[NickD]

Best in my opinion is to add a trailer hitch, bike racks are available practically anywhere that can carry up to four bikes.

Hey pgthe1, the rear of your Cruze looks like the paint is all mess up, had a rack like yours, did the same thing to my different car, I would call this a problem.

Hitches are available in either 1 or 2 inch receptacles, most racks I have seen are 2 inch, just make sure they match.

 

[NickD]

Lot has changed over the years, pulling a boat with an eight foot beam, plenty of space to put bikes inside of the boat. Saw a Schwinn roof rack for four bikes, actually was made in Madison,WI and quite a bit cheaper to buy it from them as opposed to a Schwinn dealer. But the trunk was so huge on my 73 Fleetwood, could put it on there. Before this, attached two vertical 2 by 4's on my utility trailer with a cross beam on top so I could strap the bikes to that.

As the family grew, got a motorhome with real bumpers, remember real bumpers? Attached bumper type bike racks to that and could carry up to eight bikes, had six kids.

Modified that strap on bike rack to fit on the spare tire of my motorhome, only carries two bikes, but when my youngest daughter came alone, plenty of space to put hers on the inside. It's hanging on two straps from the roof rack. Modified my old Schwinn roof rack to fit on top of my Supra to carry my wife's bike and my three wheeler. It does have a Curt 1 1/4" hitch on it, so could carry four more bikes on that. Since Curt is made in Eau Claire, WI, called them for a special price.

https://www.etrailer.com/Hitch-Bike-Racks/Thule/TH934XTR.html has a four bike rack that fits either the 2 or 1 1/4" hitches, but a whole bunch of these are available, kid purchased his from Walmart.

Not only a bike rack, how many bikes do you need to carry? Ha, no fun biking by yourself, use to having a crowd with me.

Cruze? Just left that alone, ha, even prefer using my Supra for hauling my grandkids, a heck of a lot easier to put baby car seats back there. Just purchased the Cruze to save on gas, that is the most of our driving.

 

[NickD]

I put a hitch on my Cruze and got a Thule Vertex 2 bike rack. The best thing about hitch racks is you can still get into the trunk with the bikes on the back. :th_dblthumb2:

Was going to mention this, you beat me to it. Also the easiest on the body.

 

[NickD]

Hitch can serve other functions as well, like if you drive into a six inch high snow bank, front tires spin like crazy, something to hook unto to pull you out. Use to have towing hooks for this.

Also a place for a tiedown for a kayak, at least for the rear, still scratching my head for the front.

Will add a disclaimer for the following statement.

Trailer hitches are very conservatively rated, like pulling a 1,000 load, if in a front end collision or driving along at 60 mph, not only a pulling load, but one heck of a pushing load as well if you have to slam on the brakes. Can really pull quite a load at 2 mph. So should be no harm in pulling out a stuck vehicle.

 

[NickD]

Can also buy a locking trailer hitch pin like this one for less than 20 bucks.

This way when you get back after biking, your bike carrier will still be there.

Yet another factor is how much is your bike worth to you? May want something very secure to retain it. We also use straps and or bungee cords to help keep the bikes from flopping around.