The 10 Best Deals in Car Racks

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by: Corey Smith5
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The 10 Best Deals in Car Racks

Gas prices,

gas prices,

gas prices. The

pain at the pump is here to stay and while most recent studies show travel
is down from last year, plenty of Americans are still hitting the highway this
summer. If you've got a vacation coming up - and you're looking to stay on

budget - trust these ten

products to help you get where you're going without breaking the bank.

10. Bolt on hitch receivers

While roof top racks have long been the most popular way to travel with gear,
more and more consumers, even those with smaller vehicles, are utilizing a
trailer hitch to tote their stuff. Hitches help keep your gear in your vehicle's
slipstream, which helps avoid the drag often caused by roof carriers. Bolt-on
hitches are

easy to install: installation can take between 30 and 60 minutes and
generally doesn't require any special tools to get it in place. At $129 - $199
depending on your vehicle, installing your own will save you hundreds of dollars
over having your vehicle's manufacturer install the towing package.

Click here to request a hitch quote for your vehicle.

9. Thule Spirit

But don't get the wrong idea: roof racks can still get it done. Popular roof
rack manufacturer

Thule has listened to its customers who are looking to maximize their

gas mileage. New for 2008 is the

Thule Spirit roof carrier, which features a lower-profile, more aerodynamic
design. The Spirit still sports plenty of room (16 cubic feet) for all of your
travel gear.

8. Softride Access Dura

Released in 2007, the

Access Dura Bike Rack remains one of the hottest bike racks on the market
for two reasons: it has an almost unbeatable price ($252 and

free shipping) and has a unique parallelogram fold down design, that allows
full access to the rear of your vehicle and

easy waist-level loading/unloading. Check out the

Softride Access Dura on Youtube to get a feel for how it works.

7. Yakima Hitch Bike Racks on Clearance
Yakima Racks, one of the biggest names in

car racks, released a whole

new line of hitch bike racks in 2008. Smart shoppers are realizing great
deals are to be had on

brand-new, discontinued Yakima Bike Racks. Swingaway, fold down and wheel
mount styles are all available and most are offered with

free shipping.

6. Yakima DoubleDown Hitch Bike Rack

Of course, if you are looking for the latest and greatest, one of Yakima's

new bike racks, The

Yakima Double Down for 2008 combines

new features and great pricing. Available in 2, 4 and 5 bike models, the
Double Down folds down for access to the rear of the vehicle, has anti-sway
cradles to ensure your bikes do not shake during travel, and an integrated
security cable to keep your bikes away from enterprising thieves. All this, and
the Double Down 4 bike rack retails at around $200. Hard to beat that.

5. Inno Kayak Carrier

A relative newcomer to the

American scene, Inno Racks has been popular in Japan for years. Inno offers
a full line of roof racks but their latest offering, the

Inno Kayak Carrier, may be its best yet. The Kayak Carrier does what few
other roof water racks can: it carries 2 full size kayaks at the same time. It
even includes all the locks you will need to keep your boats safe. The Inno
Kayak Carrier attaches to any square cross bars. Again, at roughly $200, this
rack can't be beat.

4. Thule Tahoe

Another great

new

product from Thule this year is the

Thule Tahoe roof bag. The soft-sided Tahoe offers 17 cubic feet of

storage space yet only costs $165. It's hard to get a better bang for your
buck when it comes to