Today on our 2008 Ford Edge we'll be test fitting the Kuat aluminum hitch-mounted 2-bike rack with wheel-mount cradles, part number S102. This is the Kuat Sherpa. Now to begin our test fit we've already gone ahead and removed the 2" adapter, so we'll slide the bike rack shank into the hitch, line up the hitch pinhole, and install our hitch pin. We can then move to the back of the shank where we'll tighten the knob down, securing our bike rack to the vehicle. At this point we'll give you a few measurements. Our ground clearance here at the bike rack measures 11-1/2" and from the closest point of the bike rack to the back of the vehicle is 2". We can now unfold the platform and open our cargo door.
As you can see, with the carrier secured to the vehicle we can still open our cargo door and gain access to the cargo area. We'll now unfold the front wheel clamp and make sure it's fully extended. We'll also want to make sure that the rear wheel strap is undone and out of the way. We'll place the bike into the bike rack and bring our front wheel clamp up, clamping it just in front of our front brake caliper here on our bike. We'll move back to the rear wheel, where we'll put the strap through the wheel and secure it on the other side of the rack. Now another great feature of the Kuat Sherpa is its ability to tilt down with a bike loaded and allow you to gain access to the cargo area. We'll simply pull the handle and allow the base to fold down.
We can then open our cargo door. That will do it for the Kuat Sherpa, part number S102, on our 2008 Ford Edge. .