It Pays To Buy Locally

Earlier this week, we decided to purchase a trailer hitch mounted bike rack for the 4Runner. So, we hopped on the computer and ordered a Yakima 2 bike rack through Eastern Mountain Sports. It was on sale and I had a gift card that I had been hanging on to for a couple years which covered the bulk of the cost. It arrived within a couple days, but would have to sit in the box until Saturday as I was working a double on Friday.

After several cups of coffee this morning, the numbness of a 16 hour shift had worn off somewhat, so we decided to assemble it and put it on the 4R. All went well until the installation...
Toyota, in their infinite wisdom, have the most ridiculous trailer hitch set up on these vehicles. When I placed the rack into the hitch, we discovered it to be too long and before the holes that accept the hitch pin lined up, the end of the thing makes contact with the spare tire which is mounted under the vehicle.

I kept it together enough to not launch the thing through the rear window of the 4Runner, and Mrs went inside to call EMS to see if we could just return it to the store in Hyannis. Our plan was to return it and then just have them hook us up with the appropriate hitch mounted rack. They would take the Yakima back. No problem.

The guy at EMS was nice. He tried to be helpful and when he decided he could not fit any rack to the hitch, he suggested we try going to the U-Haul place not too far from the store to see about a hitch extension (which also voids the rack warranty), or a new trailer hitch before returning it. U-Haul and their employees were almost completely useless. Well, to their credit I believe they "tried" to help, but it was hard to tell.

We left (I was getting aggravated) and headed for home. Mrs decided to call our local RV place, Major's RV, in Bourne to see if they could help with a hitch extension. The woman she spoke with was very positive and helpful so we decided to drive right over. This is where we should have purchased the rack to begin with! We left with a 3-bicycle rack that fits properly and bought a hitch pin lock for slightly less than we paid for the one from EMS and did not have to assemble it. I guess this shows that buying locally and supporting local business, at least in the case, is the smarter choice.

Mrs returned the rack to EMS after I had left for work. While we didn't get to use the EMS gift card to save money on the rack, I have it back to use on something else. Maybe I'll have it for another couple of years.