Hi, can anyone give me an idea of how difficult / time consuming it is to put on and take off this rack? The Thule says it's easy, and I would be put
1509431
Easy enough for one average person to lift the basket and place it on the roof. Five minutes (X 4) to secure each bracket. Five minutes to admire the simplicity of the system.
1509432
Very easy to remove. As other has said, it takes a bit of time the first time but afterwards its ok. Longest time is spent making sure it is even/centered on the rack.
1509433
I've had mine for at least seven years and I can put it on and off in under ten minutes. The initial setup takes a while to measure and arrange all the brackets to match your roof rails. But once the layout is done the removal and mounting is fairly easy. I can have the four mounts loose and lift the basket over my head and walk it onto the top of my Expedition or Durango. Then I climb on wheels or stepladder to tighten down mounts. Once you got a little system it's easy. With two people it is even safer and faster.
380078
It's not that easy. I just tried to remove it for the first time and took me about 2 min. Best way seems to pry it off from the top down.
1871333
I'm sure you figured it out by now but the housing, at least for me, was tough to get off. Someone suggested a gear puller which would seem like a great way (maybe the proper way) to do it. Not having a gear puller, I wound up using a couple small wrenches as levers on either side of the housing and popped it off that way.
1912618
Julie, mine didn't come with instructions either. I just figured out how they go on by trial and error. I will tell you that one of the racks is shorter than the other and that one will be the front one. I'm sure you can find something "on the line" if you Google it. Good luck and I hope this helped.
2213198
it's the easiest bike rack I've had to date. Just slide into the trailer hitch and the bikes are go on easily as well.
1110444
If it doesn't come out far enough, you could buy a hitch extender. This is not a difficult rack to get on and off the hitch, but it is a bit awkward because the rack does not fold down flat. It's a great hitch rack though. I highly recommend it.
69969
I haven't noticed anything. I remove the rack when I'm not using it, though.
1686863
Hi....and I have no clue as I have never done that. This rack is very well made and I have had no problems with it. Sorry I couldn't help.
142490
Yes it is very easy to remove, I was concerned myself but setup was really easy..Worth the money for sure....I hope this was helpful...
1670345
It is very easy. The bars clasp together at the top with a retractable close. When you want to take it apart, you pull the two handles and the frame separates. I LOVE this crate and it is so easy to put up and take down. Much better than a hard crate.
1439403
It's super easy. Adjust the rack to your desired angle. You hook the hooks like in the picture. Tighten rope. You can google it
968630
It's wouldn't be easy to take off. It was designed to be be semi permanent. You would need to unscrew a few bolts from the underside of the basket. Too inconvenient for what you're looking for but very sturdy.
1602569
It took about 30 minutes. Not complicate,but there are lots of screws and bolts.Good luck!
413261
You can zip tie it to the rack,I've done that before but you're gonna have to cut them off at the end of the day of course. You can hit your local Ocean State or something similar to get them and buy yourself a cheap set of side cutters to cut them off...You can buy 500 for a couple of bucks and if the Piece of Fit thief wants it he'll have to work a little harder to get it
154890
I just installed the XL rack on my 2012 Subaru Outback and despite the reviews, the trunk when open bumps against the Thule rack and lifts it by 3 inches (when empty). There is a way to make it fit better, but it entails having a bad grip on the cross bars (something the Thule instructions specifically say to avoid). I wish I had bought the Large one. If you think about it, the weight on the car is fixed and the bigger the rack, the lighter the content needs to be as the XL rack is 10 lbs heavier than the L one.
1961741
Somewhat easy to take on and off. There are two open-faced hooks on the top, and if I recall correctly (It's on my fiance's bike) there is a bungee cord strap and hook on the bottom. The Bungee cord can be a bit hard depending on where the baskets fit on your rack (that is if I'm recalling correctly). We don't actually take them on and off. We zip tied them on to make it difficult to remove when at the store. The bike is inside any other time.
918933
It is very easy. It actually locks with the middle section. You just lift it and the rack collapses.