Velocirax 412 Bike Rack - fit and first impressions on Bronco Badlands

[Tony Badlands]

After struggling with our old fork style bike carrier that took an engineeringdegree to figure out, it was time for an upgrade. I was looking for something that enabled quick bike load/unload, prevented damage to the bikes during transport yet still allowed access to the swing gate.

I went with the Velocirax 412 which is not cheap but not the most expensive. Build quality is good but this thing is heavy. Initial fit directly to the Bronco's hitch yielded an issue with accessing the swing gate in all positions. Also the backup camera butted up against the racks upright rendering it useless.

To solve this, I ordered a few hitch extensions including a 7", 9" and a 4" drop to 7" extension. Because of where the hinge mechanism sits on the velocirax, a hitch drop was necessary to allow decent access to the trunk. I suppose more than a 9" extension could work as well but that would increase the lever length causing more movement during transport.

This 4" drop to 7" extension setup seems to be a good compromise between maintaining some ground clearance, access to the trunk and overall user friendliness.

Let me know what you think.

https://www.velocirax.com/

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[Broncolife88]

How stable is it? Have you loaded it up with 4 bikes and taken a drive to see how much movement there is?

 

[Broncolife88]

can you tell me what the clearance is between the bottom of the spare tire and the top of the trailer hitch?

 

[Mattwings]

After struggling with our old fork style bike carrier that took an engineeringdegree to figure out, it was time for an upgrade. I was looking for something that enabled quick bike load/unload, prevented damage to the bikes during transport yet still allowed access to the swing gate.

I went with the Velocirax 412 which is not cheap but not the most expensive. Build quality is good but this thing is heavy. Initial fit directly to the Bronco's hitch yielded an issue with accessing the swing gate in all positions. Also the backup camera butted up against the racks upright rendering it useless.

To solve this, I ordered a few hitch extensions including a 7", 9" and a 4" drop to 7" extension. Because of where the hinge mechanism sits on the velocirax, a hitch drop was necessary to allow decent access to the trunk. I suppose more than a 9" extension could work as well but that would increase the lever length causing more movement during transport.

This 4" drop to 7" extension setup seems to be a good compromise between maintaining some ground clearance, access to the trunk and overall user friendliness.

Let me know what you think.

https://www.velocirax.com/

Man is it long that way! Looks like a good set up. I have a Saris I will try and fit once I get my hitch installed, I will share the results ASAP.

 

[Tony Badlands]

can you tell me what the clearance is between the bottom of the spare tire and the top of the trailer hitch?

Looks like 5"

 

[Tony Badlands]

How stable is it? Have you loaded it up with 4 bikes and taken a drive to see how much movement there is?

For as big as it is, it's pretty darn stable. I'd say no more movement than any other hitch solution. As you can see here, there's almost no movement at the hitch but obviously the farther up you go the more it moves.

The sales rep from Velocirax reached out and let me know they are working on an extension solution which might be available in a month or so. I'll be keeping an eye out for that.

 

[Broncolife88]

I really like this set up but witout being able to full open the swing gate, i think my choice will be the 1up with the reverse side plates so I can fully open the gate with the rack on.

 

[ATLBronco75]

Why the drop and not just an extension?

EDIT: I re-read but I still don't see how the drop helps.

 

[Tony Badlands]

I really like this set up but witout being able to full open the swing gate, i think my choice will be the 1up with the reverse side plates so I can fully open the gate with the rack on.

Keep in mind that with this setup, I can access the tailgate with bikes loaded. I'm not sure you can do that with the 1up?

 

[Broncolife88]

Not all the way, but yes you can tilt the rack down and access the back area.

 

[Tony Badlands]

Why the drop and not just an extension?

EDIT: I re-read but I still don't see how the drop helps.

It's where the hinge sits on the rack. I'd have to extend more than 9"+ to clear it w/o the drop. The drop gives me more access to the swing gate w/o going out more. It's also easier to rack the bikes with the drop. If ground clearance is your goal, you'll just need to extend it out more than I am.

 

[Tony Badlands]

Here's a couple more shots showing the need for the drop and extension. The swing gate will open fully but not with bike's loaded.

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