Thule Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2013 Toyota RAV4

Review of the Thule Hitch Bike Racks on a 2013 Toyota RAV4

Today on our 2013 Toyota RAV 4 we're doing a test fit of the Thule Roadway 2-Bike Rack. The part number is TH912XTR. See that we have a bike on the rack. I'll show you a few features. How the bike is held down, we have 3 straps. They have 2 up top, a anti-sway strap at the side.

Unloading, take off the 2 straps on the top and the strap on the side, you can remove your bike. Then when you're loading your bike you want to do the anti-sway strap first, then the 2 straps on top. Please always remember to replace your straps so they don't get damaged or lost. We do that first. There we go.

All right. Now let's take a few measurements. First measurement I'd like to take will be from our bumper closest to our bike rack, out here to the gray lever, that's 5 inches. Overall, out to the anti-rock cradle arms, I'm looking at 29 inches. For our ground clearance, I'm looking at approximately 10 inches. Now, the cradle arms do come down.

How would we do that Pull up on the lever, bring them down, they come into click position. Now overall our distance have changed, so overall distance, I'm looking at 14 inches. Now, there's also a tilting feature with this one. Gray lever down below, pull up so that it rests back. When it's in this position you can get in and out of your vehicle. If you need to get in the back of your hatch, like so, and grab anything in or out, and you have plenty of room on both sides of your bike rack.

All right. Now to get our bike rack back into the up position, just pulling up until you hear the click sound, like so. There you go. Now this one also comes with a anti-rattle bolt so that it help you take some of that play out of your shank when you're driving down the road so you have a smooth ride inside and outside of your vehicle. That'll be it for our test fit of the Thule Roadway 2-Bike Rack, part number is TH912XTR on today's 2013 Toyota RAV 4. Let's see how it does on our test course. Here it is on our test course. First is the slalom area which simulates side-to-side action like turning the corners or evasive maneuvers. Next are the alternate speed bumps which show you the twisting action like hitting a pothole, road debris, or hitting a curb. Finally we have the solid speed bumps which show the up-and-down action to simulate a parking garage or coming out of your driveway.