The AUSubaru.com.au Forums

Hi, I'm a new member who bought our 2008 Tribeca demonstrator in Oct 2009. A major reason to buy a SUV was the desire to use it for transport of our 4 bikes. We wanted to use a bike rack attached to a tow bar and requested the Dealer to fit a tow bar. The Dealer told us there was a temporary "issue" with Tribeca tow bars and wait until go-ahead was available from Subaru Aus.

It is now January 2010 and a (new ? part L101SXA300K) tow bar has become available for the Tribeca, however Subaru Aus stresses that it is designed tor towing only and not to be used for ANY bike racks. Major problem, however I'm unable to get any details from Subaru (instruction from Senior management Im told!). Where does that leave us?
Is the problem with the Subaru tow bar and I can then instead install a Heyman Reese hitch receiver (for just over half the Subaru price) or is there a problem with the attachment between bar/receiver and car? Does a tow bar attach to the car the same way as a hitch receiver or in a different way? Staff at ARB told me the Subaru advice was ridiculous as the tow bar is rated for a vertical weight of 160 kg and a bike rack "should be no problem"?
Any suggestions?

huh... what is the weight limit for the towbar and what kind of towbar was it?
You might have to go direct aftermarket not via Subaru ie. Heyman Reese..
Cheers
AP

I refered to the official Subaru installed tow bar. I think the towing limit is 2000 kg and vertical limit 160 kg as mentioned. By using a Heyman Reese I worry that I may encounter some sort of problem if the issue is related to the way the bar attaches to the car.

Heyman Reese have been in aftermarket towbars since forever.......
and probably know more about tow bars than Subaru ever did,

so if they got a design to fit your car, i reckon you can trust it.

Thank you - good point. Unfortunately I'm unable to get past the Public Relations desk at Subaru to get a detailed answer to why bike racks can not be used. May be related to one bad experience?

PR @ HR may be more helpful. Traditional auto manufacturers need to remember just why they are there - customers. Mobile phone battery manufacturer in China now makes cars !

Get in touch with Senior Mnagement at Subaru Australia and link this thread for them, to take note of number of views. Last count was 54

Tribeca 208,

I have a (2nd hand) 2005 Outback, and enquired of my local Subaru dealer about purchasing the "genuine badged Subaru" 'platform' style bike rack releaseded for the 2008 model Outback.

The parts desk at the dealership told me that they could supply me the rack, but as it had only been tested on the 2008 model, they could not gaurantee it for my car.

What a load of BS. The 05 and 08 are effectively identical. The fact is that these platform style racks are only a recent innovation (weren't around in 2005) and are being marketed by a range of suppliers, including Thule, for example.

The only reason for the distinction that I can see is that the insurance brokers have FHI / Subaru by the 'short and curleys'.

I can tow a camper van on my 2 inch ((Hayman Reece) type hitch (believe it is Subaru original) and these hitches are regularly used to 'snatch' other vehicles which stuck, but Subaru can't 'guarantee' that they can carry a bike rack.

Well, if they can't carry 2 or 3 bikes, they can't possibly comply with the relevant Australian Design Standard, they wouldn't be permitted to be fitted for towing in the first place!

As for Hayman Reece, the original Hayman firm was engineering tow bars for cars in Melbourne in the early 1950s, when Holdens were first on the market and building your own vans (mostly heavy timber frames and ply bodies) was 'all the rage' during the 'baby boom'.

HR are the benchmark for all modern towing hitches. It is beyond laughable to consider that a HR towing hitch, or Subaru equivalent, could not cope with a bike rack.

As to Subaru, just a brief look at their web site is enough to make it obvious that they are not interested in anything but sales of new cars and accessories for same. There is virtually nothing about the 05-09 Outback or accessories on the site, for example!

In short, great cars but lousy service. Thankfully there are web forums like this.

It may have something to do with being a 7 seater and having occupants in the boot so to speak, maybe some issue with airbags and a rear ender, handle bars through the rear window or something crazy like that.