Bike rack for 2006 Murano

Lisa Ashley Rafter wrote:
Hey all,
I have a 2006 Nissan Murano SL and I was wondering if anyone can
recommend a good bike rack. I'd like something to carry 2-3 mountain
bikes if possible on the back (not the roof).
Thanks in advance,
Lisa Ashley Rafter

I'm really happy with the Thule 998XT trailblazer, which holds 4 bikes
and open out to the side to allow access to the hatchback (in my case)
with the bikes attached. The bikes attach very quickly and you can
secure them directly on the frame at 3 places so they don't bounce off
each other en-route, and there hasn't been a single scratch to any bike
yet. All the 4-bike hitch mounts come with 2" hitch receivers, and I
discovered you can't find a 2" hitch to fit on smaller cars, for lack
of towing capacity -- there are only 1 1/4" hitches available. E.g. my
Suburu Outback doesn't have sufficient towing capacity such that 2"
hitch receivers are available. I can tow 3k lbs (a popup trailer)
directly with my 1 1/4" receiver (according to Suburu), but can't
carry more than 2 bikes on a hitch mount (according to Thule)! So,
despite their warnings, I got a 1 1/4" to 2" adaptor (which itself has
a 5k lb capacity) to allow attachment of the 2" hitch mount, and it
hasn't yet broken off the back of the car, even with 3 bikes attached.
(But I do slow down on potholed roads!) You can easily get 2-bike
capacity hitch mounts that attach directly to 1 1/4" receivers.

Best check availability of 2" hitch receivers for that car, and
evaluate whether 2 bike capacity is enough for you, or you need to
carry more than 2 bikes, which requires a 4-bike mount.

Also, many mountain bikes have frames that aren't going to fit onto
this and similar frame-attach hitch mounts, so you may need a roof
rack, depending on the bikes. My Maverick just barely fits, and most
recent decent full suspension mtn frames look like they wouldn't, for
lack of space within the triangle. Jeez, this thing is crossposted to
4 groups. Isn't that bad etiquitte?

http://www.thuleracks.com/thule/prod...id=8&sku=998XT

Bill,
You're right about the frame not fitting into the rack.....I had a
problem with my Trek mountain bike and my previous car carrier...I'd
have to hogtie the bike to the rack depending how far I was going! And
you're right....my bike has a front suspension and it needs a lot of
room with the fork, etc.
Anyways, I am going to call my local bike shop and see if they can
provide any assistance. Given that it's winter here in NY, I still
have a couple of months before I have to worry about getting the bike
on the trails....
Thanks for the advice,
Lisa
Bill Westphal wrote:
Lisa Ashley Rafter wrote:
Hey all,
I have a 2006 Nissan Murano SL and I was wondering if anyone can
recommend a good bike rack. I'd like something to carry 2-3 mountain
bikes if possible on the back (not the roof).
Thanks in advance,
Lisa Ashley Rafter

I'm really happy with the Thule 998XT trailblazer, which holds 4 bikes
and open out to the side to allow access to the hatchback (in my case)
with the bikes attached. The bikes attach very quickly and you can
secure them directly on the frame at 3 places so they don't bounce off
each other en-route, and there hasn't been a single scratch to any bike
yet. All the 4-bike hitch mounts come with 2" hitch receivers, and I
discovered you can't find a 2" hitch to fit on smaller cars, for lack
of towing capacity -- there are only 1 1/4" hitches available. E.g. my
Suburu Outback doesn't have sufficient towing capacity such that 2"
hitch receivers are available. I can tow 3k lbs (a popup trailer)
directly with my 1 1/4" receiver (according to Suburu), but can't
carry more than 2 bikes on a hitch mount (according to Thule)! So,
despite their warnings, I got a 1 1/4" to 2" adaptor (which itself has
a 5k lb capacity) to allow attachment of the 2" hitch mount, and it
hasn't yet broken off the back of the car, even with 3 bikes attached.
(But I do slow down on potholed roads!) You can easily get 2-bike
capacity hitch mounts that attach directly to 1 1/4" receivers.

Best check availability of 2" hitch receivers for that car, and
evaluate whether 2 bike capacity is enough for you, or you need to
carry more than 2 bikes, which requires a 4-bike mount.

Also, many mountain bikes have frames that aren't going to fit onto
this and similar frame-attach hitch mounts, so you may need a roof
rack, depending on the bikes. My Maverick just barely fits, and most
recent decent full suspension mtn frames look like they wouldn't, for
lack of space within the triangle. Jeez, this thing is crossposted to
4 groups. Isn't that bad etiquitte?

http://www.thuleracks.com/thule/prod...id=8&sku=998XT

Paladin wrote:
Ride-A-Lot wrote:
Paladin wrote:

I've got this unit with the basic 2-bike version. Made very well, and
nothing touches on your bike except the tires.

http://yakima.com/Product.aspx?id=103

CDB

Second that one or the Thule version, but you'll need a hitch mount.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

Wait a minute! Nobody told me that. I welded that sucker to my roof!
Works great, except when I forget the bikes are still up there and I
pull into the garage... oopsy.

CDB


That and you'd probably hit most of the overpasses as well . Reminds
me of skiing at Loveland just above the Eisenhower Tunnel (actually on
top of it) going into the divide. Every few minutes you hear this loud
siren go off like the Ruskies are ready to drop the bomb. It's some semi
that can't clear the tunnel and has to go the long way over the pass.
That's gotta suck when it's snowing.

Oh well. Back to your regularly scheduled on-topic discussion.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

Lisa Ashley Rafter wrote:
Bill,
You're right about the frame not fitting into the rack.....I had a
problem with my Trek mountain bike and my previous car carrier...I'd
have to hogtie the bike to the rack depending how far I was going! And
you're right....my bike has a front suspension and it needs a lot of
room with the fork, etc.
Anyways, I am going to call my local bike shop and see if they can
provide any assistance. Given that it's winter here in NY, I still
have a couple of months before I have to worry about getting the bike
on the trails....
Thanks for the advice,
Lisa

[psssst.... come'ere.....*ride in the snow*....you'll love it]

CDB
always glad to help.

In article
om,
"Bill Westphal" wrote:

Jeez, this thing is crossposted to
4 groups. Isn't that bad etiquitte?

You cross-posted properly, as your message applies
directly to the interests of each group. To have
multi-posted would mean that them readers in each group
would not see the replies from the other groups.

There is etiquette. There is no such thing as `bad
etiquette.' One adheres or not.

--
Michael Press

Bill Westphal writes:

Jeez, this thing is crossposted to 4 groups. Isn't that bad
etiquette?

Most better newsreaders assign unique ID's to articles so that when
cross posted, in contrast to separate postings, to more than one
group, when read in any newsgroup, the item is flagged as read and
does not appear again in subsequent newsgroups to which the reader
subscribes. Therefore, it should make little if any difference
whether an article is cross posted, because it resides only once in
the database with more than one newsgroup tag.

Jobst Brandt

Michael Press wrote:
In article
om,
"Bill Westphal" wrote:

Jeez, this thing is crossposted to
4 groups. Isn't that bad etiquitte?

You cross-posted properly, as your message applies
directly to the interests of each group. To have
multi-posted would mean that them readers in each group
would not see the replies from the other groups.

There is etiquette. There is no such thing as `bad
etiquette.' One adheres or not.

--
Michael Press

Good point, and well put. That reminds me to reread my Strunk & White
"The elements of Style". "Bad Net etiquette" was an important part of
the required reading rules for posting on Usenet in the early days of
Usenet, circa 1990, when only a few universities had access, long
before Bill Gates/Al Gore invented the internet (and "bad net
etiquette" became the rule). But I didn't even think about the
inappropriateness of the phrase, and just fired it off (because she was
asking alt.autos.nissan about bike racks, which is a bit of a stretch).
The errant phrase just crept into my lexicon, because I managed news
server (nntp) servers.

Bill Westphal