How to Select a Trailer Hitch
Match hitch class to the door sticker and the live card before you shop a heavier trailer than the vehicle can honestly tow.
Watch on YouTubeTray-Style Hitch Bike Rack Tips (Canada)
Looking for practical tray-style hitch bike rack loading, tilt, and strap tips in Canada? Start by confirming your receiver size, then open CURT 18085 when you need a two-bike tray rack that fits one and one quarter inch and two inch receivers, or CURT 18087 when you need a four-bike tray rack for a two inch receiver. This page is about tray cradles, tilt access, and strap checks, not a redo of round-bar weight distribution, gooseneck chain, breakaway charger, sway-tab, cargo net, dual-receiver, or silent-pin versus anti-rattle essays. Confirm ratings on the live product cards. Canada orders often ship free on qualifying baskets, so confirm the cart note before you check out.
Parts-counter shortcut.
Match bike count and receiver size first. Tray racks do not invent a legal cargo limit.
For hitch-only bike rack shopping open
hitch for bike rack only.
For bumper and gate clearance open
bike rack clearance tips.
For tilt-down access open
bike rack tilt access tips.
For strap and cradle checks open
bike rack strap check tips.
Prefer the full index?
Open the towing guides hub.
Watch these CURT videos first
All four videos are from the official CURT YouTube channel (@curtmfg). Use them for class selection, install habits, wiring basics, and ball-mount height before you dig into the product cards below.
If an embed does not load, use the YouTube link under the card. Tray-style bike rack shoppers still need an honest receiver size, bike count, and strap plan before they treat the tray as a fix for every hatch clearance problem.
Trailer Hitch Installation Techniques
Confirm the live card still lists your year and configuration. Shared sheets are easy to mix up when sibling badges sit nearby.
Watch on YouTubeHow to Connect a Trailer Wiring Harness
Plan lights after the hitch. A four-flat or seven-way still needs a clean ground before the first night tow.
Watch on YouTubeHow to Choose a Ball Mount and Trailer Ball
Match shank size to the live tube, then level the trailer with rise versus drop once the hitch is on.
Watch on YouTubeWhat these live CURT tray racks actually do
CURT 18085 is a tray-style hitch-mount two-bike rack on the live card. Tray cradles give three points of contact, ratcheting arms lock onto the frames, and the live notes say the rack fits both one and one quarter inch and two inch receivers. Use that card when two bikes are the honest plan and your receiver size still matches.
CURT 18087 is a tray-style hitch-mount four-bike rack for a two inch receiver on the live card. Same tray cradle habits, same ratcheting arms, bigger bike count. Use that card only when four bikes and a two inch tube are both honest for your hitch class and vehicle sticker.
Capacity honesty means bike count, bike weight, and receiver size come from the live cards and the vehicle plan, not from a made-up legal cutoff on this page. Confirm local rules for overhang and lighting instead of treating a parts essay as law. Lowest honest rating among the hitch, rack, and vehicle still wins.
Two-bike trayCURT 18085Tray-style two-bike rack that fits one and one quarter inch and two inch receivers on the live card.
Four-bike trayCURT 18087Tray-style four-bike rack for a two inch receiver on the live card.
CURT 18085 two-bike tray
In-stock tray-style two-bike path when bike count and receiver size still fit that live card.
Open live 18085 product →Parts-counter note. Step to 18087 only when four bikes and a two inch tube both agree. Clearance, tilt, and strap essays stay on the existing tips pages.
How to load, tilt, and strap a tray rack without guessing
Step 1Confirm receiver and bike count
Match 18085 or 18087 to tube size and bike count before you load. Guessing from brochure photos is how arms get overpacked.
Step 2Set the cradles
Seat each bike in the tray cradles, then lock the ratcheting arms so they cannot walk loose on the road.
Step 3Check tilt access
Use the tilt feature when you need hatch or gate access, then open the tilt-access tips page for the deeper habit notes.
Step 4Finish strap and clearance checks
Open the strap-check and clearance tips pages for wheel straps, bumper gaps, and first-drive checks instead of reinventing those essays here.
Sizing
Bike count first
Tray racks are sized to bike count and receiver size on the live cards.
- Two-bike path on live 18085 for one and one quarter inch and two inch tubes
- Four-bike path on live 18087 for two inch tubes
- Confirm bike weight notes on the live product cards
Loading habits
Cradles, tilt, straps
Three-point cradles plus ratcheting arms on the live notes.
- Lock arms so they cannot loosen during travel
- Tilt for hatch or gate access when the rack allows it
- Strap and clearance essays stay on the existing tips pages
Honesty
No invented cutoff
Tray racks do not invent a legal cargo limit.
- Confirm local overhang and lighting rules instead of quoting a parts page as law
- Clearance, tilt, and strap habits stay on the existing tips pages
- This page does not redo round-bar WD, gooseneck chain, breakaway charger, sway-tab, cargo net, dual-receiver, or silent-pin versus anti-rattle essays
Related guides worth opening
Hitch for bike rack onlyHitch shopping when the rack is the whole reason
Bike rack clearance tipsBumper and gate gap checks that stay on that page
Bike rack tilt access tipsTilt-down access habits for hatch and gate work
Bike rack strap check tipsStrap and cradle checks before the first drive
Parts-counter summary: tray-style bike rack shoppers confirm receiver size and bike count first, start with live CURT 18085 for the two-bike tray path, step to live CURT 18087 only when four bikes and a two inch tube still fit, take the lowest honest rating in the stack, and open the hitch-for-bike-rack-only, clearance, tilt-access, or strap-check tips pages when the question is those habits rather than this tray-style loading page.
