Allroad and bicycle transport
 

I have a 2004 AR. Have been using the roof rack to transport bikes. I have the older style which I need to remove the front wheel each time.

I'm getting conflicting info on getting a rear hitch installed. Anyone out there have the rear hitch setup installed? Can you let me know what hitch/setup you have and how big of a deal it was to have the hitch installed, etc..?

A local shop was telling me they need to take ALL the plastic off of about 1/2 the car!!!!

Both Thule, and Yakima make roof racks that you don't have to remove a tire.

A member here makes a great tow hitch, and you only have to remove the rear bumper. Super easy DIY.

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/aud...lable-2806113/

Ah. I should have specified. Not looking for a roof mounted solution.

Use Matt's link to get to Justin's hitch designed for the Allroad. It's similar to the NLA OEM hitch and can provide a solid anchor for the bike rack. When the rack assembly is removed, there's nothing showing. Installation requires removing tail lights to get to the bumper cover bolts, but is not too complicated, just time consuming. A description of the procedure is here: https://www.audiworld.com/forums/aud...l-bww-2044712/ but the pictures no longer show. I have a PDF of this procedure with pictures if you need it.

I recently installed one of these hitches. You do have to take off the rear bumper to install it, but unless you have a 2001 and don't have the trailer connector factory installed, you don't need to remove the taillites. Kit fits perfectly. Very nice, and takes standard US adapters, bike racks, etc, unlike Euro hitches.

Unless your bumper cover was removed and reinstalled improperly, you DO need to remove the tail lights to get to the screws that attach the bumper cover to the body sheetmetal beneath the light openings. It's not a biggie, but it requires removal of the toolkit and its bracket as well as the suspension air tank on the driver side and the amplifier on the passenger side.

I have Justin's tow hitch and it's great. Pretty straight forward install for me although I did have one hole not line up all the way. Simple fix was to drill out the hole on the hitch slightly. From what I've heard I'm the only one who has had this problem and it wasn't a big deal. Here's some pictures I took when I installed it:

Bumper and tail lights off
Attachment 77750

Hitch installed
Attachment 77751

Attachment 77752

Aluminum rebar back on
Attachment 77753

Bumper cover back on.
Attachment 77754

My bumper is properly unattached with all fasteners, and I've had it on and off twice in the last month. The first time I removed the tool bracket, and the second time I didn't as it is not necessary. I didn't remove the taillites or tank either time. In fact, the revised hitch instructions that he sends with the hitch omits those steps specifically. You do need to remove the Bose amp on the passenger side, but that is two nuts and two connectors.

That hitch shown above is just like the OE hitch...that is no longer available from Audi. It gives you the square receiver pointing down. I can't tell from the picture if his is the original 1.25" receiver, or upgraded to a 2" receiver. Either would be good.

There is still a manufacturer of hitches for allroad called Westfalia. However, their monkey-arm insert seems only suitable for attaching a tow ball, and does not present you with a square receiver.

Regardless, most hitch mount bike carriers expect to slide horizontally into the square receiver socket. So you will also have to get a vertical-to-horizontal adapter. Some Thule bike carriers can adapt to either 2" or 1.25" sockets. I kept my whole setup to 1.25".

Something like this that I found pretty quickly by searching for hitch receiver adapter...
"Hidden Hitch Invisi-Hitch Accessory Adapter Kit-28351"
Prices range from $40 to $70 on various websites, so shop around.

Hidden Hitch Invisi-Hitch Accessory Adapter Kit-28351 - Walmart.com

You must have small hands because those two nuts you access when taking off the tail lights are right under the lights. It only takes about 5 minutes to remove the tail lights so it's pretty quick to get easier access.

My hitch has the 2" receiver that Justin provides. It makes it easy to get adapters from Curt or other hitch suppliers.