Saris Swing Away Hitch Rack Adapter [Rider Review]

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Every wished that you could open your tailgate full with out having your bike rack in the way? Saris has you covered with the Swing Away Hitch rack adapter. Our friend, Daniel has been using it. See what they think!

Overview

The Saris Swing Away Hitch Rack Adapter for two-inch receivers is a product of quality! It is made of robust, heavy steel which is presented in a beefy yet very manageable package. It has two grab handles to make installation and removal easy, as well as many actuating parts to prevent all the little things you see in other sub-par adapters that you wouldn’t want to hold your precious belongings. It is easy to open, even fully loaded with a bike rack and two full suspension enduro mountain bikes on it. It allows the user access to the rear of their vehicle, may that be a tailgate, hatchback, or even van doors, as long as you’ve got a hitch receiver, you’re good to go.

What really sold me on this rack were all the safety measures that went into the final design of this adapter. There are several locking mechanisms to prevent pre-opening the adapter just in case you’re on a bumpy road and something were to come loose. Talking about bumpy roads, the adapter comes with a hitch tightening clasp to prevent that side to side, up and down movement you usually get in hitch accessories. This completely quiets down cargo and stabilizes whatever you decide to bring on your adventure.

To open the adapter, you remove the small safety pin locking in the main lever. Unlock the lever releasing a latch on the bottom of the adapter. Before you can swing anything out of the way, there is a second latch you will need to open simultaneously while you begin to bring the entire setup out to a 90-degree position. The swing base will automatically lock with a locking pin in the rear of the base. To bring back after you’ve accessed your vehicle, pull the locking release pin and do it all in reverse. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

Other than safety for premature swing out AND the hitch tightener clasp to prevent movement, the adapter comes with a locking hitch bolt to further lock down the whole system from all those unwanted vibrations, but also prevent potential thieves from taking your gear while you’re out shredding.

The 90-degree position once fully actuated really gives you full access to everything you’re carrying in the rear of your vehicle. Before I had the Saris Swing Away, getting to anything in the back of my pickup truck was a headache. I would have to either take off my bikes and fold down my rack or just avoid that mess and not even lower my tailgate but have only minimal access through my tonneau cover rear window. Now all I have to do is actuate the locking mechanisms which became second nature after a few tires, and I have FULL access to all my stuff. This helps when truck camping and I find myself at base camp, cooking on the tailgate not having to move my muddy bikes on and off the rack but just swinging them away.

The only negative I can find on this adapter was that after a few times opening and closing the system, the rear locking pin sheared. It no longer locks in place once fully open, but I blame possible exceeded torque used while closing it all up. Even with this, I give this product 5 stars any day of the week.

Final Thoughts

Final thoughts on this swing away hitch adapter: This thing is a necessity in my life. It does what it was made for exceedingly well.