Thule Elite Van XT Bike Rack
Thule Folding Bike Rack (for Sprinter & Promaster)
The Swedish manufacturer of bike racks, Thule, now makes a van-specific rack for Ram Promaster and Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, and it’s awesome. After managing with a hitch rack the past four years, we finally found a bike solution we love. It is easy to use, swings with the door, and folds up when not in use. We link our YouTube video that shows how to install and use this excellent rack. Read on to see why we love this rack.
Note: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
Parts Required (click to see/buy products)
Tools Required:
- Heavy Duty Caulk Gun
- Basic Allen Tool Set
- Basic socket set or adjustable wrench
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Cost Effective. Hitch racks with the swinging mechanism average $350-$400 more than this setup;
- Very Solid and Secure, no rocking back-and-forth like a hitch rack;
- Bikes up and out of harm’s way from other drivers;
- Less Road Grime with bikes mounted high;
- Bikes swing with the door;
- Being so high, theft seems more complicated;
- Potential to mount ski racks & lighter-weight storage boxes
Cons:
- May require a small step-stool for getting bikes on/off;
- 77-pound weight rating–two e-bikes probably a no-go;
- Right-side door swing cannot swing 270 degrees;
- Adapts to many bikes but may take more time initially to find best bike placement
Tips for your Install
Installing the Thule Elite Van XT bike rack is pretty straight-forward. Only basic tools are required, however we do recommend using a good caulk gun. The Sikaflex 252 adhesive is very viscous and I think most people would struggle applying it with a caulk gun with a typical leverage ratio.
The install begins by prepping the surface and adhering two mounting tracks to the rear door. These tracks have mechanical fasteners that wrap around both sides of the door, tightened simply with an Allen tool. No holes are drilled in the van. The load arms bolt to the upper and lower tracks. The bike trays simply clamp to the rack. See our video above for the complete install.
There is no reason to fear adhering the door tracks to the van. While it is considered a permanent install, it is possible to sever the bond between the track and the door and remove the adhesive using an “eraser wheel tool kit.”
Initial Rack Set Up
The first time you use the rack, you may have to make some adjustments. There is a hoop above the rack with two clamp arms that can be adjusted to move bikes closer to, or away from the van. With our bikes standing straight-up, the inner bike’s handlebar is 7-inches from the rear door of the van.
The wheel trays can slide left or right on the frame. This allows you to separate the bikes if there is a conflict between the pedals or handlebars. Typically the bikes would point opposite directions, so this may not be an issue. Our bikes are a couple of inches away from one another and thus no scratching will occur.
Finally the height of the wheel trays can be adjusted to three positions. Ours is in the middle position.
How it Works
Two clamp arms attach to the upper mounting hoop. One clamp arm is short for the inner bike and the other is longer. These can be mounted on the horizontal surface or even moved to the vertical portion if required. On our setup, the longer mounting arm passes through the frame of the inner bike to grab the top tube of the outer bike. When carrying my daughter’s little 20-inch bike, I find it best to clamp the steer tube rather than the frame. Thule also provides a belt-like restraint that wraps around both bikes and the upper hoop so if all else were to fail the bikes still cannot fall off the rack. We should also note that the clamps protect the bike cables so they are not being pinched against the bike frame.
Bike tires ride in the tire trays and are restrained with two wheel chocks per bike. A ratchet strap secures the front and rear wheel and tire to the tray.
Why we Love this Rack
The Thule Elite Van XT rack is a huge upgrade over our hitch rack. Our hitch rack only had the capability to swing-down to lower the bikes to the ground. The rear doors could only open about six inches unless we removed the bikes from the rack. To truly use the rear doors the entire rack had to be removed from the hitch. The $350 hitch swing-aways solve some of these problems, however they must still be swung-out to gain access to the rear doors. The swing-arm also only add to the cost of an already-expensive hitch rack.
Meanwhile, the Thule Elite Van XT rack and bikes swing with the door. Open the door and the bikes go with it. The rack is secure and does not rock like a hitch rack does in a hitch receiver. Having the bikes up high means they stay cleaner than on our hitch rack and they are out of harm’s way from other driver’s. We can parallel park in the same size space as if we had no rack. The hitch rack added several feet to the length of our van. The Thule rack also folds up when not in use.
Alternatives for Heavy e-Bikes
The downside of the Thule rack is a 77 pound weight limit that likely will not accommodate two e-bikes. In that case we recommend the Flatline Van Co Rear Door Platform system. This system allows you to mount almost anything, including traction boards, cargo boxes and other attachments. For bikes you would mount the Flatline Van Co Mounting Posts to the platform, and on those a set of 1UP bike trays. We use 1UP racks on our SUV and it’s top-quality stuff. This system is more expensive than the Thule bike rack but carries more weight and offers mounting solutions for various gear.
Content Creation
We are doing our best to offer as much information as possible for free. A lot of time, effort and money goes into developing and maintaining this website. If you find the information on this website helpful, you may use our various links when you are ready to make purchases. As Amazon Associates we will make earnings from qualifying purchases, however it costs you nothing to use them. Alternatively you may consider using the donate button below to make a simple Paypal payment, or message us if you prefer Venmo. We sincerely appreciate your visit as well as your support.
Can you tell me what the distance is from the van door to the outside edge of the vertical uprights .thank you
Can you email a photo of the dimension you’re looking for? My contact info on the webpage.
Check fitment for your specific model van. I have a 2021 Sprinter 3500 and purchased this rack. Unfortunately this rack does not come close to fitting my van. The horizontal mounting/clamping bars do not adjust to the curvature of my van door making installation impossible. Bob
You must have received the incorrect rack. Lots of people are using this on Sprinters of all body types. Thule is a great company and should come through to resolve this for you.
Enjoyed the video. I plan to install one on a Promaster. What is the wheelbase on your bikes? I am thinking mine might allow more door opening at 43-44″ wheellbase.
Hub to hub is 42″ on my bike.
I’ve used the rack pretty extensively and it’s great.
How can I remove the two clamp arms?
If you loosen the jaw and pull the square-shaped coupler at the end away from the clamp at the end, it will open and separate from the bar its attached to.
Great post, thank you. Would this rack work with a ladder on the opposite door?
It will depend on how far the ladder sticks out from the body. Let me know if you need a specific measurement–I can help ensure the bike trays would clear your ladder.
I just wanted to make sure that 29 x 2.20 tires would fit in the trays.
Also, any problems with the clamps on a carbon frame?
Yes, my daughter’s bike runs 2.3s and they fit fine. I don’t have a carbon frame but as long as the frame isn’t too thick it should be fine–the lockjaw opens wide.
Thanks for the step by step video. I found that the upper esp. the lower horizontal support bar that is glued into the door is not a perfect shape matching the contour of the door, at some point it presses into the door skin and creates a very slight warping of the door skin which is only visible at certain angles, did you encounter this? Thanks
You may want to loosen the clamp bolts on the side of the door. I started to notice this at certain angles, but loosening the bolts alleviated it. -Ken
Thanks for this post! Looks great. Do you think it would interfere with rear wipers on the sprinter?
Hi Chris, the rack sits quite far from the window, so no issue there.
Hi Ken, do you know if this could be fitted to the left hand door ? I can’t find any reference to it anywhere. Thanks. Great video by the way !
I don’t know for sure but I’m guessing not. I’m imagining the curvature of the door is not consistent so the tracks may not sit flush, and I think the trays would not move far enough to the right.
Great stuff, as always. Is the backup camera still usable at all with bikes attached or is that a stupid question?
The view is partially obscured but still usable. Models newer than 2016 have a wider camera view that is affected even less. -Ken
how do you even lift your bikes that high ???
I carry a small IKEA stool to aid in getting the bikes on and off. I’ve also seen some neat wooden ones that are slotted and can be disassembled in seconds and sit flat.
Thanks for doing this tutorial ! Once fully cured how would you remove that bond ‘mechanically speaking’ – is it just you’d pull the tracks very hard or using any heat or anything else ?
I haven’t actually tried it but I’m guessing that pushing a plastic putty knife would cut the adhesive then I’d probably use a 3M adhesive eraser wheel on a drill to remove the remaining adhesive from the van.
Is the rearview camera view obscured?
When bikes are on the rack, yes, partially. The view is still useable though.
Can you put an folding electric scooter on the thule Elite bike rack that is on a Mercedes Sprinter van?
I suppose you could assuming it’s under the 77 lb weight limit and you can get the clamp arms around the scooter. Hard to say without seeing the scooter.