Sadly our new rack has totally glued itself to the car, does anyone know of a decent way of getting these off? The tightening lever is so far down I can’t move it down at all, to escape the ratchet I need to push the button in and push downwards, but all my weight and it’s not budging an inch.

Has anyone else had similar? Is it just going to be a case of applying excessive force to the lever and hoping for the best?

If it’s a removable tow hitch woudl taking it off the car give better access?

If you rotate the rack on the ball (swing left or right) does it help? Spray WD 40 in the ratchet to ensure the pawl can release with the spring easily

Sadly it’s not, good call though, the bouncing suspension doesn’t seem to help.

I can’t get it to move sideways at all. It can take all my weight (about 200 pounds), without wiggling an inch. I’m guessing it’s on the final ratchet so I don’t think there’s much danger of it getting tighter.

Worst case scenario I guess I could saw through the spring and replace it? It feels very much like it’s maxed out and hasn’t got room to escape the ratchet, quite why it turns that far I’m not sure.

Put a webbing strap over the button and pull back hard.

I think I need to apply the pressure first, then push the button. Doing it the wrong way around just tightens it, which I think is how I’ve got into this mess. I’ll try standing on it later while someone else presses the button. I just wish there was a bolt I could loosen, to loosen the mechanism.

Pretty sure I’m going to knackered it.

I’d rather kill towbar ball than the rack, I wonder if I could drill holes in the ball to give it a bit more movement?

Is it worth contacting the importers into the UK?
Their customer service seems to be pretty good and they are more likely to have a possible non-destructive solution.

I’d check spare parts availability before cutting up the rack – quick looka t their site doesn’t show too many componenet level spares as available.

Will it tilt back towards the car? Mibbe try putting a jack under an end of it and lifting it that way.

I had this before with mine, sheer brute force and perseverance won at the end of the day, it really was on the last ratchet notch so like you had nowhere to go.

I’ve also had times where I thought I couldnt press in the button only to realise I hadn’t properly unlocked it, when I swore I had for about 20 mins of trying believing it was broken.

Always worry about over tightening it to the ball now.

Lift the body of the rack while pushing down on the ratchet arm.

Phone roofbox. They have tech suppport in their office & can advise you best. A lot of it is available as spares, but some bits aren’t.

Are you absolutely sure you’ve unlocked it?

The key is fully turned, and the button won’t press unless it’s unlocked, so definitely unlocked!

Yeah, the button moves in freely when it’s unlocked. I’ll have another go tonight, with a second person on the button.

I don’t think you need a down motion. Just up once the button is depressed surely? I sometimes over ratchet mine and the strap pull releases it. I am pulling away and slightly up, so once the button is depressed, the handle comes up a bit and it’s released.

Edit – this is on an altera, but not a strada. Is the ratchet bit the same across the range?

You don’t need a down motion to release the lever but for the button to unlock sometimes it needs to be at a certain “point” and that requires a bit of movement downwards.

Yeah – if you can push the button in, you don’t need to push down, just pull the handle up. Makes me wonder if the mechanism is broken and the button is no longer connected to the ratchet. In normal use, a little bit of down pressure is needed to free the button.

Copious amounts of WD40 on the ratchet to reduce friction. Can you get a metal G-clamp on the button to push it in? Or a small bottle jack? Otherwise, 2 people, one working the button and one pushing down to take the force off the ratchet.

Yeah – if you can push the button in, you don’t need to push down

Ah, in which case I’m guessing it’s this. I do need a very slight pressure down to push in the button, I was assuming I needed downward pressure to get it out of the ratchet. On the plus side I’m assuming it’s always been broken, as it’s never released when pressing the button.

Now, how to get it off.

Cheers all! I had a bit more faith in what was meant to happen, so had another shot at lunch. I think my biggest issue was I’d been tightening it, trying to get the ratchet to unclick, the bar was rammed down as far as possible. I just clicked the button in and pulled up this time, after applying a slightly uncomfortable amount of pressure it just moved upwards smoothly and seems fine.

Phew, one less thing to worry about.