Just has a new Santa Fe and had a fixed towbar plus a bike rack bracket fitted at the dealership. Just went to hitch and check electrics before we go away for Whitsun and realised that the bike rack will snag the alko hitch when turning more than 30 degrees or so. Short term solution will be to remove the bike rack bracket but has anyone else had this problem before. It's a thule rack and designed to fix permanently to the towball fixings. could it be that i need to have a longer necked towball and the dealership have fitted the wrong one?
Thanks for the link I shall get one and fit asap. The hyundai garage have told me I will need to remove the bracket everytime I tow, which seems to be a lot of effort when I thought it could stay on there constantly. Does anyone else remove their bike rack bracket each time the need to tow or will the alko extended tow ball give me enough room?
Tentz has highlighted the likely problem because I doubt your dealership would have fitted an Alko spec towball.
As for your bike rack, you'll have to try it and check as there are varying designs in permanent mounted rack brackets. My Witter rack for example is ok, but I know some folk who've experienced similar to yourself and had to change their racks (non of whom had a Thule incidentally).
However, which model Thule rack do you have? Having had a quick look at their website, I'd have thought all the models would be ok once you've got the extended neck ball fitted.
Whilst the Alko Towball may give you the clearance you require and ofcourse if you have an Alko Hitch you should also be using an Alko Ball, it may be necessary to fit one of these to give you more clearance. Just remember that if you are fitting one of these, you will need longer bolts with it.
Sorry to hear about the problem, and cant for a minute understand why you would have to remove the bracket ever. We currently use the MaxxRaxx bike carrier on the Navarra and have not had any issues at all. The bracket has remained fitted since day one.
We have gone for the detachable towball on our Santa Fe so will have to say goodbye to the MaxxRaxx anyway. Bikes on the roof from now on.
We have a Halfords Bike Rack and I had to remove it once we got a van with a Alko Hitch.
The bracket that fits behind the towball, has a protruding frame where the detachable bike rack fits into it. These protrusions interfere with the sides of the Alko Hitch during sharp cornering.
I have no doubt that an aluminium spacer behind the towball would solve this problem but our van is built in such a way that if we decided to take bikes with us, we would simply put them inside the van. It is actually designed to carry a Tandem inside, so two bikes would be a doddle.
Thanks for your advice all. I will get the extended towbar tomorrow and will probably fit the spacer too. Hopefully all sorted by the evening and ready to roll by the weekend. The reason I got the fitted bike rack was purely for ease at weekends. When I tow I always but the bikes on the roof due to nose weight etc. Just hope the new tow ball doesn't mess with the reversing sensors or it will mean another trip to the garage.
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Topic: New towbar and bike rack bracket foul!
