# WRX Wagon + Bike = Backwards mounting :(



## Superorb (Apr 7, 2009)

Has anyone found a way (besides rail delete) to have a bike carrier on the stock rails facing forward instead of backwards on a WRX wagon? It looks like I've got a cannon sticking forward, plus the fairing is worthless setup this way.


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## pinkrobe (Jan 30, 2004)

I think you may be SOL. The effective roofline with the hatch up is too short, assuming the fork or front wheel is over the front bar. I've run mine backwards for the last few years with no issues. Why do you need to run a fairing? The cross bars are aero already, and the fairing presents much more frontal area than the bar + carrier tray. Do you get a whistling noise if you don't use it?


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## Jayem (Jul 16, 2005)

One way to do it.


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## Superorb (Apr 7, 2009)

pinkrobe said:


> I think you may be SOL. The effective roofline with the hatch up is too short, assuming the fork or front wheel is over the front bar. I've run mine backwards for the last few years with no issues. Why do you need to run a fairing? The cross bars are aero already, and the fairing presents much more frontal area than the bar + carrier tray. Do you get a whistling noise if you don't use it?


I've got Thule bars so it whistles a lot over 70mph on the highway.

Also, I need to have it roof mounted for my snowboards in the winter. I haven't test-fit the boards/carrier yet so that might not fit either. If that's the case I might have to delete the rails and get a rain-gutter mounting solution that I'd like to avoid. In any case I at least need to carry the boards on the top since we go with more than 2 people and cannot fold the seats down. I'm not against having a hitch-mount either.


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## pebbles (Jan 13, 2009)

Get the hitch mount.


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## Superorb (Apr 7, 2009)

pebbles said:


> Get the hitch mount.


I'd still need the top rack for snowboards though, but I could always remove the rack when it's not winter.


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## Jayem (Jul 16, 2005)

Superorb said:


> I'd still need the top rack for snowboards though, but I could always remove the rack when it's not winter.


Thule makes a hitch rack for that too (as well as I know other companies do), and like everything Thule it's a little pricy (cheaper than a T2 bike rack though), but it pays for itself. Even a few MPG over a year or two has a pretty huge effect overall. The hitch rack pays for itself comparatively, the roof rack costs more in gas in addition to the purchast price.


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## Econoline (Mar 5, 2004)

On my WRX wagon (now gone) I used a Yakima Boa roof rack with the bike facing forward. As I recall, the rear crossbar attached to the roof rack, but I used a Yakima Q Tower for the front crossbar. The Q Towers attach to the door frame and sat forward of the factory roof rack. It worked well and looked good.


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## essjss (Aug 16, 2008)

Econoline said:


> On my WRX wagon (now gone) I used a Yakima Boa roof rack with the bike facing forward. As I recall, the rear crossbar attached to the roof rack, but I used a Yakima Q Tower for the front crossbar. The Q Towers attach to the door frame and sat forward of the factory roof rack. It worked well and looked good.


I have a Saabaru (same car, different badge) and am running backwards as well. Its a royal pain that the bike has to ride backwards and the fairing renders the sunroof useless. I've seen someone that cut their tray so that the hatch would open but that only works with a short WB bike, my Blur is too long to do that.

I think the Q tower solution is the roof system that is most effective but I hate that I would have factory side rails and a clip on bar ahead of them.


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## Superorb (Apr 7, 2009)

Jayem said:


> Thule makes a hitch rack for that too (as well as I know other companies do), and like everything Thule it's a little pricy (cheaper than a T2 bike rack though), but it pays for itself. Even a few MPG over a year or two has a pretty huge effect overall. The hitch rack pays for itself comparatively, the roof rack costs more in gas in addition to the purchast price.


Looking at Thuleracks.com I couldn't find a hitch-mounted snowboard carrier. We'd also need to be able to get into the back via the liftgate and I'm not sure if the hitch-carrier needs to be removed to get in there.


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## 251 (May 13, 2008)

I made some spacers to fit Rocky Mounts Noose trays on my Outback Sport. However, the Outback Sport doesn't have a spoiler:



















My old Yakima LockJaws didn't need any spacers and would probably clear a spoiler:


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## Jwiffle (Jan 26, 2004)

Superorb said:


> Looking at Thuleracks.com I couldn't find a hitch-mounted snowboard carrier. We'd also need to be able to get into the back via the liftgate and I'm not sure if the hitch-carrier needs to be removed to get in there.


It is the 987XT.

http://www.thuleracks.com/product.asp?dept_id=9&sku=987xt

Use it to convert various Thule bike hitch racks to a snowboard/ski rack.

Can't use it with a T2, unfortunately.


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## Jwiffle (Jan 26, 2004)

Oh, and you can lower the hitch racks (w/o bikes, unless you go with the revolver), in order to get into the trunk.


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## pulser (Dec 6, 2004)

I use to know a guy that had a WRX STI wagon. he cut his trays short so they wouldn't hot the spoiler. You can try that.


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## Jayem (Jul 16, 2005)

Superorb said:


> Looking at Thuleracks.com I couldn't find a hitch-mounted snowboard carrier. We'd also need to be able to get into the back via the liftgate and I'm not sure if the hitch-carrier needs to be removed to get in there.


If you don't want a hitch rack, you don't want a hitch rack, but 2 minutes on the Thule site and I found the snowboard carrier.


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## BlackCanoeDog (Jul 26, 2003)

I have Yakima low riders and also the fairing on an '02 WRX wagon. I cut about 1" off the back of the trays on Yakima Vipers fork mounts to clear the spoiler. 
No problems with forward mounting except can't quite open the hatch all the way when the bikes are mounted. hatch opens all the way once bikes are off.
Another option is too mount your trays outside the rails if you have long bars. Then the hatch spoiler opens between. 
I personally don't care for that option but I have seen it done. I have seen some reverse mountings that look good.

From Buckwallow Autumn


From Buckwallow Autumn


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## Superorb (Apr 7, 2009)

I don't have very wide bars, but I don't want to mount it on the ends for various reasons. I took off the feet and replaced them with some Thule Lowrider feet I had in the garage and was able to move them forward enough to clear the spoiler with my snowboards on. I'll put the bike carriers back om forwards tomorrow and see if I can get them to fit. It's tough b/c my bike is an XL frame with a long wheelbase so it might not be possible. I can try adding a spacer to the back though, that might help it a bit.

BlackCanoeDog: My wagon looks exactly like yours except mine has 07 WRX wheels and Thule racks.

I went back to ThuleRacks.com and went through the selection process and couldn't get the hitch stuff to pop up, it kept saying nothing found. I must be doing it wrong.


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## BlackCanoeDog (Jul 26, 2003)

Superorb said:


> my bike is an XL frame with a long wheelbase so it might not be possible.


I'm not familiar with the Thule but on Yakima trays that still shouldn't be a huge problem. hatch just wouldn't open quite as far with the bike on. personally if it was tight I would just live with the reverse mount, looks OK imo.


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## mtg7aa (Jul 11, 2008)

I have an '07 Subaru Impreza wagon, and the Thule Sidearm roof rack mounts to the stock rails, holds bikes facing forward and the hatch easily clears when it is opened all the way.


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## BillT (Dec 24, 2003)

Yakima lowrider mounts and viper trays...you can mount the vipers outside the lowriders and the trays clear the sides of hatch/rear spoiler without issue.

I'll find a better picture when I get to my home computer, but this is what it looks like -


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## Superorb (Apr 7, 2009)

I'm trying to avoid mounting them outside the feet since my bars aren't long enough to do this.


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## BillT (Dec 24, 2003)

New crossbars are relatively cheap...you might gain some clearance if you remove the rear spoiler, but not 100% that would work.


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## pinkrobe (Jan 30, 2004)

Superorb said:


> I've got Thule bars so it whistles a lot over 70mph on the highway.
> 
> Also, I need to have it roof mounted for my snowboards in the winter. I haven't test-fit the boards/carrier yet so that might not fit either. If that's the case I might have to delete the rails and get a rain-gutter mounting solution that I'd like to avoid. In any case I at least need to carry the boards on the top since we go with more than 2 people and cannot fold the seats down. I'm not against having a hitch-mount either.


If the rack whistles, there's a hole somewhere. Plug the hole, stop the noise.

I snowboard as well, and occasionally have to cart a couple of long schticks [180 Libtech Grocer and -ick- skis] on the roof cause they won't fit inside the car. If you put the boards in the roof rack so that the nose is out front and the front binding is ahead of the front bar, the tail end will clear the wing.

The next car will be an STI, and it's smaller inside than my wagon so I'll be getting a hitch mount for sure.


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## Superorb (Apr 7, 2009)

^^ It's more of a howling noise than a whistling.

I've got a sharp stomp pad that'll mess up the padding on the carrier if I do it that way. We've managed to get about an 1/8" of clearance to the spoiler when open so we're good there.


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## iridetitus (Sep 16, 2004)

seems like a lot of options have been presented.


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## big_sur (Apr 3, 2007)

I've never had any problems with the racks that you don't have to take the front wheel off. I have one thule sidearm and one criterium(sp?) and I think I remember having to move them forward a little but it's never been a problem.

I normally only have two racks on my car but this is the only pic I could find. Since we had like 3 different kinds of racks we had to flip a couple around, but you can easily have 2 facing forward if they're the no wheel removal kind.


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## Superorb (Apr 7, 2009)

^^ I think only the fork-mount ones will hit the spoiler. The ones that keep both wheels mount in front of the front bar so it's not a problem.


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## essjss (Aug 16, 2008)

*Backwards might have saved my bike*

I forgot the bike on the roof tonight and managed to fully compress the rear shock then blast the bolt through the top of the headset cap before backing up and cursing a LOT. On first inspection it looks like the shock and headset cap absorbed most of the impact. Handlebars first would have been instant frame damage I fear.

Hopefully its fully repairable, if not, I'll be seriously considering a hitch mount.


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## Superorb (Apr 7, 2009)

^^ Sorry to hear. Any damage to the car or racks?


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## essjss (Aug 16, 2008)

Car and rack seem fine. House has a nice tread mark on it.

I need a new headset cap before I can determine the full status of the bike. Heading to a shop today to get it all checked out.

My driveway has a 30º slope to it and I think that helped a lot. The point of impact is at the point where I almost stall the car on the way in so I wasn't going too fast and lost speed immediately upon realizing what happened. For once that stupid driveway might have been a benefit...


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## cartman (Oct 6, 2004)

I have '06 WRX wagon. I use Yakima low riders with fork mount carriers (Viper and late '80s yakima model). No doubt, mounting backwards is lame. As BillT and BlackCanoeDog say, put the bike mounts outside of the rails instead. Works great. There's just enough space to do that using the standard 48" crossbars.

I do have to be careful of the spoiler when carrying skis. I've got the kids trained to remind me to move the skis before opening the hatch.


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## pla123 (Oct 5, 2009)

*Don't mount the rack reverse.* :nono:

I learned the hard way. 
Mine were mounted backward...

No problems until one day I either forgot the close the rear tire bracket or it opened (most likely I forgot :madman: ). Nothing happened until I went on freeway and at around 65-70 mph the winds were strong enough to flip the bike over the fork, hitting the rear window with a big BANG (braking it) and braking the fork near the axle mount. Fork parts were still in the mount later.

Bike fell on the freeway between 2 lanes. Called 911 and 5 min later they slowed traffic so I could clean it up. I was glad no one crashed or something trying to avoid it.
Bike needed new fork (obviously), new chain rings & cranks, new brake levers. And new rack. And new rear car window.

Now going to a hitch rack.

If rack was mounted forward, nothing would happen because the wind would be pressing it down, since the only pivot point would be in front.

If you forget to close the fork mount, it will fall off while in the parking lot regardless of mounting orientation.

So mounting it forward is more fool proof


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## cracksandracks.com (Oct 22, 2009)

pla123 said:


> *Don't mount the rack reverse.* :nono:
> 
> I learned the hard way.
> Mine were mounted backward...
> ...


sorry to hear...i usually discourae mounting a bike backwards for this very reason....it happened to me about 6 years ago on our way out of town to moab for a white rim trip.
it broke off the lawyer tabs on my dropouts, and i had to file a little of hte dropout off, but i've ridden that same fork since then with no problems. 
the bike wouldn't shift for anything either, and i spent the whole first nite on the white rim working on my bike. i was really bummed about my fork, but got over it after a few beers..

lessons learned:
1. always rack your own bike, even if it means you have to put your beer down to do it.
2. never forget the rear wheelstrap if you do mount it backwards


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## Superorb (Apr 7, 2009)

pla123 said:


> *Don't mount the rack reverse.* :nono:
> 
> I learned the hard way.
> Mine were mounted backward...
> ...


While that does suck, the same would happen if you forget to clamp the fork to the carrier no matter which way it's mounted. So, people can mount it in whatever direction they want provided they don't forget any steps.


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## cracksandracks.com (Oct 22, 2009)

if you forget to clamp your fork down to the carrier, you bike will tip over before you even leave.
it is really common to forget to strap down the rear wheel....much more so than forgetting to tighten the skewer or pushing down the clamp on your fork mount.
don't you think?


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## Superorb (Apr 7, 2009)

cracksandracks.com said:


> if you forget to clamp your fork down to the carrier, you bike will tip over before you even leave.
> it is really common to forget to strap down the rear wheel....much more so than forgetting to tighten the skewer or pushing down the clamp on your fork mount.
> don't you think?


Since I have to move the strap clamp out of the way to put my bike on, I clamp that first. BTW, love your username


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## AWDfreak (Jan 28, 2007)

pulser said:


> I use to know a guy that had a *WRX STI wagon*. he cut his trays short so they wouldn't hot the spoiler. You can try that.


You're either spewing bullcrap or live in Japan. :nono: There's no such thing as a WRX STI wagon unless:

A) You live in Japan
B) Referring to the model year 2008 onwards STI hatch

As for fork mounts failing...

There's no way anyone can forget to secure their fork. Without the fork secured, the bike tips over and falls dangerously.
However, I haven't forgotten my rear tire ratchet (yet). If I did, the rear tire would be pivoting and flailing every time I take a corner (I don't particularly drive safe in corners).

Sorry to hear about the broken window and such. But it's nice to know that there are Subaru WRX owners that are also mountain bikers :thumbsup:


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## pulser (Dec 6, 2004)

AWDfreak said:


> You're either spewing bullcrap or live in Japan. :nono: There's no such thing as a WRX STI wagon unless:
> 
> A) You live in Japan
> B) Referring to the model year 2008 onwards STI hatch
> ...


Nope no Bull. Its called taking a WRX wagon and putting all the STI parts on it.


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## jlang002 (Jan 10, 2005)

cracksandracks.com said:


> if you forget to clamp your fork down to the carrier, you bike will tip over before you even leave.
> it is really common to forget to strap down the rear wheel....much more so than forgetting to tighten the skewer or pushing down the clamp on your fork mount.
> don't you think?


I've had mine tip over doing about 75 coming over Vail Pass. Freaked me the hell out, luckily it only dented the driver side door pillar. The front brake caliper hit the tray and I didn't realize it, so the QR was tightened fully and eventually worked its way loose.


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## cracksandracks.com (Oct 22, 2009)

jlang002 said:


> I've had mine tip over doing about 75 coming over Vail Pass. Freaked me the hell out, luckily it only dented the driver side door pillar. The front brake caliper hit the tray and I didn't realize it, so the QR was tightened fully and eventually worked its way loose.


i wonder what kind of bike rack that was?


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## cracksandracks.com (Oct 22, 2009)

jlang002 said:


> I've had mine tip over doing about 75 coming over Vail Pass. Freaked me the hell out, luckily it only dented the driver side door pillar. The front brake caliper hit the tray and I didn't realize it, so the QR was tightened fully and eventually worked its way loose.


...and another reasonable argument to lock your QR when loaded, even if you're not worried about your bike getting stolen....


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## BlackCanoeDog (Jul 26, 2003)

AWDfreak said:


> ...it's nice to know that there are Subaru WRX owners that are also mountain bikers :thumbsup:


My '02 bug-eye WRX wagon piggy-backing my Pugsley


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## AWDfreak (Jan 28, 2007)

pulser said:


> Nope no Bull. Its called taking a WRX wagon and putting* all the STI parts on it.*


Sounds like an expensive conversion...

So...

special DCCD AWD system
6-speed manual
EJ257 engine
and a bunch of STI exterior and interior parts

...all on a WRX? It's hard to believe...


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## pulser (Dec 6, 2004)

AWDfreak said:


> Sounds like an expensive conversion...
> 
> So...
> 
> ...


Come to think of it I don't rember if he did all the exterior parts. But I know of some guys that did the 6sp, the engine, the SI drive and the exterior parts with foresters. I look at them on subaruforester.org and wish I had that kind of cash.


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## pla123 (Oct 5, 2009)

In my case the QR was locked and it didn't open - it broke the fork drop outs. It was still holding half of the fork drop outs. The fork broke after the handle bar hit the rear window/spoiler/left mast of the rear gate.

It was so nerving watching in the rear view mirror cars avoiding for 5-10 minutes... 
I couldn't get anywhere near it, or cars wouldn't have enough space or might panic seeing me...

I always locked the fork mount first or the bike would tip over with slightest wind or if not parked on even surface.

I ran over my glasses with my bike the same day ... so I guess I was distracted :madman: and didn't pay enough attention.


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## nachomc (Apr 26, 2006)

I had a similar event when I mounted my bikes backwards, pla. Mine didn't break the window but it DID rip out the spoiler ($500 fix) and bend the chainring.

I do like BillT and mount my vipers outside of the towers. I can get my bikes on forwards this way and it works great. Been doing that for 3 years now.


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## jlang002 (Jan 10, 2005)

cracksandracks.com said:


> i wonder what kind of bike rack that was?


Rocky mounts noose I think. Whichever is the older version of their factory crossbar mounted rack. My brake calipers never had an issue...it was my friend's bike.


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## nanook93 (Oct 16, 2008)

Superorb said:


> So, people can mount it in whatever direction they want provided they don't forget any steps.





cracksandracks.com said:


> it is really common to forget to strap down the rear wheel....much more so than forgetting to tighten the skewer or pushing down the clamp on your fork mount. don't you think?


Personally, I think it just comes down to the fact that if I do not use/operate my rack properly, bad things can happen. I'm not going to blame my rack, regardless of which way I mounted it, for my my own ineptitude! :madman:

That being said, I have a Yakima High Roller mounted backwards (as per the Yakima instructions) on the factory crossbars of my '98 Outback Sport. So far, I have not had any problems with whistling/howling OR security/stability. However, I am kind of anal about double-checking the clamps and straps. (I hope I did not just jinx myself!)

One habit I have adopted is locking my garage door opener in the glove box every time I put a bike up top. It has saved me on at least one occasion.

One last note; I think a High Roller mounted backwards looks more like a harpoon launcher than a cannon!


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## mtg7aa (Jul 11, 2008)

nanook93 said:


> Personally, I think it just comes down to the fact that if I do not use/operate my rack properly, bad things can happen. I'm not going to blame my rack, regardless of which way I mounted it, for my my own ineptitude! :madman:
> 
> One habit I have adopted is locking my garage door opener in the glove box every time I put a bike up top. It has saved me on at least one occasion.


Logic, personal responsibility and risk mitigation? You, sir, do not belong on the internet.


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## bdee (Mar 30, 2004)

bringing this back from the dead.

i have 48" yakima crossbars on my 06 WRX wagon. i'm thinking of getting a high roller rack, and want to mount it facing forward, with hopes of still being able to open the hatch all the way. is there enough room on the outside of the bars to mount the high roller, and will it allow the hatch to open all the way?


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## mtg7aa (Jul 11, 2008)

You should be fine with the Yakima. I have an '07 Impreza wagon with a Thule Sidearm, which mounts bikes similar to the High Roller. I easily adjusted the rack to sit such that I can still put DH bikes on there and open the hatch with no issue.


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## Superorb (Apr 7, 2009)

Racks that keep the wheels on the bikes can almost always be adjusted fore/aft so there shouldn't be a problem. It's the fork mounts that mount stationary on the bars that will need to be flipped.


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## alias33 (Sep 22, 2008)

I cut 2.5 inches off my rocky mount trays and the hatch clears them by 2mm when open and just barely rub on my road bikes, but touch my mtn tires, still can open the hatch 85% of the way with the mtn bikes up there though!










boo to three people and three bikes










yess to three people and three bikes with camping gear!


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