Today we are going to cover kind of a different subject. Basically, we are going to talk about getting your wiring installed and what is happening afterward. Okay, for instance, you went to the trouble to get your wiring installed, you plug it into your trailer, and nothing happens. There could be a lot of different things going on with it. First off, you need to figure out for sure whether it is on the towing vehicle side - the car or truck - or if it is something on the trailer. We will show you how to test the different types of wiring systems we have shown here. And that way you can tell for sure if it is your wiring harness or if it is your trailer. more
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Posted: 9/3/2008 12:56:23 AM
Today we are going to cover all the fine points of installing a Pro Series. All these steps apply to the different versions of tongue weight; 750, 1100 and 1400 pound tongue weight. We already have a lot of sub-assemblies done, which are real easy to do on your own. We will just show you the finer points of actually connecting it up and doing some measurements. more
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Posted: 9/3/2008 10:26:52 AM
Today we are going to show you part number 32810. This is the Odyssey II brake controller. This is manufactured by Valley. This is a total electronic brake controller. It is proportional so it is a really easy-to-use unit. We will go over some of the features here and then show you how it works. First off, we will cover some of the functions on the brake controller. It is a little bit different from most. You may be used to the slide lever being on the side, to activate the manual override. Well, this one has a pressure-sensitive switch on this corner here. And you push it down, and the harder you press, the more current goes out. What is different about this brake controller is that is has all push buttons on it. You may be used to brake controllers that have the lever on the side or underneath, but on this one it is all push buttons. And for your manual override, you use this button right here. It is a pressure-sensitive switch, basically the harder you press the more current goes out. more
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Posted: 9/2/2008 1:13:03 PM
Today we are going to show you Part Number 90195 from Tekonsha. This is their P3 trailer brake controller. This is pretty much their top-of-the-line brake controller that is out on the market right now. What you need is, obviously, the brake controller itself, plus the mounting bracket, which is pretty unique. It actually grabs it from the top of the brake controller and snaps into place. And this little bracket here actually gets bolted on to the top here, and then this gets bolted onto your dash. And you can angle the brake controller in whatever direction you need. It also comes with a quick disconnect harness, which plugs into the back of the brake controller, and if you want to take it off when you are not using it, you just disconnect from the harness and tuck this away. And then you do not have it on your dash when you are not needing it. more
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Posted: 9/2/2008 9:15:22 AM
Today we are going to be showing you part number S80550 from Swagman. This is their pop-up camper, roof mount, four-bike rack. A couple of features about this rack are that it does carry up to four bikes as we stated before, it fits on the roof of most pop-up trailers, it is really light duty, so there is not much weight up on the roof, it is constructed entirely out of aluminum, which is nice so you do not have to worry about rust or corrosion on it. Also it has foam bumpers on the legs to help prevent wear and tear on the camper"s roof. Also the adjustable tire rails can accommodate three bike styles, including the touring bikes, standard bikes and mountain bikes. It also comes complete with a set of tie-down straps, some bungee cords and hardware to secure the rack to the roof of the trailer itself. What comes with the roof rack is the tie-down mount here. What this does is it gets bolted into place on top of one of the roof supports. And it does come complete with a set of screws to do that. more
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Posted: 8/29/2008 12:22:01 PM
Today we are going to show you part number 59403 from Rola, the TX 103 bike carrier. This three-bike hitch mounted bike carrier will work on a 1-1/4 or 2-inch receiver. We will go ahead and install it on a typical 2-inch receiver and show you how it works. When you are first assembling your bike rack, you have a choice of setting it up for a 2-inch or 1-1/4 inch receiver hitch. If you are going to use it for 1-1/4, it is just a simple task of taking the shank and installing it in here and putting the bolts through. Now if you need to use it for a 2-inch receiver hitch, you will be assembling it this way. You would take these two pieces of steel, which would basically be like a bushing, and you would put those on each side of the 1-1/4 inch shank, and that would fit up on the inside of here. Then there is just the simple step of tightening the bolts, and the bicycle rack will be ready for a 2-inch receiver hitch. more
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Posted: 9/2/2008 6:03:41 PM
Today we are going to be showing you part number 63140-1. This is the padlock for the silent hitch pin. It is an optional lock for securing the silent hitch pins that are included with the Lets Go Aero, Highland and Rolas hitch mounted cargo carriers. This lock fits a 5/8 inch size silent hitch pin for only two-inch receiver hitches. The best way to do this is to show you how it works. And we will do that right now. more
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Posted: 9/2/2008 12:58:31 PM
Today we are going to cover the installation of a breakaway kit. The function of a breakaway kit is in case the trailer unfortunately breaks away from the truck or the car. What will happen is the breakaway kit will pull a plunger, basically an electrical switch, that will send power via the battery to the brake axles so the trailer wont be free to run off into the ditch, and it will just slow down the trailer as soon as possible. That is the function of a breakaway switch. And now we will go ahead and install one. What we have here is basically a trailer frame, obviously not a whole trailer. But we are going to cover this as a generic install. No matter what brand you are using, they all install pretty much the same way. In this demonstration we will be using a part from Tow Ready, Part Number 20048. more
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Posted: 8/29/2008 3:08:24 AM
Today we are going to cover a frequently asked question. It really turns up a lot. And actually it is easier than you think. Basically, if you have a pickup and you got a tow package with it and you got one of these wire harnesses that plug underneath the dash and plugs into your brake controller, you might have five or sometimes even more wires coming off of it. And you notice that your brake controller only uses four. We have got one over here, we will show you, that has just the four wires and what do you do with the extra wires? The short answer is do not worry about it, because the brake controller has all that it needs from these four wires. more
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Posted: 8/29/2008 12:54:26 PM
Today we are going to do our install on a 2005 Dodge Durango with the tow package from the factory, and we are going to install Part Number 90185, the Tekonsha Prodigy brake controller. And we are also going to install the accompanying brake control harness for the Dodge tow package, and that is Part Number 3020P. To begin our install, we will start with the bracketry to hold our brake controller. And that is actually pretty easy. There is already an existing screw underneath the dash, and we are going to use that. We use a torx bit and we are going to go ahead and take that down. Then we run our bracket right back through it, and we are going to overlap so it will sandwich the plastic back up there like it was originally. more
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Posted: 8/28/2008 9:47:01 PM
Today we are going to cover a few notes on testing an electronic brake controller. What we are going to cover here is going to apply to virtually all brake controllers. Basically, if you run into a problem where you think your brake controller is not working, well, it could be a the brake controller or b it could be something in the truck itself, in the connector or c it actually could be problems in the trailer. What we are going to show you today is how to look for problems that will either rule out the brake controller or make sure that it is the brake controllers fault. Just like any electronic devices, they seem to have a limited lifespan some will work for years and some will not. But this way you can also verify that it is working good. more
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Posted: 8/29/2008 7:37:24 AM
Today were going to install the Prodigy brake controller from Tekonsha, Part Number 90185, on a 1999 Ford F250, the light-duty version. This will also apply to the same year Ford F150. Were going to start off with this one vehicle that only has a factory 4-pole package on it and does not have the 7-pole in the back. So were going to have to upgrade the 4-pole to make it a 7-pole and then we can install the brake controller up front. The first thing we do is install one of two brackets on the hitch itself so we have a place to mount our electrical connector, and basically were going to be using Part Number 18140 from Tow-Ready. And basically this is one that clamps in place right here. Basically its just a hose clamp that goes around the hitch and back through itself. And then you just tighten it down with a clamp set. You might want to hold the bracket in position while you tighten it down, too. Next were going to install a bracket by a hole in the connector right here. And this comes with the Part Number 37185, and thats a 4-pole to 7- and 4-pole adapter. more
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Posted: 8/29/2008 6:05:40 AM
Today we are going to be installing hitch part number 75278 on a 2001 Chevy Venture. We are taking a look at the driver side frame rail and as you can see there are 2 existing weld nuts in the frame. If you have dual exhaust, you may have nuts already on this side holding your exhaust up, in which case you will want to just remove the existing bolts out of the frame to expose these nuts. As you can see here on the passenger side, we do have the exhaust and there are 2 bolts in the frame holding the exhaust hanger on, we are going to go ahead and remove those and it is going to drop the exhaust down here. On short wheel base models, there would be an existing hole here that we will be using as a forward most attaching point on the hitch. With this being the long wheel based model, that hole is not there so we will have to drill it, as well as the rear most attaching point. more
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Posted: 9/2/2008 12:33:55 PM
Today we are going to show you A30404TW200 from SportRack. What we have here is a 4 bike folding and towing rack for 2 inch hitches. A few nice details about this bicycle rack are first off this bike rack does fit only 2 inch receiver hitches. But you have an option of having only 2 pin holes on the shank itself. So you can bring it in even closer to the vehicle or further away depending on your bumper and hitch combination. Also on the shank here is the pivot mechanism basically allows you to pull this pin back and allows you to tilt the rack backwards to allow you access to the back of your vehicle. We will go ahead and show you just how that works. You pull out the clip and then you pull out the pin. Then it folds back and out of the way so you can get to the back of your vehicle. more
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Posted: 9/1/2008 11:04:10 PM
Today we are going to show you part number TH916. This is the Thule T2 bike rack for 2 inch trailer hitches only. This is a wheel mount and it is also expandable. Some of the features of this bike includes that it accommodates most bikes regardless of frame designs, suspension or even wheel size. The bike rack folds up next to the vehicle when not in use and the support arms of the mounting system pull down for easier storage. It has a built in anti sway device that stabilizes the bike rack and hitch receiver. The bike carrier tilts down for more convenient access to the rear cargo area of the vehicle. The mounting system is designed for quick and easy loading of bikes into the carrier. There is no wheel removal necessary. The cushion bar on the front of the mounting mechanism secures the bike at the fork and adjusts to the wheel height. Then the rear wheel mount slides to adjust to the bike length. The rubber straps secure bike wheels at the front and the back of the carrier. more
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Posted: 9/2/2008 3:47:40 PM
Today we are going to be showing you part number 40123 from Draw Tite. This is their folding 3 bike towing rack for 2 inch trailer hitch receivers. This is a 3 bike carrier that mounts to the shank of a class III, 2 inch square ball mount which is not included with this package. It includes 3 bolts to ensure a snug fit and a minimum 10 inch clearance is required between the hitch pin hole and the ball hole for mounting. Extra long ball mounts with a rise/drop usually do not work because of the angled metal supporting the ball mount face. This is a tilting bike rack and it also locks into place when not in use. You can tell that it has, of course, the 3 cradles on the top there which screw down to ensure stability while you are driving down the road. more
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Posted: 8/30/2008 6:03:52 PM
Today we are going to show you part number 04928 from Swift Hitch, the trailer hitch aligner and portable wireless camera system. As you can see, it comes in 2 different pieces here. One camera goes in the back of your vehicle and the other camera is a hand held device that you carry in the cab of your truck while you back up to your trailer. We will show you a couple of nice feature about this camera system. First off, it has a 1 button operation here which basically turns it on, hold it down until the screen comes on. Then to turn it off, simply hold the button down again until it goes off. Also that is the same thing with the camera itself. It has a simple on and off button to operate it. Both of these devices have their own internal batteries. The kit does come complete with charger form so you can charge them both at the same time. The screen it self is 2 and a half inches wide and is a full color screen also. more
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Posted: 8/26/2008 6:10:24 AM
Today we are going to show you part number V91150 from Valley. This is their 3 bike towing 2 armed rack for 2 inch trailer hitch receivers. It is a real nice and easy to use bicycle rack. You can attach it to your ball mount that goes directly to your hitch receiver. Also, you can use the provided stinger, which is the part that replaces the ball mount and goes into the hitch, and you can use your bicycle straight from there. What is also really nice about this bicycle rack is that it actually folds flat, almost completely flat, when you are not using it. You simply take these arms and just fold them over on top of themselves. Then fold this flat so you have a nice narrow form which you can easily store in the corner of a garage some where. We will go ahead and install our bicycle rack. It is actually pretty easy. As we have shown right here this is the actual stinger that comes with this bicycle rack in case you are not using a ball mount. This could easily be a ball mount if you already have one existing. What you do to install this is take this cap off and go ahead and slide this onto the stinger. Then push down on this handle right here, you have to use a pretty good amount of force and it locks into place. Then you put your safety pin in and re install your cap. more
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Posted: 8/26/2008 4:34:06 PM
Today we are going to install part number 87424 on a 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. The hitch itself mounts onto the very end of the last cross member on the vehicle frame itself, and that is of course right behind the plastic bumper here. But it installs in 4 bolt holes here in the center. Basically the hitch wraps around the beam here and the bolts go through and attach it and basically bolt it into place. Our first step we need to do is go ahead and lower the exhaust, basically to help get the muffler out of the way so you can run the bolts straight into the frame. We just needed that little bit of flexibility to get the bolts into place. Now we can simply put our hitch up into place and then run our bolts in. Once you get your bolts started you can go ahead and snug them down. more
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Posted: 8/30/2008 2:49:35 PM
Today we are going to install part number 24763 on our 2008 Honda Civic hybrid model. The hitch is going to install above the exhaust on this frame rail behind the heat shield right here. It wraps all the way around the muffler. It is also going to attach to the tow hook right here. Also on the frame rail over here just on this side of the shroud. The first step is to remove the exhaust and also, to do that, we need to remove the rubber isolator from the exhaust muffler. And that will give us some wiggle room. Next we have to unbolt this heat shield right here. Alright next what needs to happen is that this rivet right here has to be removed. We will put it back up when we are done. What we are going to do now is go ahead and hang the hitch. We are going to start off at the tow loop. As you can see, we have the U-bolt hanging down from it. It might be a good idea to have an extra set of hands to work around the muffler. more
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Posted: 8/30/2008 9:03:28 AM
Today we are going to install part number 75432 from Draw Tite. We are going to install this on a 2008 Toyota Rav4. This hitch is going to attach to the frame, it is going to attach to these weld nuts here and here. It will be the same thing on both sides. But on the driver side, there is a tie down bracket that we have to take off. This tie down bracket will have to come off and the hitch will use this hole where this bolt is existing and this existing weld nut right here. We will begin by taking this bracket off. We will just install the bolts just to get everything started. At this point we can already start installing the hitch. It is kind of on the heavy side, so it might be a good idea to get a extra set of hands to get it in there. more
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Posted: 8/30/2008 1:53:56 PM
Today we are going to show you part number 82005 from Swagman. What we have here is a hitch rack bike cover. This bike cover will actually fit up to two bikes on any style hitch rack. Do this quickly and easily covering your bike with its large zippered opening. It also comes with cinch straps to take care of extra fabric that will be hanging around and does not get used up. We will go ahead and install it and show you how it works. To install it, first off what you want to do is you want to open up this flap here. The hitch arm itself will actually go through here and will be covered up when we are done. To make sure you have it going on right, you want to have the insignia facing the right way. We will go ahead and open up the flap and slide it over the hitch. And just drape it underneath the bicycle rack. And then go ahead and install your bikes as normal. more
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Posted: 8/30/2008 8:53:05 AM
Today we are going to show you part number S64910 from Swagman. What we have here is their three bike bicycle rack that is designed exclusively for a two inch receiver hitch. We will show you the features of this bicycle rack starting from the bottom and we will work our way up. The first of is where it inserts into the hitch. It is kind of nice that it has actually two positions to choose from and we will show you how that works. As you can see here, we have it pretty close to the bumper and we can actually take out the pin and pull it out an additional three inches to give a little bit of extra clearance if you need it. And going on to here, this particular joint is a non-tilting unit which is nice because you can actually use this unit on the back of fifth wheel trailers or RVs. With most other bicycle racks you really are not supposed to do that, especially with the tilting models. But with the three bike rack you can do that, four and five you can not do, but the three bike you can. You also want to maintain a minimum ground clearance on the bicycle rack from the ground a minimum of 15 inches. more
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Posted: 8/30/2008 1:21:40 PM
Today we are going to show you part number e09151 from Erikson. What we have here is our Camlock logistics strap. The dimensions of this Camlock strap is 2 inches wide by 10 foot long and it is rated for 2000 pounds. We will go ahead and show you a typical application for it. We will go ahead and just show you how it works. It is pretty simple. You just pull this little tab back, pop it into place and it is secure. And then, the opposite side of the strap works the same way. Latch it into place and then the strap goes through this Camlock right here. Then you can go ahead and strap an article to it and see what you get. And there you are, it is ready for transport down the road. There you have it for part number e09151 from Erikson, the Camlock Logistics strap. more
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Posted: 8/30/2008 1:17:56 PM
Today we are going to be installing a brake controller on this 2008 GMC Sierra. The part number is 5520, along with the 7-way replacement socket for the GM products, part number 20047. We are going to start in the rear, installing the 7-Pole replacement socket. We are back behind the bumper here and if you can see this unit here is actually the 7-pole factory socket that we are going to be plugging into. So we want to go ahead and disconnect this off of the knockout that goes into the bumper. We are back on the outside of the bumper here and this knockout here is actually going to be removed. This is where the 20047 is going to be put in place of. Now that the knockout is removed, we want to go ahead and put the replacement socket in there. It just slides in and you want to line up the notches and just rotate it and it locks right into place. I am going to take the socket that we removed from the backside of the knockout earlier and plug it into the back of the 7-way here. more
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Posted: 9/2/2008 3:30:05 PM
Today we are going to show you part number S64665 from Swagman, their four bike wheel mount carrier that is also folding. We will cover some of the nice points about this bicycle rack. First we will cover the wheel mounts themselves. They are pretty neat. What is nice about these is that they are fully adjustable on the rack itself. You just loosen this knob and you can adjust up to any size bike. Also the wheel mounts have these Velcro straps that go around and keeps the wheel tide to the rack just in case something comes loose. The next feature is, what is nice about this post here, it actually can be folded down and out of the way when you are storing it. It is pretty simple. You just pull this pin, lay it down and go ahead and re-install the pin. That way when it is in its fold up position it will not rattle around. We will go on and move on to the top of this post here to the hooks. This is really nice. First off they are ratcheting style, so you do not have to worry about tightening or loosening them every time, you can just push them into place and they will stay locked. The hooks themselves have heavy padding on them so they will not scratch your bike frames or anything like that. We will go ahead and install the bike rack. It slides into a two inch receiver only. more
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Posted: 8/29/2008 5:00:24 PM
Today we are going to be installing hitch part number 87554 on a 2002 Dodge Dakota. Alright, the first thing we want to do is go ahead and lower the spare tire and remove it and get it out of the way. Looking under the vehicle now, at the frame rails, the attaching points for the hitch are going to be here at the bottom of the frame. This existing hole, as well as this one here. There is a vertical attaching point as well, which is going to be where this bolt is here. So we need to actually remove the nut from the outboard side and pull this piece off. As you can see, there is an extra flange here that kind of holds the bolt in place while you are putting the nut on. If that happens to be pinched in between this particular set of bolts here, you might need to loosen these to allow this to be removed. So you will want to go ahead and remove this bolt and that assembly from both sides of the frame. As you can see I had to loosen these bolts here to get this top bolt out, the flange. You will want to make sure that you re tighten these as soon as you are able to get the top bolt out. Now that we have the bolt removed from the side of the frame, we will go ahead and put the hitch up into position. more
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Posted: 8/29/2008 4:31:57 PM
Today we are going to be installing hitch part number 87717 on a 1997 Dodge Grand Caravan. We are underneath the vehicle now and I am going to go ahead and point out the attaching points that we are going to use for the hitch. As you can see there are 2 existing bolts in the bottom of the frame as well as a center hole here as well. The hitch is going to utilize this bolt here, as well as this hole here. On 2001 and newer models, we have a hole that is going to be existing here as well that the hitch is going to utilize. On this particular model, they do not have the hole already in the frame so we are going to have to go ahead and drill that out. So the first step is going to be to go ahead and take out this bolt on both sides of the frame. And then I will run it back in. It basically cleans the threads out themselves. more
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Posted: 8/29/2008 3:57:32 PM
Alright, today we are going to install part number 75471 from Draw-Tite and we will be installing this on a 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe. This also applies to hidden hitch number 87414. It is a relatively easy hitch to install. It attaches at 2 points right here, at these 2 threaded holes inside the frame. They are going to be identical on both sides of the vehicle. So first thing we will want to do, even though this is a new vehicle, is take some time out to run the bolts in and out just to make sure that you do not have any dust or road grime in there. more
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Posted: 8/28/2008 11:31:46 AM
Today we are going to install part number 118307 on our 2005 Kia Sorrento. Installing the part is pretty simple. There is actually a port for a towing package on the passenger side frame rail, right here, and all you have to do basically is pull off the cap and push this little button in and the cap comes out. The T1 connector connector actually just plugs right back in there. At this point you just route the T1 how ever you want, tie off the converter box in a safe location. Then just run your wires out to your hitch. It looks like a good spot actually is right above the spare tire rack here. So what we will do is just put it to the top of it right here. Make sure you have plenty of room with your spare tire. Then we will run our zip tie across the top of it and through the wires. The next thing we can do is run our wire to the other side and we will just bundle it up and just go ahead and zip tie it to the top of the hitch here. That would be safe and out of the way. Get yourself so extra long zip ties and just run it across with one on each side. At this point you can mount your 4 pole connector to a bracket that will mount to your factory bracket on the hitch. Then you just simply zip tie it in place or add a different type of connector for here. That concludes our install of part number 118307 from Tow Ready, the T1 connector. more
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Posted: 8/28/2008 4:51:06 PM
Today we are going to be showing you part number A30703FB this is the folding 3 bike carrier for 1 and a 1/4 and 2 inch trailer hitches from SportRack. SportRack has constructed a very solid, yet very versatile bike carrier. The rubber knob cradles protect your equipment from scratches and, when not in use on your vehicle, it folds completely out of the way. When you get home it totally collapses, taking up the least mount of storage space then any other bike rack we sell. The weight capacity is 132 pounds and accepts bikes with frames up to 2 and a 1/4 inches in diameter. This bike also includes a locking knob on the very last arm, which ensures security for bikes when you travel on down the road. It also comes with a set of keys to lock it. Before we show you how to convert the shank we are going to show you how this folds up for the maximum amount of storage capabilities in your garage. You loosen this pin here and it just folds up to a very convenient folding position like so. Then you just replace the pin. more
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Posted: 8/28/2008 10:57:57 AM
Today we are going to show you part number 830850. This the 20 by 60 folding cargo carrier for 2 inch trailer hitches from SportRack. The features of this are that it is powder coated to resist corrosion, it is 20 by 60 expanded steel mesh floor and the shank is angled up for better ground clearance. The side rails help keep cargo in place to provide tie down points and the carrier folds up when not in use. It fits 2 by 2 trailer hitch receivers. It has a weight capacity of 500 pounds. From outside the rail to outside the rail is 21 and 1/4 by 61 and 1/4. The side rails measure 6 inches high and it is a 3 piece bolt together unit. Also the cargo carrier shank has a built in anti rattle device used to reduce the vibration and noise of the carrier inside the trailer hitch. This is ideal for transporting anything from sports equipment to lawn gear. Anything you can think of to put in here that you do not want inside of your vehicle. more
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Posted: 8/28/2008 11:21:15 AM
Today we are going to be installing part number 24579 from Draw Tite. We are going to install this on a 1993 Geo Prism. The hitch installs in these 3 points on the side of the frame. And on this vehicle we actually have a threaded fittings. Some varieties of this vehicle will not have threads at all. In fact, we would have to drill a hole into the frame to install hardware. In this case we do not have to do that because the 3 holes here are threaded. Also when you install the hitch we will have to make a notch in the sheet metal here to put it in place. We can do that with a simple set of sheers. It will not be too hard to install. Basically you will do the same thing on both sides. The firsts steps involve is to go ahead and take down these bumper straps off the trunk pan here. We will just go ahead and take those off. We just need to pull those out of our way for now. Next what we will do is hold up the hitch and find out where exactly on the sheet metal we need to cut. more
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Posted: 8/26/2008 8:01:42 AM
Today we are going to be showing you part number A30403 the folding 3 bike carrier for 1 inch and 1/4 and 2 inch trailer hitches. This is called the Sport Rack Escape 3. The features of this includes that it carriers up to 3 bikes, it works with many alternative and larger tubed frame bikes and it has a dual arm design which offers great bike support and 3 attachment points for each bike. Also it has a anti sway cradle which attaches to the upright or angled bar of the bike frame to help keep bikes from swaying front to back as you are driving down the road. The soft cradles slide front to back and rotate to help accommodate many types of bikes. The carrier is also powder coated to resist corrosion. The bike rack tilts down to allow access to the rear of your vehicle. The top support arms also collapse for travel without bikes or for storage. The bike rack includes a threaded anti rattle hitch pin that prevents the bike rack from swaying back and forth. more
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Posted: 8/26/2008 1:06:44 AM
Today we are going to show you part number TH914. This is the folding 4 bike carrier for inch and a 1/4 and 2 inch trailer hitches, the Thule Roadway. It is easy to use and it carries up to 4 bikes, as mentioned before. The roadway by Thule has a dual arm design that accommodates a wider variety of bikes. It has soft cradles that keep the bikes tightly secured to the carrier. There is also an anti sway strap to keep bikes from rocking back and forth while you travel. You may conveniently use this bike rack with either a 1 inch and a 1/4 or a 2 inch receiver. It has 2 quick release levers which allow it to tilt towards you to gain better access to the rear of the vehicle. It also has a quick release lever at the top of the bike rack so that the arms fold down for better storage capabilities. It has a built in anti rattle device that reduces the vibration and noise of the rack and hitch while you are traveling down the road. more
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Posted: 8/21/2008 5:58:49 AM
Today we are going to be showing you part number 6502, this is the 20x48 folding cargo carrier for 2 inch trailer hitch receivers, from Tow Ready. This cargo carrier will tilt up for easy storage. The carrier also has license plate relocation holes if the carrier obscures your license plate. For extra safety the cargo carrier includes reflector tape. This cargo carrier has 500 pounds of cargo capacity. It tilts up for easy installation and storage. It has a mesh floor for easy clean up and it has 3 inch high side rails to retain cargo. There are attachment holes for load securing devices such as bungee cords or straps of some sort. And it has an angled design for maximum ground clearance. It also has a powder coat finish that resists corrosion. We will show you some of the connection points. You can see them here and there are some on the front. If you have bungee cords you can also use the mesh flooring of the cargo carrier. Now moving around to the front, the license plate mounts are here and here and also on the other side of the cargo carrier if need be. We are going to go ahead and show you the folding feature, which is the main feature of this cargo carrier. more
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Posted: 8/21/2008 3:58:10 PM
Today we are going to be installing a T1 wiring harness, part number 118362, on a 2003 Nissan Frontier. Looking up underneath the vehicle now. And you can see, we are looking back towards the bumper right on the rear side of the spare tire here. If you take a look at the passenger side, the harness is going to be right here. What we will want to do is go ahead and disconnect that and pull these 2 pieces apart. As you can see there is kind of a pin in there that we need to push in then you can pull these 2 pieces apart, like so. Now that we have the wire disconnected here we can go ahead and put our T-harness in line. As you can see there are 2 ends on it as well. You just plug the coinciding ends together. Okay, we are going to go ahead and mount the ground now. And we want to actually mount that directly to the frame so that we make sure that we have a good grounding point. more
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Posted: 8/21/2008 3:44:08 PM
Today we are going to show you part number 59110 from Rola the tilting enclosed cargo carrier for 2 inch trailer hitches. What this is, is an enclosed cargo carrier working with a 2 inch receiver hitch. It also doubles as a regular cargo carrier. Plus the fact that as a regular cargo carrier, it can fold up and out of the way when you are not using it. We will go ahead and show you how it works. We will go ahead and show you the cargo box itself. It is real nice. As you can see, it is all plastic construction and is also weather tight construction on the door hinge itself. We will go ahead and open it and show you how it works. It has these suitcase type latches that hold everything down and they are lockable. Once you open it up you can see you have plenty of space inside. Also if you get anything inside or just want to wash it out, or what not, there is a plug in here to drain it. This cargo carrier can hold 13 and a 1/2 cubit feet of cargo inside of it. more
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Posted: 8/20/2008 8:22:08 AM
Today we are going to show you part number S64720 from Swagman. This is the Swagman upright roof rack. This will fit a variety of different types of roof racks that are on the market. We have one installed on a Thule roof rack and we will show you how it works. The bicycle rack will attach to the roof rack, like so, with basically a U bolt and a clamp and a couple of tension knobs. Then also on the front of the rack, with the pivot point it also clamps into place around the roof rack. It has 2 knobs on top and there is a set of 4 upfront here. Next we will show you the clamp that actually does the work on the bike itself. This clamp right here has nice rubber padding on both sides of the knob. And basically you just use this knob to screw them together and that clamps into place on your bicycle. And also, there is a built in lock here. So when you tighten it down to leave your bike on the roof rack you can simply lock it and then the handle free wheels so it will not go anywhere and you can not take it off. more
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Posted: 8/20/2008 1:14:11 PM
Today we are going to show you part number TH912 this is the folding tube bike carrier for 1 inch and 1/4 and 2 inch trailer hitches. This is the Thule Roadway. The Thule Roadway carrier, for up to 2 bikes, has the quick and easy hitch switch that allows you to just flip the switch to fold the bike carrier down and away from the rear of the vehicle. The switch also makes it super convenient to fold the arms down when not in use. The dual arm construction with rotating cradles lets you carry a wider variety of bikes without the use of an adapter. An anti sway strap and built in anti rattle device keeps movement to a minimum while traveling. Also keep in mind that this can be upgraded with a no sway cage accessory which is part number TH955 which works exclusively with T3 cradles and prevents bikes from rocking back and forth on the carrier. more
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Posted: 8/20/2008 8:06:19 AM
What this does for you is it allows an alternative frame bike with a real steep cross tube to be carried on a normal bicycle rack. We will go ahead and show you how this installs, it is pretty easy one half wraps around the seat post and the other half will wrap around the stem up front by the handlebars. We will go ahead and pop it on to show you how it works. We will go ahead and install the bike with the adapter on a typical bicycle rack and see what we get. We got the adapter bar in place, we know how it looks, so now lets see what it looks like without the adapter. As you can see it is a rather large difference. As you can see this is a simple device but actually will help out with balancing your bikes out on your bicycle rack and it will save a lot of headache trying to figure out how to stack them on top of a rack. more
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Posted: 8/12/2008 9:58:59 AM
This is a part that upgrades your Boone docking station to take Yakima and Thule racks, and virtually any other rack that uses a threaded fitting instead of a hitch pin. What this pin does is replace the original pin on the Boone docking station. Basically you just unclip these clips, pop off the one side and re-install with the new clips. This way you can install your threaded side out of your bicycle rack onto your pin. We will replace the bottom one and show you how it works. We need to remove one of the c-clips and hold one edge of it, take a screwdriver and flip it up a bit. Once you get it started, get to the middle and put your screwdriver underneath it and slide it up with your finger so it does not fly off. Now re-assemble your dock block insert your new pin and make sure it is in correct orientation with the threads on your bicycle rack. You have to make sure because the threads are on the outside edge or else it will not fit on. Once you have it right, you can put your c-clip back on. We will now install the bicycle rack with the threaded fitting. Just to give the point of view, we will just point out that the threads are on this side of the shank. To show you how it works, look down there and see it is open and the pin goes through. One other thing about this is that one half you can use for your bicycle rack while the other half is open for any two inch accessories. There you have it for part # BH83747, the Boone dock cross pin for Thule and Yakima bicycle racks. more
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Posted: 8/12/2008 10:02:11 AM
This is a device that holds ball mounts, bicycle racks, and cargo carriers on your wall for easy storage. These are the parts we have here, it does need a little bit of assembly, so we will show you how it goes together. As you can see we already put the covers on the end of the tubes, they just pop on and you tap them into place no big deal. You do have to take note of what side these bars go on the main support bar, there are angles you have to match up to. It goes in like that and when you know what the general layout is then we can install the hardware. Now you get some common hand tools and tighten them down. In this case a 1/2 inch wrench and 1/2 inch socket. Once you have it assembled, you will notice that the angle is towards the wall. This will be the wall mount right here, it gets lag-bolted into place and this part just sits on the floor and bears the weight. You have to have this angle so it puts the weight straight down. You see we have this leaning against the wall here, it stands out away from the wall so it takes all the support weight. more
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Posted: 8/12/2008 10:08:15 AM
This is a device that holds your accessories in place, whether it be a cargo carrier, a simple ball mount or one of your bicycle racks. Also as a note this is not a free standing device, this part does need to be bolted against the wall to keep it in place. Your accessories mount on pretty much like a regular hitch pin. Slide your accessory on, and put your hitch pin back in for security. As you can see we have one ball mount stored in place and ready to go. Now you will notice the pin on the other side, we can install another device like a ball mount, in this case we will use a bike rack. There you have it, you can store two devices at the same time. As you can see we installed a couple of two inch accessories, also available are different pins or docking stations that you can install for a different type of bicycle racks for a 1-1/4 hitch or racks that use a threaded insert, there are provisions for those too. That is for the Boone dock two inch storage stand, part # BH91411. more
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Posted: 8/12/2008 10:08:59 AM
This part adds additional capacity to your Boone docking station and allows you to carry more than just 2 inch accessories. They install just the same as your original Boone dock blocks. First you install your c-clip on one side. You slide the pin through and fasten the other side with a c-clip. There you have it. This accessory will hold any 1-1/4 bike rack, ball mount, or cargo carrier. This is part number BH91200, the Boone Dock 1-1/4 inch dock block kit. more
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Posted: 8/12/2008 10:10:35 AM
Today we are going to be showing you part number TH958. This is the folding 2 bike carrier for 2 inch trailer hitches, the Thule Parkway. This carrier has a dual arm design for extra stability during your trip. The soft rubber cradles that are made to protect your bike frame while keeping it secure. This is perfect for weekly trips to the park or annual family vacations. The Thule Parkway is an excellent addition to your vehicle for more travel with your bikes. We will go ahead and show off these features starting off with putting the bike rack into the hitch and showing you how the anti rattle device works. Lift the bike rack into the hitch and line up the holes on the side. The anti rattle device simply screws in. That is going nowhere. Next we will show you the tilt feature. You simply pull the pin towards the bottom near the shank and you let the bike rack fall towards you which gives you more clearance to the rear of your vehicle. Next we will be going ahead and putting the bike onto the bike rack. We will get a standard frame bike to keep things simple. Then we will show you how the cradles work. more
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Posted: 8/13/2008 12:24:33 PM
Today we are going to show you part number 63123 from Tow Ready. What we have here is a folding 3 bike bicycle rack that will fit either an 1 inch and 1/4 class 2 receiver hitch or a 2 inch receiver hitch. This does carry up to 3 bikes. This bike rack does come with heavy duty Velcro straps to secure the bike to the carrier which will not allow it to be removed or be scratched. Also the cradles themselves have a rubber padding which will not allow the bikes to get scratched up and grips them nice and tight. Also this bicycle rack will tilt forward to allow access to the rear of the vehicle. Once again this will fit an inch and a 1/4 class 2 receiver hitch or a class 3 2x2 receiver hitch. It is really easy to convert it into an incha and a 1/4 since we have it in the 2 inch position right now. Pull this pin and all you have to do is spin it around and it is ready to go into a class 2 receiver hitch. more
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Posted: 8/19/2008 4:12:23 PM
Today we are going to show you part number TH956. This is the folding 4 bike carrier for 2 inch trailer hitches, also known as the Thule Parkway. It is perfect for a weekly trip to the park or an annual family vacation. The convenient tilting mechanism allows for easy access to the rear cargo area of your vehicle, while an anti rattle device secures the bike carrier to the hitch. It also comes with a safety strap to give your bikes just a little more security with you are driving down the road. Okay we are going to go ahead and put the bike rack into the hitch now and install the anti rattle device. Simply screw it in like so and Thule has a tightening tool you can use to tighten it down the rest of the way. Nice and tight and it will not be going anywhere. We will show you the tilting feature next. Undo the pin and let it fall forward and then you can get to the rear of your vehicle with ease and comfort. Next we are going to install a bike for you here. more
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Posted: 8/20/2008 3:03:03 AM
Today we are going to show you part number TH915 from Thule. What we have here is a folding 5 bike carrier for 2 inch trailer hitches. This is their Roadway model. We will go ahead and install it on our 2 inch receiver hitch and show you the features of this. We will go ahead and show you how this works. Line up the hole. And instead of a hitch pin, it does come with this bolt that you just thread it into the bike rack. Once you tighten the bolt down it acts as an anti sway device also. It makes a permanent connection to the hitch. Alright, this lower latch that you saw before lets you tilt the bike rack, so if it is on the back of your SUV, you can get back to the inside of your vehicle. To get the bicycle rack ready to accept the bikes, you need to pull on this latch up here, and pull the arms up into position, and it is ready to haul your bikes. Alright we will go ahead and throw on our bike now and show you how it works. It is pretty simple, just lay it on the cradles and then take your straps and pull them tight over your bike. Same thing with your one in the back, you can pull it over and there you have it. Your bike is secured and you can do that with 4 more bikes. more
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Posted: 8/18/2008 8:56:22 AM
Today we are going to show you part number BH91818 from Boone outdoor hardware. What we have here is a trailer hitch mounted gold club carrier for 2 inch trailer hitches. The hardshell carriers are not included and what also is not included is a 5/8 hitch pin and clip. Next we will go ahead and show you how it is installed on a typical 2 inch receiver hitch and show you show you how you can mount up your golf clubs. Alright, we will go ahead and show you a couple of nice features about this golf club carrier. It is pretty nice. First off, it is really light weight and it is really easy to install. Also you can actually tilt it into get to the back of your SUV or mini van. Simply pull out this pin right here. Then tilt it down and you have easy access to the back of your vehicle. What is nice about this carrier is that it has nice padding, so if you have a really nice hard case for your clubs it will not scratch it up either. more
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Posted: 8/18/2008 6:49:10 PM
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Great Experience! Hitch arrived propmptly. Was a perfect fit. Installation difficulty was rated at 4 and took me only 20 minutes to install. The connector for the wiring was a plug and go installation. Great experience all the way around. Thanks!
Michael, Cambridge, MD |
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