Towbar moves and down when loaded?

[Jaz]

We recently bought a Thule 4bike towbar carrier for my wife's Hyundai Venue. The type that tightens onto the ball with a screw, and then you hang the bikes from the carrier. 

The max vertical weight is 75kg. We weighed all 4 bikes and the carrier, and they come to 68kgs. 

 

So we loaded 'em up today and went to the bike park. The movement of the bikes made me prematurely grey, but they remained secure. 

 

I then noticed I can lift up the bike carrier, and and the whole towbar  lifts up with it. With the bikes on, it moves downward. I'm guessing it's got about 4-5cm play in it. 

 

Is this normal? The tow hitch is bolted onto the frame with two bolts. It might have a slot cut into it to allow for flex? 

[Butterbean]

Yeah this sounds more like a car issue than the rack. I've seen many racks can sag slightly from the weight of the bikes when fukky loaded, but the towbar moving itself is an issue and you'll wanna get to a service centre to assist you in sorting it out. Will likely be a quick and easy fix, but there are some cheap or pirate towbar fittings that exist and you don't want to be dealing with those at all. 

[Jaz]

9 minutes ago, Butterbean said:

Yeah this sounds more like a car issue than the rack. I've seen many racks can sag slightly from the weight of the bikes when fukky loaded, but the towbar moving itself is an issue and you'll wanna get to a service centre to assist you in sorting it out. Will likely be a quick and easy fix, but there are some cheap or pirate towbar fittings that exist and you don't want to be dealing with those at all. 

The towbar was specced with the car. We'll take it to a shop to have a look at it.  

[lechatnoir]

the way you describe it, it seems as if some of the mount points for the tow hitch are loose

 

[ChrisF]

On my privious car all the bolts on the one side was barely hand tightened ....

 

These things happen ... unfortunately.

 

 

They should fix it quickly

[Jaz]

I uploaded short clip to YT 

[ChrisF]

Some loose bolts !!

 

 

Lê onder die motor terwyl iemand die rak so op en af druk.  Jy sal gou sien wat los is.  As jy gelukkig is kan jy die boute en moere bykom en self vas draai.  Met baie voertuie is die boute binne die kattebak en moet n klomp panele uitgehaal word om daai bout te kan vasdraai.

 

Easy solution .... dealer must fix it.

Edited November 7, 2021 by ChrisF

[The Ouzo]

I was once handing over a new car to a customer, one of the things I demonstrate is the operation of the foldable tow hitch.

So I push the button for the towhitch, it popout from under the car and I clip it into place, as I pull on it I feel the entire thing moving.

Techy in the workshop forgot to tighten the bolts before refitting the bumper. Fortunately it was a very understanding customer, so I simply took him through the rest of the car and made arrangements to bring the car to him once it had gone through workshop again.

[Dadbod Racing]

It's definitely the towbar issue and not the rack. Those two bolts in the video look fine but no harm in checking them. 

Take out your boot mat and spare wheel and have a look. As Chris said you could either look for it yourself and take it back to the dealer.