Yaris hatch bike rack

[aspro]

Roof mount. Nice and solid, looks awesome and still allows access to the hatch. I'm running Thule aero bars and two Yakima upright bike carriers. And the cross bars go on and off in minutes.

[nookandcrannycar]

I saw a Subaru today.....same new one CTScott has.....and it had two bike racks. one off the back that was carrying two mountain bikes, and another one on the roof that was carrying one mountain bike. Sort of a 'lima bean green' color (the Subie, not the mountain bikes ). I later saw another example of the same model...sort of an off white color (looked great ).

[xtremesniper]

Originally Posted by aspro

Roof mount. Nice and solid, looks awesome and still allows access to the hatch. I'm running Thule aero bars and two Yakima upright bike carriers. And the cross bars go on and off in minutes.

Out of curiosity, did you skip on the hitch because the RS trim gets in the way? I've been reading into hitches but I've read a number of them do not work with RS/S trims thanks to the extra space the add-ons take.

Also, do you have any closer pictures of the roof rack and any with bikes mounted on them? I'm suddenly curious about roof racks as an alternative if it's clean, easy and sturdy enough.

[cpu2k]

I'm using a Thule platform hitch rack on my Yaris. It's secured onto the hitch with a bolt, so the platform doesn't rock or move when the car is in motion. It's a bit on the heavy side and having 2 mountain bikes on it will weigh the back end down a bit (I have stock suspension), but overall, it does the job and hasn't fallen off yet :P

[xtremesniper]

Looks nice! I think for me if I didn't have the RS kit then the hitch mount would be a no-brainer. I haven't found a hitch that fits around the RS kit yet.

With roof mounts I get worried about the clamps wearing down the body paint, or even causing damage to the waterproofing liner around the doors. I've heard that some of them cause the doors to get pushed down a little bit when they close. That doesn't sound good to me.

[WeeYari]

Originally Posted by xtremesniper

I think for me if I didn't have the RS kit then the hitch mount would be a no-brainer. I haven't found a hitch that fits around the RS kit yet.

I have a 2010 RS rear bumper on my 2006. When I put the bumper on I discovered that my hitch receiver would compress the bottom edge of the RS trim about 1/8". Once on you can't tell that the bottom of the trim has been pushed up a bit.

[xtremesniper]

Originally Posted by WeeYari

I have a 2010 RS rear bumper on my 2006. When I put the bumper on I discovered that my hitch receiver would compress the bottom edge of the RS trim about 1/8". Once on you can't tell that the bottom of the trim has been pushed up a bit.

It's only 1/8"? All the hitches that I've been looking up explicitly say "not for RS" or "not for S" depending on the market... I don't know if it will be worth the chance.

Thanks for the info though!

EDIT: Since you're also from Ontario, did you find a local place that sold Yaris compatible hitches? Or ordered from the States?

[WeeYari]

Originally Posted by xtremesniper

It's only 1/8"? All the hitches that I've been looking up explicitly say "not for RS" or "not for S" depending on the market... I don't know if it will be worth the chance.

Thanks for the info though!

EDIT: Since you're also from Ontario, did you find a local place that sold Yaris compatible hitches? Or ordered from the States?

They say not for "RS" or "S" because it does not freely clear the bumper skirt.

I ordered a Curt hitch from etrailer.com, but it actually shipped out of Canada (no border shit to deal with). A few years later when I ordered a hitch for another vehicle directly from Curt, I learned that Curt has a shipping warehouse in Mississauga and I was able to pick it up there. I suspect etrailer shipped from that location as well.

Here is the best pic I currently have of how the hitch and the RS bumper co-exist.