Swagman XP 5 Folding Hitch Bike Rack

This bike rack is well made!!! We are on a 7000 mile road trip! I am a race car driver and I’m pushing the minivan hard on the hundreds of miles of twisty mountain roads. The bike rack is holding strong through all of the G forces and weight. It’s funny to pass sports cars in a minivan with 5 bikes hanging off the back.We also drove a jeep trail which punished our van and passengers. The bike rack held up fine.We also drive down the highway at 90mph so when we hit a dip, the force bounces all of the weight on the bike rack. I’ve watched that thing bend and bounce back like a spring.I doubt that anyone beat the shit out of this bike rack as hard as we have. It’s still holding strong.The locking hand nut is junk. Mine wouldn’t lock with the key and it felt like it could easily break and trap all my bikes on the rack. I replaced it with a 10mm nut and keep a 15mm wrench to tighten it. For added security beyond a tightened nut, I purchased a long cable with a padlock.The threaded pin used to secure the bike rack to the hitch on our van was the wrong thread. Knowing that I was going to ask a lot of this bike rack I wanted it very securely mounted for our epic road trip. I went overboard and nut and bolted it from both sides. I purchased short bolts, fed them in the tube and through the unthreaded holes with a mechanics magnet, and tightened lock nuts on them.I’d really appreciate a pin with the correct thread, a non locking hand nut to replace the sketchy locking mechanism that comes with it. And a couple extra steel covers to secure our bikes since we lost one already.The negatives are definitely outweighed buy the positives of toughness, durability, design, and price. This thing is a great value compared to its plastic, big name, competitors at twice or 3 times the price.Tips for use#1. Tilt the brackets to level the bikes. The front tires usually hang lower so tilt that side up a bit. Not too much. A small tilt gives you much more clearance when folding down the bike rack for trunk access.#2. Use a pry bar to raise the rack and fold it down. The design holds it in place well when it has a lot of weight on it. I’m not sure how one would lift it out of its resting place with 5 bikes on it. Work smarter not harder and use leverage of a pry bar placed in the right please and step on it like a lever to release and fold the rack down for trunk access. Pictures are included.#3 Save your back and use your legs to squat the bike rack back into place after closing your trunk. Have a helper ready to install the pin that holds the rack in the upright position. It is a 2 person job to bet this pin in and out as the weight of the bikes will make it difficult to get in And out. Just push on the bike rack to give it a little wiggle and allow the pin to slide in with ease. Don’t loose it. That would suck.Now that we made the notes adjustments and use the notes techniques, this bike rack has exceeded my expectations in design, toughness, abs quality. I am very happy with our purchase.