We got this bike rack to use on our 2008 Toyota
RAV4, to take our bikes to Florida on an 800 mile train trip with a 5 hour drive continuing afterward. I read a lot of reviews before I decided on the “premium” version for a few dollars more—primarily because I wanted the convenience of the rubber straps that are easier to strap the bike down (and remove) rather than the nylon straps that you must thread through the plastic clips that come with the lower-priced rack.
Overall, this is a very sturdy bike rack, and it worked very well for our trip.
Read on for a few things that disappointed me:
The instructions are clear enough, but I did have to take a couple of extra minutes to figure out how to attach the lower bar to the rack. You need two 7/16 wrenches/ratchets to do that. I took a couple of close-up photos to show you which way it goes. Even after the couple of extra minutes to read the instructions a couple of times, I still put that lower bar on backward and had to remove it and redo-it.
The instructions say to remove any outer cover off your tire before installing the bike rack because you might damage that cover. The downside of that is that we either need to leave that tire cover at home or make room for it inside the (packed) car. I didn’t realize that before I bought the bike rack.
I was disappointed that the bike rack straps would not fasten securely to the bottom of the our RAV4 back door so that we could leave the rack in place and still open/close the door. But it would fasten securely only to the bottom of the bumper. It meant we had to make sure we were totally finished packing the car before we put the rack on (and that we would not need to access the back of the packed car during the trip)—once on, there’s no more opening and closing that back door.
It took us a couple of trials to get the bikes on just right. We have two female bikes—since they have sloped bars, they worked best with the top bar in one cradle and the bottom bar in the other—that way, the bike was more level on the rack. The instructions say to install the second bike in the opposite direction and then use some additional straps to keep the front wheels fixed. I used 3 short bungee cords for that.
We were NOT able to operate the back windshield wiper with this bike rack on, because one of the bike rack’s upper support bars was in the way of the wiper. We tested that before we started driving, so knew not to turn the back wiper on.
Overall, this is a terrific bike rack. It is very sturdy, does the job well, and when mounted correctly, the bikes don’t move at all.
I write honest reviews to help others make informed purchases because I read reviews myself and appreciate how helpful they can be. I hope that my review helped you!
| Manufacturer | R. A. Allen Co., Inc. |
|---|---|
| Brand | Allen |
| Model | 322DN |
| Item Weight | 10 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 26 x 29 x 6 inches |
| Country of Origin | China |
| Item model number | 322DN |
| Manufacturer Part Number | 322DN |
| Special Features | Foldable |
