Task

Hey there,
I'm a GS newbie but am seriously thinking about purchasing a used 2004 GS430. One question I have though is around placing a road bicycle in the trunk, is it possible? I don't believe you can fold the rear seats down to make more room, is this correct? Also, I hesitate to put a rack on top (but would consider it). Just curious if I could put the bike in the back and would I have to remove both wheels or would it fit with one wheel still on.

Cheers

MrG4Life

iTrader: (14)

Unfortunately the trunk of the GS is not big enough to hold your bike unless you have one of those folding bikes . I had to buy a trunk bike rack for my bike a couple of months back. My bike is a hybrid and even with the front wheel off, the trunk was not able to close. Not even close. Most of the members here suggested I'd get the roof mount bike rack. I don't go anywhere far (like out of state) with my bike so I opted to get the trunk type. BTW, the one I bought was the King Joe 2 from Yakima which holds two bikes.

Task

Thanks for the response! Yeah, I kinda figured there might not be enough room back there.

I'd probably prefer a roof rack to hold bikes. Suggestions? Anyone post pictures of their roof rack on their GS?

Cheers

kit cat

iTrader: (6)

I saw a GS with RMM kit and a bike rack the other day...looked cool actually. someone on here also has a roof rack...i forget who though. also try searching, i think this was covered before.

Kansas

I've used a variety of roof, trunk and hitch mounted bike racks over the past 40 years. Based on my experiences, I no longer use anything but hitch mounted bike racks.

A zillion reasons to use a hitch mounted rack -- no worry about damage to the trunk lid; no compressing/damaging the door seals with a roof rack; no worry about overhead clearance (e.g., my garage door height); NO WIND NOISE! (my biggest complaint about roof racks); and even my little wife can load her bike on a hitch rack.

A hitch is available for an 04 GS from the same place I bought one for my 00 LS: http://www.etrailer.com/pc-H~257243....cleid=20046548

Hitch mounted bike racks are available from lots of companies -- most are a lot fancier that the simple one I bought 16-17 years ago for probably around $50.

Here is a pic of my rack and bikes on our LS.

MrG4Life

iTrader: (14)

Wow, what a difference in price. They got that one at $165. Always wondered how those things get installed. When u got yours, where did u take it to get installed?

Kansas

I tried installing the hitch on the LS myself but the holes in the hitch brackets were slightly off. (I think I paid less than $125 to etrailer for a class II DrawTite hitch for my 00 LS.)

So I took the hitch to a hitch installer (same one who installed a hitch on my 90 LS) who slightly bent the hitch to fit -- I think he did a couple of wacks with a sledgehammer with a 2x4 covering the hitch to protect its finish. I think he charged around $25 but I do not remember. The installer said that hitches frequently require similar bending to make them fit.