Hello all,

Just joined but was a lurker here before I bought my 09 Red Fit Sport 5spd. Looks like a great board,and decided to join up.

I have King Joe2 strap on bike rack from previous ride. It fits on the Fit sport Ok,but the weight of the bikes pulls down on the spoiler,Hard. I am afraid it will be broken off. I tried removing the rear spoiler,but it appears to have 2 sided adhesive still holding it on,once I removed the bolts under the caps. Has anyone ever removed the spoiler,and know how it all mounts. I want to remove the spoiler,and re-install after using the bike rack. Would this be possible without the spoiler flapping or vibrating after install? For now I am putting my bike in the back,but would like to use the rack to haul the girlfriends bike too, plus camping gear inside. Any help or information would be appreciated.

Thanks, PaFitter

 

yea... I tried that as well when I got my Fit...didn't work out. I gave up and got a hitch. see my sig below for the DIY.

 

The spoiler is held on by those 2 bolts on the sides and 3 pins in the middle, but no double-sided tape. If you pull straight up with a little force and wiggle, it should come out. Not sure if reattaching it on top of the bike rack straps is a good idea.

 

of putting the spoiler on when bike rack is on. Would put the spoiler back on when rack is not in use. My spoiler has what appears as 2 sided tape between the spoiler and hatch top,and at the corner tips of the spoiler.Could just be a rubber gasket stuck to the paint I didn't try to force it off,but a gentle bump yielded no results,and hence my post. Thanks,I'll try again.

PaFitter

 

There is some sort of spongy material there, and it may have some adhesive but it is fine to pull up, the pins are really what's holding it down.

 

The padding is there to protect the top of the car from the spoiler. The spoiler will vibrate in the wind and if no padding or "spongy material" is there it will rub your paint right off. Same thing they have on bug deflectors on trucks so they don't stratch the hood. If you take it off you want to replace it.

 

I wonder how close the thickness of that padding is to the thickness of the strap? If there was a gap in the padding could the strap be threaded through and removed 'easily'?

 

Wouldn't work with spoiler in place. My bike rack straps have clip at one end,and lock cam buckle on the other end that couldn't be slipped under spoiler. I could separate the top strap from the straight end off the rack, mount the spoiler over top of the top straps and leave them under the spoiler, but that would look like**** ,and flap and bang around when not in use. NAH!


My next thought is some minacell foam blocks with Velcro,carved & shaped to be mounted under the spoiler with the Velcro. To support the spoiler off of the rear window glass when the straps are run over the top of spoiler like I tried before.

Thanks for the suggestions,I'll work on it.

PaFitter

 

My earlier thought was to put a rubber 'tube' on top of the spoiler and run the strap from the top edge of the hatch, over the rubber, over the spoiler so the strap wasn't pushing on the spoiler. I don't have a trunk rack so wasn't able try it out. The strap may be too low for this to work.

 

No matter ,the straps will run from the gap between the hatch & roof,over the spoiler,and bridge to the attach point of the bike rack. That strap bridging from the trailing edge of the spoiler to the bike rack attachment point is what pulls down on the spoiler. Either support of the spoiler,or removal of the spoiler will eliminate the downward pull of the bike rack straps. Since the use of the bike rack is only when I go camping and have the interior loaded,which is rare. I think the best just may be to remove the spoiler and reattach when bike rack is not in use. The insulation material used could be changed or modified to allow easy removal every time,and still provide noise & vibration protection. I'll play with it this weekend Thanks.

PaFitter

 

I have a trunk mounted bike rack and want to use it on my 09 fit sport for a trip to south dakota in a month. Let me know what you do about yours and if it all worked well. I would be OK with taking the spoiler off if it wasn't a pain to put back on after the trip.

 

Sorry Guy, My spoiler won't budge after removing the bolts,and reasonable force and I don't want to risk breaking it. I now haul my bike/s on a Yakima roof rack and track.{ had rack to haul canoes,just bought track & bar} If the Fit is empty inside I haul it inside. I had good advice how to remove the spoiler,and maybe you can read back and get their handle and ask for advice. Mine seemed way to tight to remove,so I switched my method of transportation of the bikes. Good Luck!

PaFitter

 

On a slightly different note: I've put two bikes, weekend gear, a cooler, bag of groceries, pump, bike tools, and a bunch of other stuff in the back of my Fit with no problem. Take off the front wheels of each bike and put them in upright and at an angle. I put one bike in handlebars first and the other in rear wheel first. I also arrange them so that the drive trains are not facing each other. Throw an old t-shirt over each chain and load it up!

BTW - I got 44 mpg on that trip from Orlando to Jacksonville.

 

if you plan on transporting bikes more than a few times, id invest in a hitch and rack. that way no bikes and no straps and no bars need to touch your pretty car

 

Well, I'm an avid bike rider, and when It is just me, I put the bike in the back but This trip I want to have 3 bikes and 4 people so inside the car won't work. Sounds like a trunk mount rack is a bad idea with the sport model, So I may have to look into a hitch because I already have a hitch mounted bike carrier. The hitch mounted bike carrier is for a large hitch and I don't know how that would work out with a smaller one. There must be adaptors for this type of thing.

 

i bet theres adapters for that.

 

I agree, more than two people in the car and you need a rack. IMO hitch rack is the way to go. I've only seen hitches with 1 1/4 receivers for the Fit. I guess they figure you won't be hauling anything big with it so why build a 2" hitch.
I wish they made a lightweight hitch though, adding steel tubing to the back of the car can't help the mileage

 

IT DOESNT HURT MILEAGE AT ALL

umm... if you are that much of a lightweight fanatic, i hope you take a shit everytime you drive and have your car gutted and ... and ... and ...

the hitch creates NO drag, unlike a roof rack. hell, even with bikes on the back, i havent noticed any difference in fuel economy.

 

For the record, anybody attempting to install a bike rack such as the one in the original post, it can be done on the 2010. I just removed the top two bolts, then used decent pressure to push up on the driver's side of the spoiler first, then the passenger side. The spoiler popped right off. There are four snaps holding it in place aside from the two top bolts. Quick and easy. Now it's time to install that strap on bike rack.