Thule Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2015 Dodge Charger

Review of the Thule Hitch Bike Racks on a 2015 Dodge Charger

Today on our 2015 Dodge Charger, we're doing a test fit of the Thule Vertex Swinging Hanging Style Four Bike Rack. Now, that part number is T89031XT, and the first think we're going to do with our bike on the rack is show you that swing away feature, and then we'll go over some of the other features and how we secure the bike down. We're going to start in the back here. We're first going to remove our T pin here at the back, and just let that hang off to the side. We're going to release this knob here at the bottom, and we're just going to loosen it until it hangs loose out the back. Then, we'll pull up on this last T pin and start to rotate the bike rack away. Now, when it's about half way, and before the bike actually makes contact with the vehicle, we're going to rotate the front of our bike and our rack until that T pin slides into our metal plate there.

Then, we can come around to the front and finish turning our bike rack. From here, we'll replace our T pin. That's going to prevent that bike and that rack from swinging back and coming in contact with anything. Now, at this point, we actually have full access to our back cargo area to get anything in or out that we may need. If we close this up, we'll take a few measurements to see where our closest point is. Now, with our bike in this position, our closest point looks like it's going to be this edge here. If we measure that out, we're going to be about five and three quarter inches away from our vehicle between these two points.

Overall, to the side of the vehicle, we're adding about twenty-eight and a half inches overall. If you do plan on swinging this out on a sidewalk, just know that it does add twenty-eight inches to that side there. Now, to put our bike rack back into place, we'll just do everything in reverse. We'll start by removing our T pin here. Then, we can rotate our bike rack. Again, when it's about half way, we'll pull up on our T pin and rotate that rack.

We can come to the back, pull up on that T pin, and make sure it inserts into our hole here. Then, tighten down our knob and replace that T pin on the end into one of our slots. Now, let's take a look at how our bike is strapped down. We have two cradles holding it in place with three straps, two on our frame and one is our anti-sway strap in the back. Two release those, we're just going to pull down and lift up. Then, we can remove our bike and set it off to the side.

Any time you remove your bike, I always suggest that you replace your straps so you don't lose or damage any of them. Now, we can take a few more measurements. Our first is going to be overall with our arms hanging out. We're adding about thirty-four and three quarter inches to our vehicle. Now, if we wanted to park in close quarters parking spots, like a parking garage, we could lift up on our grey lever here, and those arms will rotate down. Now we're only adding about nine and a half inches to the back of our vehicle. Our ground clearance is going to be about six and a quarter inches all the way up under here, and our closest point is going to be about three and a half inches away at our black knob. Now, while we're down on our hitch, you can see that this is designed to work with two inch hitches. We also have an anti-rattle bolt here on the other side. Now, that is there to prevent any shake or play in the bike rack as you're heading down the road, so you'll have an overall smooth ride. With that, it's going to complete our look at the Thule Vertex Swing Away and Hanging Style Four Bike Rack, part number T89031XT on our 2015 Dodge Charger. 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.