anyone have a problem with their mounted bike rack blocking the tail lights/turn signals? any solutions?

 

Solution.

Put the bike in the bed.

Or leave the bikes at home?

 

Tail gate mat is what I see most often. Made by Thule or Yakima. There others that cost less.

 

Put them in the bed.....

What kind of bikes are you hauling that completely block your tail lights? I have a 4 bike receiver mounted carrier and can see my taillights fine with 4 bikes on it.

 

i do not see how a bike rack could block taillights a bike maybe pic. would help

 

I have a hitch mounted bike rack. And I use it with a hitch extension that is just long enough that the truck's tailgate can still open without hitting it.

In the winter I sometimes use the hitch-mounted rack with a ski attachment. I could toss the skis in the truck bed, too. It just depends on where I'm going. But I do like having the flexibility. Of course adding a bike rack to the back, or a ski rack to the back adds another two or three feet of overall vehicle length. But for bikes I'm a lot happier having them on a dedicated rack than floating around in the back of the truck. The tailgate pads look like a nice idea, but one more thing to store when not in use.

 

I added 'trailer' lights to my rack that plug in to the 4 pin connector.
Here is a pic of it on the back of our Hyundai as I have not yet taken a rear view of it on the F150.




We have a 4 place trailer we use for the long haul when travelling with friends but because most trailheads are not 'trailer friendly' we load 2 in the bed and two on the rack for the quick trip to the trail.
For the 2 in the back I fabbed up a metal bar that inserts into the seat tube of both bikes to hold them steady then it is just straps from front bed corner, over bar end then down to rear bed corner.

 

The taillights of our 2025 truck are somewhat obscured (especially the right side) when our two long-wheelbase mountain bikes are on the rack; the left/right locations of the bikes are dictated by their differing sizes and geometry. I bought a kit by Curt from Auto Zone online, plus a 7-4 adapter. Almost instant install.



https://www.curtmfg.com/part/53201