HitchSki

I purchased this last week used it once on a weekend trip to Vermont. It was mounted on a Yakima Full Swing Bike Rack with the zip strips. It was an easy install, able to load two snowboards (bottom to bottom) on each side (4 total capacity). Ski’s were loaded side by side for total of 4 ski (2 pairs) on each side (4 pair total load capacity). I think the advertised 6 ski pair load capacity is a stretch (maybe with kids skis). Realistically who is traveling with 6 people in a vehicle with luggage / ski gear. It shook a little bit but nothing out of the ordinary. I think some reviewers worry more than others and experience may be different if installed on a non-Yakima rack. Overall a great accessory if you already have a Yakima bike rack.

The short answer on this rack is that there is only 15 inches between the lower and upper rails that hold the skis, which is no where near enough space to have the skis sit with both bindings between the rails. As a result, you need to position the skis so that the toe binding is above the top rail, and that's (a) hard to do, while trying to load several pairs of skis at the same time; and (b) not even always do-able, and for us, just impossible!!! Because of how thick our skis are between the bindings (or, "under-boot", if you like), we were NOT ABLE TO CLOSE THE UPPER RAIL (the one with the lock), even with the screws fully extended... Also, the thumb-screws that come w/ the rack, for the lower rail, are only 4 inches long, and they weren't long enough for us to spread those rails out wide enough to get our skis in when paired up... We had to put one ski in at a time, else, because of the shaped tails, the didn't fit between the inner and outer rubber holders... In the end, I "pimped out" the rack by (a) replacing the 4" screws w/ 5" screws (required cutting the factory screws off w/ a hack saw); and (b) welding on 4 vertical extensions to the "legs" of the brackets, so that there is now 24 inches between the rails... [I also painted it the new extensions with like 6 coats of rust-proof spray paint, so it actually looks pretty darn good... ] WITH these two modifications, the rack actually works GREAT! BUT, if you aren't ready to tackle a couple of significant mods, don't count on this rack carrying more than 3 - 4 pairs of skis. AND, depending on how thick your skis are under-boot, they may not carry ANY...

Not sure why other users are having so much issues with this solution. I've used this hitchski with a Yakima Kingpin 4-bike Rack Hitch for the last 10 years. It's a great solution and a great value. Maybe the other reviewers didn't have the correct/recommended bike hitch as a base for this hitchski. Let me address some of the issues from the other reviews. 1. "Compared to the simplicity and stability of a roof rack". Yes, roof rack is a bit more stable (not much) but you have to deal with the wind noise and reaching up the door jam to mount and dismount especially if you have a SUV. 2. Design of the lower arms will not allow skis base-to-base mount (gap too narrow). To load the skis or snowboard, you have to slide in the base-to-base one at a time. Once loaded, you still have to turn the lower arm knobs to tighten. 3. "easy to steal the whole thing, skis and all". I am not sure how you can take the whole thing if you use the bike rack lock to lock the hitchski and use the hitchski upper arm locks to lock the skis/snowboards. 4. "Even at the widest setting on the top rails, I could not get it closed (over the thinnest part" - There are 2 upper arm adjustments. One for the hinge side (narrow and wide) and one for the latch side (turning the latch). I have no issues locking down the thickest part of the skis (between the bindings). I can mount 6 skis or 4 snowboards and still have to turn the adjustments to tighten. Great solution especially if you want to free up your top rack for other attachments like a cargo box for your winter vacation. I really like the easy-accessibility without having to climb up to the top rack. The only drawback is having to remove the long skis before you can tilt the bike hitch to open the rear car hatch door.

We bought the "Full Swing 4 Bike carrier" (hitch) and saw the ski rack attachment. It is fairly easy to assemble, fairly easy to place on the bike rack but my biggest complaint is that 2 pair of skis on one side is a major pain when trying to close almost to the point of me wanting to just throw in the back of our mini van instead. I got a great deal so I can deal with it.

After quite a bit of monkeying around, I was able to get a pair of skis wedged through the bottom rails. Even at the widest setting on the top rails, I could not get it closed (over the thinnest part between the front and rear of the bindings). I had to separate the skis and set them in side by side. 3 skis per side is the max. Save your money.

With my Fiat 500 Convertible, a roof rack is not possible. Compared to the simplicity and stability of a roof rack, this combination of the HitchSki with A DoubleDown Ace 4 is quite bulky, heavy, and bounces around. It's among the best of the options available, but it's unfortunate that the only solution for hauling skis on a hitch rack is to convert a bicycle rack. A ski-specific design could be much smaller, lighter, and more stable. Why isn't such a product available? I like to put my skins on before leaving the house and strap my skis base-to-base, but the design of the lower arms will not allow this (gap too narrow). Loading options are limited, any arrangement but single skis side-by-side is difficult to accommodate. I solved this problem by using the upper arms above and below, but this required $190. in spare parts. Finally, although skis can be locked into the HitchSki, the Hitchski unit itself only straps to the bike rack, making it quick and easy to steal the whole thing, skis and all. I'd like some way to at least bolt it on. Don't get me wrong, this is a good rack for what it is, but for hauling skis/boards only (no bikes), there should be a better solution.