Best bike rack for a Jeep Wrangler

There is no such thing as one size fits all.

Choose the correct rack type for your car

The Jeep Wrangler is a popular offroader, but with so many accessories available for these vehicles it can be a challenge finding the perfect bike rack that fits properly and allows for safe transport of your bikes.

When choosing a bike rack for a Wrangler, there are several things to keep in mind. There might be more than one option that could work for your needs, but there are also some types of bike racks that should be avoided.

Bike Rack Buyer's Guide

For even more information, check out our comprehensive Bike Rack Buyer's Guide

Hitch mounted bike rack

If your vehicle has a tow hitch fitted, a hitch mounted bike rack is a good option for a Jeep Wrangler. We strongly suggest you opt for the swing-away type of rack instead of the tilt-away rack. This is because the a tilt-away, hitch mounted bike rack might interfere with the opening of the vehicle’s tailgate. Also, since many Wranglers have very large tyres it’s important to choose a rack that have enough clearance. Keeping this in mind, here are the hitch mounted racks we recommend for a Jeep Wrangler:

Thule Vertex Swing Away Bike Rack

Tech Specs: Thule Vertex

Bike carrying capacity: 4
Weight capacity: 140 lbs
Hitch receiver: Class 2 - 2 inch
Hatch access: Swing away

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The Thule Vertex Swing is a swing away hitch mounted bike rack that swings to one side to allow access to your vehicle’s hatch. The rack can also be locked in place to prevent it accidentally swinging back and causing damage to the bike of vehicle.

The anti sway cradles are ribbed to accommodate any cables that run underneath the bike frame. It has an integrated cable lock to secure the bikes to the rack.

Hide-away, heavy-duty integrated cable lock allows you to lock the bikes to the rack and stores inside hitch rack when not in use.

Even though the Vertex has a stated carrying capacity of 4 bikes, some users have noted it difficult to load more than three bikes at a time, especially mountain bikes.

If you have a bicycle with a non-conventional frame, such as a woman's, child's, or full-suspension bike, you may need a frame adapter to carry your bike on a hanging-style rear mount bike rack. The Thule frame adapter part number is: 982XT

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Tire mounted bike rack

When space is at a premium, a spare tire mounted bike rack could be a good option. These racks come in two main fitment categories: over the tire and fastened with straps or bolted through the spare tire to the vehicle. The main consideration here is that if you spare wheel has a wheel cover fitted, you cannot use the bolt-on option. For the Jeep Wrangler we recommend choosing one of these bolt on bike racks.

Thule Spare Me 2

Tech Specs: Thule Spare Me 2

Bike carrying capacity: 2
Weight capacity: 70 lbs
Fitment: Tire mounted
Installation type: Bolt-on

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The Thule Spare Me 2 is a spare tire mounted 2-bike rack this has been designed to fit on several different sizes of tires. It comes with four different sets of adapters for different configurations.

With your bike loaded you'll be able to open your tailgate 90 degrees and still have plenty of clearance between the bike and the vehicle.

This is a very secure set up that includes an integrated cable lock with a Thule one-key lock core. When unlocked, it stores securely in the end of the arms of our rack.

The anti-sway cradle does a really good job of keeping your bike from swinging too much. This is a good quality spare tyre mounted bike rack that comes highly recommended.

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