RANT: catastrophic Thule rack fail
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RANT: catastrophic Thule rack fail
{This is not intended to bash REI nor Thule. Just heads up}
It was time to replace our ancient, Yakima roof rack, so I went to REI who sold me on the Thule Apex 4 after the bike sales associate looked at my Forester OEM receiver and gave it her blessing. Using the quick install page the Thule was built and attached. We had many uneventful hauls with two to four road bikes… until I hit a hump in the road at 45 mph and the rack with our beloved road bikes tumbled behind us into pieces (luckily nobody behind us and we weren’t hauling friend’s bikes). Bikes and rack totaled.
I took the rack back to REI who said it was a rack failure so Thule was on the hook. Subsequently Thule said if I had bothered to Read The Manual I would have seen the warning regarding minimum hitch pin receiver depth for the safety locking pin to work properly (the pin engaged but the rack minimally inserts into the receiver). Thule would NOT cover our loss. They also said this is “well known” regarding the OEM Subaru receiver, and they Thule has been lobbying Subaru to redesign but they refuse. I replied that I followed the first page of the manual “quick assembly instructions” (I sent a screen shot) where there was no caveat of any kind. The warning they mentioned was present - deeper in the manual - in fine print.
They then agreed to cover the used value of our bikes ($5,000) once we shipped the broken bikes to them. They paid $400 to ship and included bike boxes so well made a small person could live in one. BUT they would not replace the rack because it wasn’t the rack that failed! Wow. Back to REI, who agreed to replace the rack purchase fully, and provide a rack of my choice with a big discount.
An REI bike technician overheard the discussion and said he was very familiar with this issue and that doing a little research I would have learned that the Subaru OEM receiver is lousy, and “everybody gets an aftermarket one.” Really? So thousands of Subarus in Colorado with bike racks and everyone but me was aware of this, while the Boulder REI manager and other staff were not? Nor could they recommend what would work with my “well known” receiver? So I called Kuat who said they were well aware of this problem, and that their hitch based racks worked well with the Subaru OEM receiver.
So the staff and I looked it over and it was true, and the Kuat has been excellent. Moral of my story, do more research and as always, RTFM!
It was time to replace our ancient, Yakima roof rack, so I went to REI who sold me on the Thule Apex 4 after the bike sales associate looked at my Forester OEM receiver and gave it her blessing. Using the quick install page the Thule was built and attached. We had many uneventful hauls with two to four road bikes… until I hit a hump in the road at 45 mph and the rack with our beloved road bikes tumbled behind us into pieces (luckily nobody behind us and we weren’t hauling friend’s bikes). Bikes and rack totaled.
I took the rack back to REI who said it was a rack failure so Thule was on the hook. Subsequently Thule said if I had bothered to Read The Manual I would have seen the warning regarding minimum hitch pin receiver depth for the safety locking pin to work properly (the pin engaged but the rack minimally inserts into the receiver). Thule would NOT cover our loss. They also said this is “well known” regarding the OEM Subaru receiver, and they Thule has been lobbying Subaru to redesign but they refuse. I replied that I followed the first page of the manual “quick assembly instructions” (I sent a screen shot) where there was no caveat of any kind. The warning they mentioned was present - deeper in the manual - in fine print.
They then agreed to cover the used value of our bikes ($5,000) once we shipped the broken bikes to them. They paid $400 to ship and included bike boxes so well made a small person could live in one. BUT they would not replace the rack because it wasn’t the rack that failed! Wow. Back to REI, who agreed to replace the rack purchase fully, and provide a rack of my choice with a big discount.
An REI bike technician overheard the discussion and said he was very familiar with this issue and that doing a little research I would have learned that the Subaru OEM receiver is lousy, and “everybody gets an aftermarket one.” Really? So thousands of Subarus in Colorado with bike racks and everyone but me was aware of this, while the Boulder REI manager and other staff were not? Nor could they recommend what would work with my “well known” receiver? So I called Kuat who said they were well aware of this problem, and that their hitch based racks worked well with the Subaru OEM receiver.
So the staff and I looked it over and it was true, and the Kuat has been excellent. Moral of my story, do more research and as always, RTFM!
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Looks like a set of very unfortunate circumstances. I would have used the quick install guide as well. Doubt I would have even looked at the fine print. REI is not a fault since they are under no obligation, other than being nice, to inform you the incompatibility, since it is stated in the fine print. Thule makes super racks, I have had a few, with no issues; but if this is a well known issue, they should sticker the boxes NOT FOR USE ON SUBARU unless the receiver is upgraded. Feel for you.
Edit: One thing you post doesn’t make exactly clear is where the rack or hitch failed. Did the pin break releasing the rack or did the rack hitch metal break, or the Subaru hitch detach slamming the rack down?
Edit: One thing you post doesn’t make exactly clear is where the rack or hitch failed. Did the pin break releasing the rack or did the rack hitch metal break, or the Subaru hitch detach slamming the rack down?
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Consumers who experience a vehicle issue that could be a safety defect are encouraged to file a complaint with NHTSA.
Document everything, receipts, photos, communications.
if NHTSA gets enough complaints, Subaru may have to make good.
Barry
Document everything, receipts, photos, communications.
if NHTSA gets enough complaints, Subaru may have to make good.
Barry
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Originally Posted by rsbob;[url=tel:23091775
23091775[/url]]Looks like a set of very unfortunate circumstances. I would have used the quick install guide as well. Doubt I would have even looked at the fine print. REI is not a fault since they are under no obligation, other than being nice, to inform you the incompatibility, since it is stated in the fine print. Thule makes super racks, I have had a few, with no issues; but if this is a well known issue, they should sticker the boxes NOT FOR USE ON SUBARU unless the receiver is upgraded. Feel for you.
Edit: One thing you post doesn’t make exactly clear is where the rack or hitch failed. Did the pin break releasing the rack or did the rack hitch metal break, or the Subaru hitch detach slamming the rack down?
Edit: One thing you post doesn’t make exactly clear is where the rack or hitch failed. Did the pin break releasing the rack or did the rack hitch metal break, or the Subaru hitch detach slamming the rack down?
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Holy crap, what a lame latching mechanism. With my Saris, there is a steel pin that goes through both holes with a bolt head at one end and a secure lock in the other. It needs to be screwed in with a wrench/socket wrench.
What would prevent the rack you had from being easily stolen? Maybe the image above doesn’t show that.
What would prevent the rack you had from being easily stolen? Maybe the image above doesn’t show that.
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Our Yakima Hold Up rear carrier has a thru bolt which was the case for the two previous Yakima hitch carriers we had in the past.
This time, the more expensive version, the Hold Up EVO, has some sort of quicker easier mechanism ("Tool-free locking SpeedKnob makes installation and removal fast, easy and secure") which I can't really speak to except to say it wasn't a thru bolt and have no idea whether it's a good design or not. I didn't buy it, mainly because it was more expensive. It did seem to me at the time, that it might be nice to have a speedier attachment since I do move it on and off the car regularly. But cheapness won and maybe I'm doubly glad I did?
The main reason I buy Yakima is that I have had and have several Yakima products already and like to keep in the same key system.
This time, the more expensive version, the Hold Up EVO, has some sort of quicker easier mechanism ("Tool-free locking SpeedKnob makes installation and removal fast, easy and secure") which I can't really speak to except to say it wasn't a thru bolt and have no idea whether it's a good design or not. I didn't buy it, mainly because it was more expensive. It did seem to me at the time, that it might be nice to have a speedier attachment since I do move it on and off the car regularly. But cheapness won and maybe I'm doubly glad I did?
The main reason I buy Yakima is that I have had and have several Yakima products already and like to keep in the same key system.
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The rack fell off 5 years after you purchased it, and you never read the manual during that 5 years?
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No way in the world I'd have perched any of my bikes on a hitch rack that didn't use a thru and thru pin to secure it. I'm surprised the OP didn't have a failure before now. You don't need a manual to see that design should have been a hard pass. At some point, you have to own your part of bad stuff that happens. Or bad stuff is gonna keep on happening.
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Perfect storm of compounded Thule & Subaru design issues, obscure small print in the manual for a known critical safety issue, REI missing it on vehicle inspection and the customer not reading the entire manual!
I always read the entire product manual for anything like this and check what the vehicle manufacturer says about it. Thule shouldn’t really have a “Quick install” guide for a safety critical item. It invites the customer to cut corners and ignore the rest of the manual. Thule’s at fault here for sure.
I always read the entire product manual for anything like this and check what the vehicle manufacturer says about it. Thule shouldn’t really have a “Quick install” guide for a safety critical item. It invites the customer to cut corners and ignore the rest of the manual. Thule’s at fault here for sure.
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Most, if not all car manufacturers, will make factory hitches for TOW weight only and not TONGUE weight.
These are two very different things.
TOW gross trailer weights are supposed to be evenly distributed so that a trailer is balanced as best as possible on it's wheels. That's why a human can indeed still move around a big albeit balanced trailer, but grabbing onto its arm to align onto a ball.
TONGUE weight is the force stepping downward onto the hitch. Cheater bars and breaker bars work because they are long and you are applying weight that is transformed into hundreds of ft-lbs at the pivot, in this case at the hitch.
I remember one time I didn't see a speed bump and just going thru it at safe speed limits sent my platform rack and it's 4 bikes jumping up in my rear view like it was a shuttle launch. I stopped suddenly to inspect and all was good.
Aftermarket hitches typically have a tongue weight of about 350 lbs for Class2, and I don't care if you are moving as little as one road bike, 2" hitch always. More metal wins. I can make my own call to know if a hitch is a go or no go, not some sales rep (I definitely never take advice from these) or manual.
Sucks to be the OP but all this is a simple case of negligence.
These are two very different things.
TOW gross trailer weights are supposed to be evenly distributed so that a trailer is balanced as best as possible on it's wheels. That's why a human can indeed still move around a big albeit balanced trailer, but grabbing onto its arm to align onto a ball.
TONGUE weight is the force stepping downward onto the hitch. Cheater bars and breaker bars work because they are long and you are applying weight that is transformed into hundreds of ft-lbs at the pivot, in this case at the hitch.
I remember one time I didn't see a speed bump and just going thru it at safe speed limits sent my platform rack and it's 4 bikes jumping up in my rear view like it was a shuttle launch. I stopped suddenly to inspect and all was good.
Aftermarket hitches typically have a tongue weight of about 350 lbs for Class2, and I don't care if you are moving as little as one road bike, 2" hitch always. More metal wins. I can make my own call to know if a hitch is a go or no go, not some sales rep (I definitely never take advice from these) or manual.
Sucks to be the OP but all this is a simple case of negligence.
Last edited by soyabean; 12-06-23 at 06:47 AM.
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They also specify a maximum overhang distance for the tongue weight.
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None of the Thule racks have a through bolt to lock the rack in place. Thule uses an expansion bolt to secure the rack into the receiver. The “finger” that goes into the receiver hole is an additional locking/safety feature.
I bought an Epos rack, which has a similar a mechanism, works very well and makes rack install and removal fast and easy. I’m dubious of OP’s claim that this information was buried in the manual. Even if this was true, not RTFM is foolhardy.
I bought an Epos rack, which has a similar a mechanism, works very well and makes rack install and removal fast and easy. I’m dubious of OP’s claim that this information was buried in the manual. Even if this was true, not RTFM is foolhardy.
#13
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I've been to Boulder many times (my brother lives there), and it seems every third vehicle on the road there is a Subaru of one kind or another. This seems like the kind of mishap that has probably happened before, unless it was a totally random freak occurance.
My 1up rack doesn't even use a through bolt, just a wedge ball to keep it secure. On the one hand, I can make it extremely tight if I so choose. But it is events like the OP's that worry me, in case that thing ever decides to wiggle its way loose.
My 1up rack doesn't even use a through bolt, just a wedge ball to keep it secure. On the one hand, I can make it extremely tight if I so choose. But it is events like the OP's that worry me, in case that thing ever decides to wiggle its way loose.
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You can’t blow a snot rocket in Boulder without hitting a Suburu, and a large percentage of them have bike racks. Yet, you don’t hear about hitch racks falling off of Suburus with any regularity.
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{This is not intended to bash REI nor Thule. Just heads up}
It was time to replace our ancient, Yakima roof rack, so I went to REI who sold me on the Thule Apex 4 after the bike sales associate looked at my Forester OEM receiver and gave it her blessing. Using the quick install page the Thule was built and attached. We had many uneventful hauls with two to four road bikes… until I hit a hump in the road at 45 mph and the rack with our beloved road bikes tumbled behind us into pieces (luckily nobody behind us and we weren’t hauling friend’s bikes). Bikes and rack totaled.
I took the rack back to REI who said it was a rack failure so Thule was on the hook. Subsequently Thule said if I had bothered to Read The Manual I would have seen the warning regarding minimum hitch pin receiver depth for the safety locking pin to work properly (the pin engaged but the rack minimally inserts into the receiver). Thule would NOT cover our loss. They also said this is “well known” regarding the OEM Subaru receiver, and they Thule has been lobbying Subaru to redesign but they refuse. I replied that I followed the first page of the manual “quick assembly instructions” (I sent a screen shot) where there was no caveat of any kind. The warning they mentioned was present - deeper in the manual - in fine print.
They then agreed to cover the used value of our bikes ($5,000) once we shipped the broken bikes to them. They paid $400 to ship and included bike boxes so well made a small person could live in one. BUT they would not replace the rack because it wasn’t the rack that failed! Wow. Back to REI, who agreed to replace the rack purchase fully, and provide a rack of my choice with a big discount.
An REI bike technician overheard the discussion and said he was very familiar with this issue and that doing a little research I would have learned that the Subaru OEM receiver is lousy, and “everybody gets an aftermarket one.” Really? So thousands of Subarus in Colorado with bike racks and everyone but me was aware of this, while the Boulder REI manager and other staff were not? Nor could they recommend what would work with my “well known” receiver? So I called Kuat who said they were well aware of this problem, and that their hitch based racks worked well with the Subaru OEM receiver.
So the staff and I looked it over and it was true, and the Kuat has been excellent. Moral of my story, do more research and as always, RTFM!
It was time to replace our ancient, Yakima roof rack, so I went to REI who sold me on the Thule Apex 4 after the bike sales associate looked at my Forester OEM receiver and gave it her blessing. Using the quick install page the Thule was built and attached. We had many uneventful hauls with two to four road bikes… until I hit a hump in the road at 45 mph and the rack with our beloved road bikes tumbled behind us into pieces (luckily nobody behind us and we weren’t hauling friend’s bikes). Bikes and rack totaled.
I took the rack back to REI who said it was a rack failure so Thule was on the hook. Subsequently Thule said if I had bothered to Read The Manual I would have seen the warning regarding minimum hitch pin receiver depth for the safety locking pin to work properly (the pin engaged but the rack minimally inserts into the receiver). Thule would NOT cover our loss. They also said this is “well known” regarding the OEM Subaru receiver, and they Thule has been lobbying Subaru to redesign but they refuse. I replied that I followed the first page of the manual “quick assembly instructions” (I sent a screen shot) where there was no caveat of any kind. The warning they mentioned was present - deeper in the manual - in fine print.
They then agreed to cover the used value of our bikes ($5,000) once we shipped the broken bikes to them. They paid $400 to ship and included bike boxes so well made a small person could live in one. BUT they would not replace the rack because it wasn’t the rack that failed! Wow. Back to REI, who agreed to replace the rack purchase fully, and provide a rack of my choice with a big discount.
An REI bike technician overheard the discussion and said he was very familiar with this issue and that doing a little research I would have learned that the Subaru OEM receiver is lousy, and “everybody gets an aftermarket one.” Really? So thousands of Subarus in Colorado with bike racks and everyone but me was aware of this, while the Boulder REI manager and other staff were not? Nor could they recommend what would work with my “well known” receiver? So I called Kuat who said they were well aware of this problem, and that their hitch based racks worked well with the Subaru OEM receiver.
So the staff and I looked it over and it was true, and the Kuat has been excellent. Moral of my story, do more research and as always, RTFM!
FTR I've had an OEM receiver on my Outback for ~20 years - mainly for pulling trailers. It's a perfectly good receiver - the key is that (i) the hitch inserts almost a foot into the receiver, and (ii) the pin goes right through the receiver and locks on the other side. And there are safety chains in the (very unlikely) event that either the hitch or pin fails. It's our responsibility to ensure that things don't detach from our cars. I'm sure other road users are glad that you've learned a lesson (although you've managed to make everyone but you responsible) - RTFM and maybe go the extra to ensure security - a proper locking pin etc
Last edited by 13ollocks; 12-06-23 at 10:19 AM.
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Just because the OP has been using it since "2018", doesn't means it was safe nor ever safe. Just because my house never burned down, doesn't mean I don't need fire insurance.
To the rest that are looking for a bike carrier:
-2" hitch on vehicle.
-carrier must mount DEEP into the hitch with a THRU bolt.
The problem with 1-1/4" carriers is that they still sway and bounce a whole lot more than the 2" ones. Any movement during transport is applied towards wear and fatigue.
I'm flabbergasted that the store even decided to pay attention to a 5 year old purchase. The vendor wasn't even the installer, and potential lawsuits are always directed to manufacturers. The store franchise is big enough to have a legal department to deal with these things. Maybe it was their commercial insurance policy that dealt with this.
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My Subaru OEM hitch (1 1/4") came with specific tow weight (2200 lb) and tongue weight (200 lb) limitations. I'm assuming that these were governed by the receiver size, which itself was governed by the car power (165 bhp). Quite reasonably, there wasn't a 2" receiver option for this car
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Holy crap, what a lame latching mechanism. With my Saris, there is a steel pin that goes through both holes with a bolt head at one end and a secure lock in the other. It needs to be screwed in with a wrench/socket wrench.
What would prevent the rack you had from being easily stolen? Maybe the image above doesn’t show that.
What would prevent the rack you had from being easily stolen? Maybe the image above doesn’t show that.
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For decades people have been hurtling thousands of pounds down roads at catastrophic speeds and have little clue what is inside the owner’s manual. And if you buy a used car, it is quite likely no manual will come with the car.
Quite an ask for a bike rack.
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I mentioned in my initial post that it was my failure that I did not read the entire manual. That said, why would anyone if page One of my manual was apparently all that was needed to properly install and use the rack? The only reason Thule reimbursed for the bikes was because they agreed the start-up page should have had all warnings listed front and center, rather than buried in fine print in the back of the manual. And they were buried.
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I've been to Boulder many times (my brother lives there), and it seems every third vehicle on the road there is a Subaru of one kind or another. This seems like the kind of mishap that has probably happened before, unless it was a totally random freak occurance.
My 1up rack doesn't even use a through bolt, just a wedge ball to keep it secure. On the one hand, I can make it extremely tight if I so choose. But it is events like the OP's that worry me, in case that thing ever decides to wiggle its way loose.
My 1up rack doesn't even use a through bolt, just a wedge ball to keep it secure. On the one hand, I can make it extremely tight if I so choose. But it is events like the OP's that worry me, in case that thing ever decides to wiggle its way loose.
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No way in the world I'd have perched any of my bikes on a hitch rack that didn't use a thru and thru pin to secure it. I'm surprised the OP didn't have a failure before now. You don't need a manual to see that design should have been a hard pass. At some point, you have to own your part of bad stuff that happens. Or bad stuff is gonna keep on happening.
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If the on-line manual is the one relevant to your product, there really isn't any "fine print." Installation is covered in detail on page 3. I don't really see a "quick Installation" guide. Maybe that's a separate page?
Maybe this is the manual?
https://www.manuals.ca/thule/apex-xt/manual?p=19
Maybe this is the manual?
https://www.manuals.ca/thule/apex-xt/manual?p=19
Last edited by smd4; 12-06-23 at 01:06 PM.
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Bikes: 2015 Tarmac Pro Disc, '99 Burley Duet, '10 Velo Vie Vitesse 300R, '94 Trek 2120, '90 Cannondale SR 600, '79 Ross Super Gran Tour, '76 Raleigh Record
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Perfect storm of compounded Thule & Subaru design issues, obscure small print in the manual for a known critical safety issue, REI missing it on vehicle inspection and the customer not reading the entire manual!
I always read the entire product manual for anything like this and check what the vehicle manufacturer says about it. Thule shouldn’t really have a “Quick install” guide for a safety critical item. It invites the customer to cut corners and ignore the rest of the manual. Thule’s at fault here for sure.
I always read the entire product manual for anything like this and check what the vehicle manufacturer says about it. Thule shouldn’t really have a “Quick install” guide for a safety critical item. It invites the customer to cut corners and ignore the rest of the manual. Thule’s at fault here for sure.