Thule Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2014 Nissan Pathfinder

Review of the Thule Hitch Bike Racks on a 2014 Nissan Pathfinder

Today, on our 2014 Nissan Pathfinder, we are doing a test fit of the Thule Roadway Hanging Style 2 Bike Rack. That part number is TH912XTR. Now, we already have our bikes strapped down, so the first thing we're going to do is to show you how we secured that in place, and then we'll go over some features. Now, with our bike rack we have 2 cradles holding the bike in place with 3 straps, 2 on our frame, and then 1 is anti-sway strap in the back. To release that, we're just going to pull down and lift up. Then, we can remove our bike from the rack and set that off to the side.

With our bike out of the way, I would suggest that you replace your straps, so you don't lose or damage any of them. Now, we can take some measurements. Our first measurement is going to be our overall length that we've added to our vehicle. With our arm's hanging out, we are at 29 inches. Now, if we wanted to park in close quarters parking spots, or parking garages, we could lift up on our gray handle here and secure that in place. That's going to lower our arms and only add about 14 and 1/2 inches to the back of our vehicle now.

Our ground clearance here is going to be about 11 inches. Our closest point is going to be about 5 and 1/2 inches away at this handle here. Actually, if we do lift up on our handle, we can tilt that bike rack away from our vehicle. That's going to give us full access to our back hatch area, to get anything in or out that we may need. We also have enough room to stand in between the bike rack and the vehicle if we need to.

We can close this up. Then, to replace our bike rack, we're just going to lift up until this handle locks in the place. Now, if we take a look at our hitch, this bike rack is actually designed to work with 1 and 1/4, and 2 inch hitches, so we have our 2 inches sleeve on there. We also have an anti-rattle bolt around on the other side. Now, that's going to keep a lot of shake and play out of the rack as you're heading down the road, so you're going to have a pretty smooth ride. With that it's going to complete our look at the Thule Roadway Hanging Style 2 Bike Rack, part number TH912XTR, on our 2014 Nissan Pathfinder.

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