You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
First use today of Atera Strada ebike XL - new car, and a new rack, due to compatibility issues with the new towball geometry and the Yakima JustClick ball clamp.
So for those that have one, after putting the rack on the ball, the locking lever gets pulled down, and the manual says once it’s ratcheted down far enough for the key to turn it’s good to go. I found though that I could still rotate the rack very slightly side to side, in the horizontal plane. Pulled the lever down another 15-20 degrees and all seemed good, and worked fine.
I don’t want to overstretch the mechanism, and presume as all is new and shiny, hence slippery. Thinking about a smear of friction paste on the ball, until it gets a bit weathered ? It’s a blingy electric retracting shiny ball…
I don’t want to overstretch the mechanism
Just lean on it. It's designed for this job.
That’s good to know, I was worried that if it got too near horizontal it’d run out of tension !
My (ancient - maybe 15 years?) Thule I properly crank it down. It's never moved, doesn't leave any marks on the towball, and just needs a squirt of lube on the mechanism each year.
Don’t put anything on the ball. Just put a bit of effort into clamping it as Matt says
You can overstretch Atera racks. That's the main reason I've stopped using them. When you do get to the point where you've stretched the mechanism too much, you can buy a shim that goes inside the towbar cup. In the end, I stretched the mechanism past that too.
My strada is 10+ years old.
I have never had issues and always just push it down as hard as is needed.
Definitely don't put anything on the ball.
Gradually lower the clamp through each click, don't just jump on it. We* believe the previous owner of mine wasn't so careful with it, which was fun when it fell off the car (luckily not far from the house)
*Roofbox and I
14 year old Atera Strada in use here.
Clamp on mine getting pretty close to the horizontal now and running out of tension is something I've been trying to avoid while using it.
Good to know there is a shim available.
Thanks all, have just had a more detailed look at this, plus searched some old threads. it seems that the ratchet has 4 clicks from initial light one when handle at about 50 degrees or so.
Mine gets tight at the second click and solid on the third, and handle is at about 80 degrees. I have just ordered the shim from Roofbox.
I've found the rack gets a much better grip and location with the rack not being completely flat...so I put it on my towball and let it rest flat. I then check that the wee green indicator on the towball clamp is showing and I then lift the back of the rack about 1 inch and then I clamp it down. The rack is still 'flat', but the clamp seems to sit better on the ball.
You can also adjust the amount of clamp...but I can't quite remember it - you stick the rack on the towball and then move the lever back towards the car...if you keep the button pressed it allows you to move the start of the clamping force (this is from a very vague memory as I've had the rack about 4 years now and only had to do that once when I first got it)...
You can also adjust the amount of clamp…but I can’t quite remember it – you stick the rack on the towball and then move the lever back towards the car…if you keep the button pressed it allows you to move the start of the clamping force
this looks ideal, will have a try later on, thanks
Don't just try it...best having a read as I may not be remembering the detail properly...
^^^ absolutely, will have a Google and see what I can find !
With mine I hold the button in for about a third of the way down, release the button then fully depress the lever to the horizontal. I've had mine for years... never been a problem with two different cars/towballs.
^^ good to hear, thank. I’ll stop thinking about it and just clamp it down ! 😁
out of curiosity, how much "green" do you guys see on your clamp when its down? I only get a very thin stripe sometimes, most of the time almost nothing. Its clamped on pretty hard, and doesn't move, but I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong, or if its just the size of the towball
The green doesn't relate to the force, its looking at how well mounted on the ball it is. Roofbox recommended that you come in at around a 45 degree (down) angle when mounting the rack at first. If you don't already do that give it a go and see if it helps. I believe any green is acceptable though
If you do what I do and put rack on and let it go flat, then lift rear of rack by about an inch you get a very large green marker.
green marker is clearly up on mine, tried pushing the ratchet clamp a bit closer to the horizontal and it is rock solid, I think I was being a bit too protective of pushing it down hard!
Fwiw, you can push down too far and clamp it so tight tbat the release button doesn’t move.
The solution is to use something like a small ratchet strap to apply extra pressure to release the release button.
Advice from on here, tested by me, it works.
I've sold my old one - either original or 2 - as no longer have a towball car!
Used it less and less anyway. It's solid - I did find it engaged easier, as above, if I eased the ratchet - by holding the rack up slightly, rather than the ratchet working against the rack. I did find myself applying good effort, but not close to tolerance. It was the fiddly ratchet hook, and the key access, that I found annoying.