gurana

A little while ago, I got a fork mounted roof rack for my wife's car (Hyundai Tuscon), since it had the cross bars already. After I installed it, I noticed that the back of the rack prevents the rear hatch from opening up all the way. Unfortunately, I can't move the cross bars forward, nor can I adjust where the rack attatches to them. However, I might be able to avoid this issue if I turn the rack around. Anybody have any idea whether this is alright for the bike? I don't think that the manual says much on the subject, but I will check again once I get home.

Jakedatc

My gf has her's mounted so the fork goes towards the back.. no clearance issues on her outback. That's easy enough to do without moving the bars

gurana

Yea, I figured it would fix the clearance issues. I was more curious as to whether or not it would be alright for the bike. I'm guessing that it will, if your girlfriend has had no issues with this.

Jynx

Yes it is fine to do. Yakima recomends doing it if you want to fit multiple racks up top.

Suzie Green

Not the same car, but we had a similar problem with our hatchback. The channel things that hold the rear tire were longer than we really needed, so my husband cut off a few inches from each one, and now the hatchback doesn't hit them when it's raised all the way up.

gurana

you know, I thought about that as well. I think turning it around would be easier, but cutting it seems like a more elegant solution. Especially if I could get the rubber protective cap back on afterwards.

valygrl

There is one potential issue with running the bikes backwards, which is if you forget to strap the wheel down, the bike can pivot over on the fork attachment and flip upside down. I saw this happen to someone on the freeway in a wind storm. So just be sure you strap down the wheels.

I have the bikes mounted backwards on my truck, so I can stand on the tailgate and roll the bike up the tray, otherwise there's no way I could get the bike up there. Haven't had a problem yet (knock on wood) although I don't really use the rack that often.

funrover 

You will be fine, one of the racks on my roof is backwards and I have had no issues!

Flatballer

The guys on the team who have 3 or 4 racks alternate the directions. I assume so handle bars don't get tangled with each other. I still have a crappy rear mount (I put the bike in the back seat whenever possible) so I can't speak from experience.

kudude

to answer the question you didn't ask, yes, you will eventually drive it into your garage

gurana

Luckily I don't have a garage. However, the one trip I've taken with it so far, I tasked my co-pilot with reminding me that it was up there if we were stop at a drive through.