Kuat NV Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2015 Toyota Sienna

Review of the Kuat NV Hitch Bike Racks on a 2015 Toyota Sienna

Today on our 2015 Toyota Sienna, we are doing a test fit of the Kuat NV Platform Style 4 Bike Rack. That part number is N105-107. Now we have already got our bike on the rack, but the first thing I am going to show you is the tilt away feature; because in this platform style, we can't tilt the bike rack away from our vehicle with the bike still on there. What i am going to do is, just grab onto our bike rack - we have a silver lever down here, and we are just going to pull that, and when that pops out of place, we can just gently set down our bike rack. Now, in this position, we usually are able to get our hatch open. Unfortunately with, this style bike we have, we will come in contact up here, at the handle bars, before we are able to get anything out. If you have somebody to help you, you can always have them hold on to the hatch, and then get items out, as you need them.

To put the bike rack back into place, we are just going to lift up, on the back of it.and that will snap into place there. Now, looking at our bike and how it's strapped down - we got a strap here, holding the tire in place - To loosen that, we are just going to push down the black lever and lift up on the strap. Up at the front, we have got a wheel hook - that's what's going to keep that bike in place, and also down in the cradle, there. To release that one, we just push on the grey button and we and going to lit straight up, and move that hook out of the way. We can then take our bike off the rack and set it off to the side. Now I always suggest, anytime that you have any straps, you re-strap those down or reconnect them, so you don't lose or damage any of them. With my hulk, I am just going to lower it, and move it back into place on the other side. Now, let's take a few measurements. Overall, the back of the vehicle, in this position, we are adding about 45 inches to the back of the vehicle. Our ground clearance back here, is going to be about 20 and a 1/2 inches, and our closest point, is going to this very back piece here, at about 4 and 3/4 inches away. Now if you are wanting to park in a close quarters parking spot, or have a more compact area, so you are not taking up a lot of space on the road, we could come down to the silver handle again, and pull that out, and then we are able to lift up on our rack, so that locks into place.

Now overall, we are only adding about 14 and a 1/4 inches to the vehicle. Our ground clearance back here is going to be about 9 and a 1/4 inches, and our closest point, looks like its going to be an inch and a 1/2 pretty much overall. Now one thing I would like to go over is the hitch - We do have it too much hitch on this vehicle, that's what's going to be adaptable for this bike rack. We also have a pin and lock in there - that's going to secure that into place. Now you can always take the keys with you to secure your bike rack even further, to prevent theft and tampering. Back here at the back , we have got this black knob, that's going to push a little silver ball inside the shank of the hitch, up against the wall of the hitch. It's attached to the bike rack so it acts an anti-rattle device, to keep your bike rack in place, so you don't hear a lot of shake or movement. So that's going to be our completed look at the Kuat NV Platform Style 4 Bike Rack, part number N105-107, on our 2015 Toyota Sienna. Lets see how it does on the test course. Here on our test course, we will start by going through slalom.

This is going to show us side to side action, which simulates turning corners, or evasive maneuvers. Once we get to the alternating speed bumps, we will see the twisting action, this will simulate hitting a curb or a pothole or driving over uneven pavement. Once we get to the full speed bumps, we will see the up and down action - this will be just like driving in and out of a parking lot, garage, or driveway.