Fit of Trunk Mounted Bike Rack on 2008 Kia Sorento with Spoiler at Top of Liftgate

Expert Reply:

Although it is designed to clear the factory installed spoilers installed at the rear of the trunk lid of many sedans, the Thule Gateway does not work with SUVs or other vehicles with the spoiler mounted at the top of the liftgate, unless there is a gap in between the spoiler and the hatch for the bike rack mounting strap and hooks to pass through and attach to the edge of the hatch. If there is no gap, a hatch mounted rack will not work well because it could not be sufficiently tightened without deforming or cracking the spoiler, as you suspected.

Using a receiver hitch and hitch mounted bike rack would be your best alternative. For the hitch, I would recommend the Curt Class III receiver, part # C13513. You can watch the install video that I have linked to, and see how the hitch would look once it is installed on the vehicle. Some prefer the Hidden Hitch # 87425 because more of the cross bar is concealed behind the bumper (see video). In addition to being able to tow a small trailer, the hitch can be used as an attachment point for other accessories, such as a cargo carrier.

We offer numerous 2-bike racks that are compatible with that hitch, the Swagman Titan part # S63400 is an inexpensive rack that offers anti-sway cradles to prevent the bikes from swinging back and forth and hitting each other or the vehicle. An integrated locking cable secures the bikes to the rack, and an optional locking hitch pin, part # S64029 secures the rack to the hitch.

For womens bikes or bikes with sharply angled top tubes or step-through frames, using a frame adapter like part # 64005 is recommended. The adapter spans the distance between the seat post and the handle bar gooseneck, and provides a level attachment point to the bike rack so the bike has greater ground clearance and is not carried at an angle.

expert reply by: Mike L