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Hitch ski rack

4K views 9 replies 3 participants last post by  hi5time 
#1 ·
Has anyone else gone for a hitch ski rack? I was originally thinking I'd get a roof rack, but I wasn't loving the increased drag there, and I'm leaning towards a hitch rack now. I don't normally care too much about range/drag, but one place I'd use skis often is far up the Icefields Parkway in Alberta, Canada, which connects Lake Louise to Jasper. It's 233 km total without any power of any kind in winter, and Lake Louise only has a level 2 charger, so I slept there last time I drove up that way. The nearest DC charger that's not 50km in the wrong direction is 200km from a trailhead I'd like to go to often. So I want to carry my skis efficiently to minimize extra time sitting at a level 2 charger.

The options don't look amazing. Yakima and Thule both have bike rack attachments that make an A-frame, but that sounds like a terrible option for drag. Yakima has a rack for the EXO system that looks nice, but the base for that system is 60 lbs and our max tongue weight is 220lb, so I likely wouldn't be able to use it for a bike rack or cargo box.
Tyger Auto also has a ski rack that sticks way up like a flagpole.

So, I'd like to find something that holds skis horizontally like the Yakima rack, but is standalone and connects directly to the hitch. Has anyone found anything like this?
 
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#4 ·
Most economical solution, but tray or box behind won't do any differance in aerodynamic drag. Bjørn Nyland have tested it and was no extra battery usage from having it on a Tesla, to not having it.
He even testet the worlds first roof mounted ski box that are designed to be backwards, and that one didn't change anything either, the normal skibox had a lot more battery drain (It was quite unexpected as I remember.)



 
#5 ·
I remember that - seems the rule of thumb is that anything tucked behind the car has little effect. Hence OP trying to find a horizontal ski solution. At least in the US, the hitch mounted boxes are really expensive and most aren't big enough to hold skis. Or perhaps I'm not googling well enough.
 
#7 ·
I ended up buying this cargo tray:
Pretty cheap (~$200 CAD), lots of places to tie down to, and the gaps in the sides appear to be large enough to fit my largest skis through. Plus, I can also carry bags on it. Let's see how annoying it is to strap everything in. Bought it through Walmart and they have a 120 day return policy, so I should have plenty of time to mess with it. I'm wondering if it'll even work as a ski rack folded up, for even lower drag.
 
#8 ·
Looks like a nice choice - let us know how it works. I'm uncertain how a rack with zero "lift" will work in practice with our fairly low hitch position. I found it amusing that one of the most common complaints about this style of rack was that the exhaust would melt stuff!
 
#9 ·
Got the cargo tray. Overall looks great. It's a narrower gap than drawings suggested (~97mm) so kind of a pain to get my bigger skis in, inside a ski bag, but it does work. If it gets annoying enough, I'll take the top of the tray off for winter.

The one thing I don't love is that there's a little wiggle room when the tray is up. Might have to shove something in the joint to limit movement.
 

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