Does anyone mount these facing backwards? I have a problem on my Honda CRV where the tailgate hits the end of the carrier tray when lifted. The carriers are mounted on Thule Slidebars. I know it would look a bit odd but 591’s are often mounted rearwards. The other option is to lop a bit off the end of the carrier tray but this may cause problems with the rear wheel support.

Why wouldn’t you, don’t see how it would be a problem

I mount a 591 backwards as the dial is only on one side so its easier to have each rack facing the side of the car (when I put 2 on)

You know you can mount the whole dial and arm the other way around on 591s?

I’ve seen 561s mounted backwards before. I’ve got a 561 and two 591s on the roof at the moment and was surprised how far rearwards the try of the 561 reached. Mines on roof rails so it was fairly easy to make sure it cleared the tailgate.

I’d have thought as long as you leave the tray long enough then there’d be no problem trimming it down though. Wheel strap will slide up and the end fitting should just pop into the shortened end.

I have done for a couple of years. For exactly the same problem on a Ford Focus.

It’s no problem but one piece of advice. If you mount backwards it is VERY important you remember to strap the (forward facing) rear wheel down. Trust me I know from experience.

Freester-good point, I hadn’t considered that. The other advantage on rear-facing is that the carrier ends don’t clout the car aerial when the bars are slid sideways.

Moving the dial is an extra job, doesn’t take any longer to put them on back to front 😀

The pedant/perfectionist/controlfreek in me wouldn’t let me do that 😉