the Tundra TRD Pro with a KUAT Piston rack and the Bronco Wildtrak with the 1Up. I don’t want to bad mouth KUAT - they make a very nice rack. But the abuse of the White Rim may have been outside of the Piston Pro’s intended use. The 1 Up definitely held up and held on to bikes better. We had two pretty significant “raccidents” with the KUAT. We had to be far more careful loading XL and XXL bikes on the KUAT - my sons are 6’6 and 6’7.

The KUAT is definitely the easier, more refined rack for day-to-day, paved roads, etc., The 1Up is the one to use if you’re gonna be bouncing around off-road all day with high end mountain bikes. This is my opinion from several off-road trips with both racks and the older KUAT NV 1.0 rack. The KUAT has more features and looks far more refined. The 1Up looks a bit more primitive but it holds on like a pit bull.

I’m not gonna badmouth Kuat because I have the original 2-bike NV and it’s awesome. And I’ve rebuilt it piece-by-piece after several rear-enders. Kuat is a great company with spare parts.

However I agree about the 1up being a much stouter product for off-road use. The other 1up advantage for 3+ bikes is it sticks out far less horizontally from the car rear than any Kuat. Makes it easier to lower/raise. And slightly less risk of getting clipped by other drivers.

 

[lakesinai]

Just a little FYI, my wife and I are adopting a 9yr old boy named Anthony. We are both in our 50's and have not had any kiddos in our house in some time. And one of Anthony's favorite things to do is ride a bike. So I went and bought 3 bikes, mine, my wife's and Anthony's. Now here in Florida we have city and county trails everywhere, in particularly the Pinellas Trail, it stretches the whole length of Pinellas County and then some.

So it is about a 3 mile drive to get to it from my house. So I went researching bike racks that would have capabilities of carrying 3 bikes and functional for access to the tailgate, not to mention clearing the big ole 37 hanging off the tailgate.

After a couple of weeks and talking to reps, I selected the KUAT Pivot 2 passenger side for $398.00 and KUAT Transfer V2 rack for $549.00.

I received them both and installed. I am very pleased with quality craftsmanship of both items. Very nice setup and very much functional in every area I was looking for.

When you're not biking, the Kuat Pivot has other uses!

 

[mjcutri]

The rattle lock down is fine, but it does not fully secure from movement side to side or p/s leaning. That's why I use the lock down clamp at the receiver. To square it up and prevent the p/s lean.

Tell me about your clamp. I have similar setup, a kuat NV 2.0 and a pivot. It’s sturdy as is, but when I have my Santa Cruz and then add my NV add on, there’s 4 bikes at 220lbs or so and it bounces on the Highway. Still sturdy, but I would like to firm it up more. What does your clamp screw into?

I wasn't satisfied with the available anti-rattle options and wanted something that was tool-less, so I drilled & tapped a hole in the receiver and put in a 3/8" bolt with a knob head. Super easy and fast to put my bike rack & hitch extension on now.

 

[bb163]

Here is an option to use a 1up rack attached directly to the spare tire. Eliminating the need (or hassle) of a swing carrier. It also allows for trailer to still be towed and departure angle to be maintained. I also include a tailgate limiter to prevent the rack from hitting the body of the bronco. Message me if you’re interested.

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