How to Keep Bike Rack from Scratching Your Car?

What could be more awful than a large dent on your car’s rear end?  Moreover, the harm might have been escaped!

Bike racks are incredibly handy for moving bikes, but they might also cause damages to your vehicle. If you regularly need bike racks, this is a vital factor to take into account.

This is especially fundamental if you own a valuable vehicle because you will prefer to maintain it in excellent shape.

Which Rack Type is More Prone to Scratch?

Bike racks come in a number of styles and sizes, allowing users to place the bike in a range of places on the car. These bike racks are perfect for carrying your bicycle, based on the vehicle you have and the shape of the bike: hitch racks, roof racks, and trunk racks.

The hitch rack is not in immediate touch with the car, but the bike might strike with it if it is not securely mounted. Whenever the bike swings or the wheel rotates, it may collide with the vehicle, resulting in dents. Roof bike racks carry some of the same concerns as hitch-mounted racks, though with a few exceptions.

Rather than causing harm to the back of your automobile, it may cause harm to the roof. It is necessary to determine how much space the car has having bikes mounted. Foam mats are commonly used to put on top of trunk bike racks. After a while, the foam pads press over the car paint, causing dents, specifically when the bike rack is not tightly mounted.

The trunk bike rack, among all other styles of bike racks, is the one that does the greatest harm to the vehicle. Since the trunk bike rack is the one that makes direct contact with the vehicle.

Any scrapes or dents to the trunk of the vehicle will be visible. It is not a huge problem if the rack damages the vehicle’s roof since nobody really takes a look at the top. As they are mounted to the hitch, hitch bike racks rarely touch the car.

The main reason you will ruin the coat of paint is if the bike rack falls into the car by accident. Therefore, the trunk rack is the only thing left. You must be particularly cautious if you own a trunk rack.

Related reading: Bike That Fits In A Car

How to Keep Bike Rack from Scratching My Car?

There will always be a possibility of car damage, irrespective of the style of bike rack you choose. There have been terrible reports of bike rack crashes that required big bucks to fix. You do not wish it to occur to you, especially if you caused the incident, because collecting insurance coverage would be tough.

The details below can assist you in avoiding vehicle accidents created by bike racks.

Pick the Right Rack

Choosing the right bike rack might allow you to avoid causing harm to your vehicle. If you are planning to use a trunk bike rack regularly, skip it. This sort of bike rack might damage the paint plus wear it down at some point.

Select one with big foam padding that evenly transfers the load of the rack over several contacting surfaces. When you ride your bike occasionally, a trunk bike rack might be an excellent alternative.

If you often park in a garage, skip installing a roof bike rack. When you are going to park the car in a garage, you possibly need to take your bike down first. This is inconvenient when you use the bike rack regularly, also if you neglect to take the bike down first, everything around you might suffer significant deterioration.

If you are parking around the city, do not use a hitch bike rack. A hitch-bike rack can lengthen the car and turn judging distances while reversing extremely challenging. This allows it seamless to crash with other parked automobiles, causing significant harm to both the cars and the bikes.

You also need to ensure that the bike rack can securely support the load of the bikes. The weight restriction of the bike rack may be found in the product details. Ensure your hitch can hold the overall volume of the bikes and the bike racks when you are installing a hitch bike rack.

Related reading: How to Transport Bike in SUV?

Installing Properly

Following the selection of the appropriate rack, the installation process begins. Even if you already have a rack, reread the user manual while placing a new rack. Utilize the supplies included with the base and abide by the directions. Do not wing it.

Try and ensure the bike rack is installed on a fresh, grime-free, and non-greasy platform. If you do not do so, your bikes might not fit correctly on the rack.

Ensure Everything is in Working Order

Spend some spare energy making sure your bike rack is safe and solid. This is also true for the bicycles themselves. It is important to double-check the rack on multiple occasions to ensure that the bikes do not come off, causing damage to both the car and the bikes. Examine the bikes’ and rack’s durability, as well as the belts and every other element linked with the bike rack. If you need a bike rack regularly, you may even write a logbook to ensure you have secured everything properly.

Boost the Protection

You might use protective films to safeguard your car against bike rack dents. Many racks include translucent protective paper to cover any areas where the bikes get into touch with the car. Add a paint protection film or painter’s tape to the area where the rack rubs against the vehicle to avoid the paint from breaking out or damaging.

Take Care of the Rack

Take good care of the rack you own. This makes everything easy. If you own a trunk-mount bike rack that has been properly placed, you must clean the touching areas, like the foam pads. This covers the paint layer it is resting on.

When dust is buried beneath the foam, it will scrape across the coat and damage it as if it were sandpaper. Dust will build up over the years, so check these touch areas regularly to prevent harm.

Mount Properly

Even if you got everything within essence, if you do not attach your bike correctly, you might bring harm. Before transportation, apply the proper straps and double-check that the bikes are attached correctly. To maintain your bikes and vehicle’s top shape, make sure that nothing is missing the tune.

Thinks to Keep in Mind

Here are some practical guidelines for harnessing a bike rack to safeguard your car. Be aware of the environment at all times. So that you do not strike anything, make a visible indication of the whereabouts of your bike rack.

Before you move, double-check all straps, hooks, and locking on your bike. Stop attempting to overburden the bike rack as this increases the chance of it swaying or falling, which can bring significant harm based on the style of rack you have.

Check that all pieces of your bike rack are in good working order before operating it. Also, when you are not using the rack, consider putting it aside. Keeping a bike rack on a car doubles the likelihood of it causing damage to your car. In addition, exposing a bike rack to severe conditions might accelerate its deterioration.

Conclusion

A bike rack is a wonderful piece of equipment for carrying your bicycles, but improper use can cause harm to both your bicycles and your car. What could be more frustrating than trying to delve deep into your wallet to repair the damage that might have been avoided?

Investing additional time to ensure correct installation and an additional set of support on your automobile will help maintain your car paint looking new for a significant period of time.