Weight with the removable receiver piece is 26.5 lbs., so the 25 lb. published weight is accurate. Once the hitch is installed I will measure the ground clearance on stock suspension.

Great info. That is a lot more palatable than then 50 or 60lbs I was expecting.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

@Quentin - Ecohitch install went well. The fit was perfect. No surprises or clearance issues. There's about a finger-sized gap between the top of the receiver and the brake light, and it tucks perfectly under the bumper. Ground clearance to the bottom of the receiver is approximately 6 inches, which is better than my previous Mazda 3! Here's some install shots: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...9&postcount=71

Note: There is a hole in the receiver to use a locking pin - so you could lock a hitch mounted bike rack in the receiver. However, the 19mm bolt that is tucked up under the bumper is not lockable. So if a thief knew how this was designed, they could go under the bumper and unhook the receiver piece. Loctite may be a deterrent for a permanent installation. I'm not planning to go this route though.

If I'm traveling with a bike, I'll just unhook the rack and bring it into my hotel room (along with my bike).

Finally got around to tuning up my mountain bike and testing out the hitch mount bike rack on my FR-S. The rack is a Kuat Sherpa that I also used on my previous car: http://kuatracks.com/products/hitch/sherpa/

The Sherpa holds 2 bikes. It's really fast and easy to get the bikes on and off the car.

The rack works perfectly with the Ecohitch. Drove 75 mph on the freeway, no problems. The front wheel is about even with the left of the car, and the back wheel sticks out about 8". Not really much further than the passenger side mirror.

@Quentin, sorry I haven't been on the forums here in a while. You should've IM'ed me with questions. @TofuJoe 's answers sound right. No issues with clearance either above or below, the weight I couldn't tell you since the setup was installed at the shop.

I recently got a bike rack too, been hauling road bikes:
http://i.imgur.com/dnXc3HW.jpg