Today on this 2011 ford Flex were going to do a test fit of a Thule bike rack, part number TH9031, the Vertex Swing 4 bike rack. One quick note about this bicycle rack that it is designed for two inch receivers only. Well start off by installing the rack into the hitch. Well tighten down the anti-rattle bolt and then go from there. The bike rack does come with a tool to tighten it down, however a inch wrench may work better in certain applications. Next well give you some measurements that will give you an idea of clearance between the bicycle rack and the bumper and the ground.
Bumper to your bike rack distance is six and a half inches. Ground clearance looks like about 11 inches. Now well go ahead and check for access to the back of the vehicle. Well go ahead and swing away the bike rack and then check for access. That looks good.
Let go ahead and operate the hitch switch and unfold the arms. At this point well go ahead and remove the straps for the cradle were going to use and load up a bike. Well go ahead and load up our bike, balance it on the cradles and then swing the anti-sway part of the cradle down to the seat tube. Well trap it down into place and then move over to the straps that go over the top tube. In a few seconds our bike is already loaded up and ready to go.
With our bike loaded up lets go ahead and check for access to the back of the vehicle one more time. Let me show you how the rack moves the bicycles out of the way for access in the back. With that, that will finish it for our test fit of part number TH9031 from Thule, the Vertex Swing 4 Bike Carrier on our 2011 Ford Flex.
Thule Hitching Post Pro Hitch Bike Rack Review - 2011 Ford Flex
Today on our 2011 Ford Flex and we'll going to be test fitting part number TH934XTR. This is the Thule Hitching Post Pro Folding and Tilting Four Bike Rack with Anti-sway Cradles. Now, to begin our test fit we'll slide our bike rack shank into the hitch, line-up the hitch pinhole and install and tighten down our anti-rattle bolt. With our bolt tight our bike rack is secured to the vehicle. We'll now go ahead and give you a few measurements. Our ground clearance at the bike rack is 10 inches and from the closest point of the bike rack to the back of the vehicle is approximately 6-1/2 inches.
Rhode Gear Highway Hitch Bike Rack Review - 2011 Ford Flex
Today on our 2011 Ford Flex we'll be test fitting part number RG8015220. This is the Rhodegear highway 2 bike carrier for both 1-1/4 inch and 2 inch hitches. Now, to begin our test fit we'll simply slide our bike rack shank using the included adapter for 2 inch hitches into the hitch. We'll line-up the hitch pinhole and install and tighten down our anit-rattle bolt and just like that our bike rack is secured to the vehicle. At this point we'll give you a few measurements. Our ground clearance at the bike rack is 10 inches and from the closest point of the bike rack to the back of the vehicle is 7 inches.
Yakima SwingDaddy 4 Hitch Bike Rack Review - 2009 Ford Flex
All right today, on this 2009 Ford Flex, we're going to do a test fit of part number Y02422 from Yakima; this is their SwingDaddy 4 Bike Carrier. One thing to know about this bicycle rack is that it's designed for class two receiver hitches only. Now we'll go ahead start off our test fit by installing the bike rack into the hitch, then we'll tighten down the anti-rattle bolt, then we'll install the safety clip on the other side. All right, with the bike rack installed, let's go ahead and get some clearance measurements. At its closest point from the bike rack to the bumper, we're looking at four and a half inches. Ground clearance looks like 14 1/2 inches.
Thule Vertex 4 Hitch Bike Rack Review - 2009 Ford Flex
All right today on this 2009 Ford Flex, we're going to do a test fit of part number TH9029 from Thule, the Vertex 4 Bicycle Rack. A few notes about this bicycle rack that this will work inch and a quarter receiver hitches both class one and class two. However, with a class one receiver hitch, you're limited to carrying just two bicycles. Now this will also work with a two-inch receiver hitch with the included spacer. That's what we will be working with today. Well start off our test fit by installing the bike rack into the hitch, then we'll go ahead tighten down the anti-rattle bolt.
Thule Parkway 2 Hitch Bike Rack Review - 2009 Ford Flex
All right today, on this 2009 Ford Flex, we're going to do a test fit of part number TH958 from Thule, the Parkway 2 Bike Carrier. One thing to know about this bicycle rack, that it is designed for two-inch receiver hitches only. Now we'll start off our test fit by installing the bike rack into the hitch, then we'll go ahead and tighten down the anti-rattle bolt. Okay, with the bike rack installed, let's go ahead and get some clearance measurements. From the security cable loop on the bike rack to the bumper, is going to be three inches. Ground clearance is going to be around 11 inches.
Thule Apex 4 Hitch Bike Rack Review - 2009 Ford Flex
All right today, on this 2009 Ford Flex, we're going to do a test fit of part number TH9025 from Thule, the Apex Four-Bike Carrier. Few things to know about this bicycle carrier, is that it will work inch and a quarter receiver hitches both class one and class two. However, on class one hitches, you're limited to carrying just two bicycles. Now this will also work with a two-inch receiver hitch with the included spacer and that's what we're working with today. We'll start off our test fit by installing the bike rack into the hitch, we'll make sure that the integrated hitch pin snaps in securely and then we'll go ahead and tighten down the anti-rattle device. Now we can go ahead and get some clearance measurements.
