Thule Bed Rider Pro Truck Bed Bike Rack for 2 Bikes - Fork Mount - 68" Long - 9-mm Skewer

Video Transcript for Thule Truck Bed Bike Racks Review - 2022 Ford Maverick

Hi everyone. Aiden here with etrailer. Today we're gonna be taking a look at the Thule Bed Rider Pro truck bed bike rack and seeing how it fits on our 2022 Ford Maverick. Now this is the compact truck version, which means that the bar up front is gonna be a little bit shorter. If you're watching this video and you're wanting this for a full size truck, be sure to check out the full size truck option. This bar is going to be 68 inches long and you can see it's perfectly sized here for our Maverick.

There's a little bit of overhang on the bars at each end but nothing that's gonna stick out past the side of the vehicle. So it's a really solid fit. It's a really strong fit as well. Not a lot of movement or anything going on here. The clamps fit under the bed rails really snugged, getting us a secure fit on the bed rails too.

With this system, you're gonna have the capacity to carry two bikes with these movable fork blocks. Those are controlled by two screws that use a specially keyed Allen key that comes in your kit so people can't mess it when you're not around. And these can be slid back and forth. And if you want to, you can even add a third block in the middle if you've got the room for it. It's really just gonna depend on your bikes.

With a road bike like this where the handlebars are a little bit more narrow, I think it would be more optimal. Now, right away, I do wanna talk about that the tailgate is down. We've got it in the slightly raised position right here but we don't have the room with our bike to fully raise it up. And when we had a mountain bike on here earlier, that was a bit larger, we had even less room. So with this, that's just something to be conscious of that you do have a short bed, and with the front bar needing to be mounted on the bed rails, we can only move it so far forward.

We've got it probably in the furthest up position we can right now, just because the bed rails start to slope up and underneath we've got some things in our way, so the clamps need a solid metal attachment point and we can't get that further up. So, if you're wanting something that you can drive around with a tailgate lifted up, maybe consider a hitch-mounted bike rack, or maybe even a tailgate pad. With a tailgate pad, it is going to be a lot less secure. This one, you can see, it's going to be a really strong fit on our bike and there's a lot of locking points all throughout, including the end caps on the very side here, and one lock that hides all of the hardware for the clamps. So, getting the crossbar secured down, we use this bolt to tighten it. That gets locked up inside. And for the clamp hardware, again, you access it through here, which uses the same key system. Now the kit does come with a variety of different adapters here for different size three axles. But it also comes with the pieces for a quick release skewer like we have on the other side. I'll run over there and get that detached. With the height of the truck and everything on our Maverick, it's very easy to get things up and into the bed as well as out. So once we remove that quick release, it's easy to lift up and over the side, get your front wheel attached and get on your way. You will have to find some place to store that front wheel but you can store it inside, or depending on the size of your bike, if you can fit the tailgate up, you can keep it in the bed. Overall though, it's gonna be a really solid option. You do wanna keep in mind the weight capacity. These can support a weight of 40 pounds per bike. I think for most bikes, that should be no problem. And like I mentioned, this is going to be the compact size option. I think it's a really solid fit on the Maverick. And if you don't wanna worry about a tailgate pad or hitch-mounted bike rack, then I think this is gonna be a pretty solid option. Thanks for watching.