Car Rack Info and Fit Tips

Yakima FrontLoader upright bike rack review

2010-04-17T20:13:00.001-06:00

Yakima's new FrontLoader bike rack is the perfect roof rack for people with factory crossbars. It combines the best elements of the popular HighRoller premium upright rack and the awesome factory-fitting, fork-grasping ForkLift.

The FrontLoader uses a universal front claw design that fits around almost any factory bar without modification (also seen on Yakima's awesome new EvenKeel kayak rack). The back clamp has three heights with a wingnut for fine tuning (borrowed from the excellent ForkLift). Even tough vehicles with super wide fixed-mount crossbars are no problem. This is a million times faster than Yakima snap-around mounts, and doesn't have the same tendency to pull a carriage bolt right through the metal tray that the King Cobra suffers from (thank god for Yakima's lifetime warranty).

The front wheel clamp can be adjusted for bike wheels up to 29" in diameter, and it is wide enough to fit a huge 3" wide downhill tire without issue. The back part of the V-shaped clamp tightens with a large red adjustment knob, which doesn't have the HighRoller's quick-release function, and actually works a bit better as a result. The back wheel tightens down with a ratcheting wheel strap (again, borrowed from the ForkLift).

The lock system on the FrontLoader is a little different than past upright, wheel-grasping designs. The cable on the wheel clamp is thinner, and makes a complete loop around the frame, instead of being anchored into the clamp and locking back on to a sliding peg. On the older King Cobra and HighRoller designs, you used to have to use the locking cable to lock the rack back down to the crossbars when not in use. On the FrontLoader, the slick front mounting hardware T-handle locks down with its own lock core.

I've put this rack on many customer's vehicles already. No more having to buy the HighRoller or King Cobra along with the Universal Mighty Mounts (or worse, the awkward Thule Sidearm). This rack goes on in less than a minute in most cases. The only downside of the FrontLoader is that it doesn't have the big, bulky, robust construction of the HighRoller. The rack weighs only 12.5 lbs, and it only has a 30-40 lb weight limit per bike as a result (see the instructions for more information). By comparison the High Roller can take a 50 lb bike, so it is still probably the natural choice for people with hardcore downhill bikes.

If you have a Yakima or Thule rack, the HighRoller is still the most solid choice. But for anyone with a factory rack who doesn't feel like spending big money on a (still superior) aftermarket crossbar rack, the FrontLoader offers the best of both worlds. I will be buying this rack for myself this summer (on Thule bars no less!).

Thule Excellence ultra-premium roof box

2008-09-01T15:47:00.005-06:00

Thule recently announced the release of a new 18 cubic foot large roof box called the Thule Excellence. The box is a two-tone silver and includes design features like improved stiffness and straighteners. Designed for sleekness, lightness, and aerodynamic superiority, the box will sell at $799.95 US. SUVs, crossovers, and mid-size luxury vehicles are the main target for the Thule Excellence box, which debuts in March 2009.

Update September 18, 2008: CarRackDemos.com has a video of a Thule representative demonstrating the Thule Excellence box. Of particular interest are the top lid stiffeners and solid handle that will make it easier to open and close the box. The box will also come with a protective storage bag to keep the finish nice.

Thule's website also has a press release detailing the unique attributes of the Thule Excellence. The Power Grip hardware found on the European version of Thule's Spirit box (easily the best hardware in Thule's product line) will be featured on the Excellence.

Spare Tire Bike Rack: Thule 963 Spare Me

2007-12-18T23:07:00.000-07:00

Looking to carry bikes off the rear of your vehicle, but don’t have a hitch? The easiest way for many people with a rear-mounted spare tire to haul bikes is with a rack mounted through or around the spare tire. The Thule 963 Spare Me is one such 2-bike rack. The Spare Me is designed to fit over an included threaded mounting plate that sits behind the spare tire, over the bolts the tire mounts on to. A locking knob with an attached bolt lets you secure the rack (though not your bikes) through the hole in the center of the tire.

From there, the power-coated frame of the rack sits against the spare tire with four adjustable rubber stoppers to ensure a snug fit. A U-shaped dual arm (that pivots to shrink the rack down for easy storage when not in use) holds the bikes from the cross tube (or equivalent bar adaptor, if necessary). Each bike sits in a pair of rubber cradles, with rubber chain-style straps used to secure the bike down in place.

If you have an offset spare tire, the rack can be adjusted slightly (3-4 inches) left or right by using one of the two extra side holes for the locking knob bolt to travel through. It’s not an enormous difference, but it may mean a bike tire that is tucked behind the side mirror instead of sticking out into traffic for some folks.

Pros:

Easy to mount if you leave the mounting plate on behind your spare tire – just slide the rack on and crank the knob until it’s tight.
Dual arm design allows for the widest range of bike frames to fit on. This is more likely to fit a child’s or woman’s bike with a non-standard frame than a single arm rack would.
Thule lifetime warranty, plus a very nice look, finish, and quality evident on every part of the rack.

Cons:

Bikes remain unlocked. You can solve this with a cable lock going through your rim in most cases.
Rubber chain-style straps hold the bikes down adequately, but don’t offer the peace of mind of a bolt-and-wingnut style cradle.
Not compatible with all spare tires. Check your vehicle on the Thule website or ask your dealer if you’ll have any problems.
Often pricier than comparable Swagman models that have full locking out of the box.

Personally, I would go with this rack if you’re at all concerned about how your unique bike frame will fit into a single arm rack. If you plan to do any off-roading, you might want to go with a bolt-and-wingnut cradle single arm rack that will hold the bike down more firmly with a metal grip instead of a rubber one.

Box Review: Thule 686 Atlantis 1600 cargo box

2007-06-28T23:37:00.000-06:00

The Thule 686 Atlantis 1600 cargo box is from the latest line of Thule rooftop carriers. The shortest, stubbiest box in the Atlantis series, the 1600 is perfect for wagon, minivan and SUV owners who need cargo capacity without interfering with the vehicle's rear hatch.

A common problem with long cargo boxes on modern vehicles is that vehicle manufacturers want to mount roof racks to the back of the roof to minimize the wind noise heard in the cabin. This makes it nearly impossible to center the cargo box between a vehicle's axles. On vehicles with hatches that open up, this tends to result in paint meeting box and scratch meeting paint. By going with a short style box, you minimize this effect or avoid the problem entirely. The downside is anything longer than a 180cm ski is going to have to stay home for this trip.

The Atlantis series of boxes are dual-side opening, which is ideal for loading and unloading the boxes, and makes installation a breeze. The QuickGrip mounting hardware consists of four knobs inside the box, each controlling a set of rubber-coated steel jaws below the box. A few cranks of each knob and the box is installed. This is by far my favorite cargo box to install because of the QuickGrip and dual-side opening. It's literally a 2 minute job, if that.

The Atlantis 1600 is available in 2 standard colors, a smooth silver and black. For summer '07, some shops have a few boxes with a limited edition carbon fiber or brushed steel look. While the box has a steep MSRP of $875 CDN, I feel the ease of install and ideal size and shape for vehicles with rear hatches makes the Atlantis 1600 one of the best cargo boxes going. Plus it has the Thule lifetime warranty. You can't go wrong, strongly recommended.

Rack Review: Yakima FullSwing 4 hitch rack

2007-06-28T22:59:00.001-06:00

The Yakima FullSwing 4 is a hitch-mounted bike rack designed for use on vehicles with a Class 3, 2" hitch receiver. It's unique because of its fully extendable arm, which allows the user to leave the bikes mounted while swinging the rack away from the vehicle to open the rear hatch.

The FullSwing 4 comes with Yakima's Deadlock combo locking kit out of the box, giving you a lock for the bolted hitch pin and a cable lock extending out of one arm of the rack, allowing for the end bike to be locked up (securing all bikes in the rack).

A cam lever on top of the main mast of the rack allows users to easily swing the dual arms of the rack down when no bikes are being carried. The switch-blade style cradles on the FullSwing 4 (standard across the dual-arm Yakima bike rack line) help secure your bikes by grabbing on to not only the top tube of the bike frame, but the seat post as well. This helps prevent bikes from swaying back and forth while you accelerate or brake.

One feature of the rack I prefer compared to similar swing-away hitch mounts is the large t-bolt mounted backwards on the rack. This bolt is standard on most swing-away racks, as it connects the two arms of the rack securely when in transit. However, unlike the Thule Revolver or similar products, Yakima mounts their T-bolt on the back side of the rack, facing away from the vehicle. I personally find this bolt easy to kick at from the side of the rack when it is full of bikes, which I find preferable to trying to reach past the mess of bikes with my entire torso to start turning the handle by hand.

A complaint I have about the FullSwing 4 is the short distance between the hole for the receiver mounting bolt and the main mast of the bike rack. This doesn't allow for much distance between the bikes and the vehicle's paint, and makes it almost impossible to use on a vehicle with a rear-mounted spare tire, like a Honda CRV. This problem is common across most hitch-mounted bike racks, as manufacturers don't want to have the weight of the bikes sticking out too far past the rear of the vehicle.

Compared to the Thule Revolver, the Yakima FullSwing 4 is priced at a lower MSRP ($600 CDN vs. $640 CDN), and offers many nearly identical features. Both companies offer a life-time warranty on their racks in North America.