Clarity - Any ideas on a bike Rack?

The Q Tower pads sit on top of the roof while the clips wrap around the door frame. Both of those things create a point for paint damage and potential deformation of the metal.

 

Back to the original subject:

Have you considered a bumper hitch?

A bumper hitch is a light-duty receiver hitch that bolts onto the vehicle's bumper and provides a 2" x 2" receiver tube opening. It is important to note that because a bumper hitch attaches directly to the bumper, it is always limited to the weight carrying capacity of the bumper rather than the vehicle overall. Bumper hitches are commonly found on pickup trucks, SUVs and other larger vehicles.
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Quoted from "Understanding Towing" at the Curt Mfg.com website.
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Here is an article that has a wind tunnel test showing how much the increased drag from bicycles/racks impacts mpg. Pretty interesting in that it negatively affects mpg a lot more than I thought it would.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/car-technology/a19493686/roof-racks-hurt-gas-mileage/

 

Hey everyone, I was able to take my 2018 Clarity to Torklift in Kent, WA and they custom made and installed one for me. So it certainly is possible and it seems to work pretty well so far. I let them know about this forum and that others were interested, but unfortunately they still aren't planning a commercial one at this time... custom only.

 

Congratulations samzilla3, I think you are the first to post a permanent type bicycle hitch for our Claritys.
There are several people on this forum looking for a hitch for bicycles and even light towing.
Would you post some closer pix of the hitch and how it’s mounted to Car underneath. Also would you give us some more details. As in is it a receiver type where bicycle rack removes when you don’t need it and the size of the receiver. What load limit does it have and how much did it cost.
I would like to use the pix to see if my local shop can make one for not too much. Thanks

 

Sure thing, here is the rundown:

* Cost was around $900, and they had my car for two days. The latter half of day one was design and the second day was fabrication and installation. Spendy, but bike racks are fundamental to my daily commute (I will park the car part way through and cycle the rest of the way to get past freeway jams).
* It is a 1.5" receiver, and looking at the sticker (see photo) it looks like the rating is for 2000lb trailer and 200lb tongue.
* When I asked them how they were going to do it, I think they said it would be attached to the impact bar behind the bumper. I am not an expert in this area, but I theorize it was fabricated/installed like the one in this video (with the addition to bolting on to the original tow hook): https://www.etrailer.com/tv-install-trailer-hitch-2017-toyota-prius-c11426.aspx
* Since I was already paying extra for custom, I asked if they could go full aluminum to save weight. They said no because the welds wouldn't be strong enough.

 

Thanks for sharing and for getting down on the ground for us. As an older driver, I especially appreciate that last part!
That’s a very nice and neat install. Looks like your shop did a great job.

 

Thanks @KentuckyKen ! I was actually pretty concerned initially and whether there were mount points... so I'm happy to say that there isn't any fundamental problems with the car and an add-on hitch receiver other than the PHEV version of the Clarity is pretty new to the market and no one has got around to making a commercial one yet.

Also, a note on fuel economy/MPG - I had to drive about 2.5 hours from Portland to Seattle and back to have the work done. On the way back I installed the rack to the trailer seen on the first photo I posted. I didn't notice any efficiency/MPG differences on the way there vs the way back. As expected, it took a little under 1/2 of battery and gas each way (170 miles)... driving in HV mode around 70MPH most of the way. I filled the tank in Seattle. Now I'm not saying there wasn't any difference in fuel economy, but it would probably take a pretty controlled experiment (accounting for temperature, driving technique, average speed, etc) to actually see one. I bet most drivers wouldn't notice. In the past I have had a roof rack with a fairing and this did make a difference, but I think it will be negligible with rear trailer hitches.

 

Also, with rack selection in general, there are some embarrassing stories with my old Honda of why I don't trust myself with a roof rack or the racks that strap onto trunks. One involves driving into a garage with a bike on roof rack, and another involves clocking myself on the head with trunk rack strapped to trunk while closing said trunk. Both were unfortunate and painful lessons that hopefully no one else has to go through

 

So i finally got time to go check out the underside of the car - at this point I have not removed any plastic underpanels as part of my investigation but from looking very closely at everything else, there are NOT any threaded holes anywhere under the rear of the car that appear to be meant for mounting a hitch (some small ones in awkward positions that were in the M6ish size-range, but that's not nearly enough for even a light-duty hitch). While I think it's great samzilla3 was able to get a custom hitch that works for him, I personally don't feel comfortable attaching a hitch to the metal inner bumper and I'd really prefer to not have to cut any of the plastic covers under the car to make it work.

That being said, a couple years ago I helped a friend put a 3rd party hitch on his Honda HRV and it used a kind-of 'toggle' bolt to attach to the unibody 'frame' of the car. There are a set of holes that appear similar on our cars, and appear to be in the correct place for bolting up a hitch, so maybe someone will make something that will work in that way?

I have a few feelers out to different sites, if I hear anything back I'll post an update. Perhaps if we can get enough people to commit to buying one (for an agreed upon price) we can get someone to make one.

 

OHHHH!! Custom trailer hitch porn!

Seriously, it's disappointing that you had to go the custom route and that it was so pricey, but it's great to see that one of our forum members actually did manage to get a trailer hitch installed!

Hooray!

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I need a bike rack a few times a year on a 150 mile trip. This indicates a trunk mount with straps. I found a Thule on Craigslist that's a few years old for $40. Will apply clear stick-on bug guard under the pads.

 

@Pushmi-Pullyu - Ha!! Didn't think about that until now but I guess I did get some good angles. In general it is sort of lame but now is the time to contact places such as TorkLift and U-Haul that there is a demand out there for productization.

Other comments:
* @aapitten - Between my Clarity, the hitch I had on a Chevy Bolt, and the video of Prius above, I think cutting into the bottom plastics seem to be pretty common for any 2 wheel drive sedan (or smaller) aftermarket trailer hitches. But I understand the concern and how invasive it can seem.
* @cowgomoo - That is the same rack I had on my old Accord that beamed me on the head! Since most people are less clumsy than me, it probably won't be an issue, but I would advise to make sure to fold the two holding arms back down when done transporting bicycles. Otherwise when you close the trunk the ends of them swing down fast and can be hazardous.

 

Can you post a photo when you get that set up?

 

Has anyone else thought about a roof rack?

 

On my current sedan it took 15 minutes to install. All bolts exposed no disassembling of bumper.
That Toyota Prius install looked intimidating for a driveway install 1-2 hours.
Trange setup. Honda said there was a place to mount a hitch.....hope it is easier.

Thanks for posting that.