Come away for a couple of days and for the first time in 3 years have put the rack on to bring bikes.

Tested it all yesterday, rack on, rack off, it was fine. Put the rack on this morning, cranked it down onto the tow bar, then gave it one more push to lock it on really securely…..

Several hours and a couple of hundred miles later, bikes arrived safely, but can I get the sodding rack to come off the tow bar? Properly jammed on.

MrsMC is not amused

Been there, seen that, done that.

Is it that the ratchet is jammed? If so, brute force is the only answer. If you’ve released the ratchet but it won’t come off have you tried the key in both the locked and unlocked position, then lift from the back?

Mine has had a couple of episodes of being stuck, with the clamping handle up or locked. A liberal squirt of GT85 down the key hole or around the various pivot points brings it back to life. Surely you have some GT85 with you?

The white button needs to pull to the lever before it can be lifted up. Is that stuck or the lever once it’s pulled in?

Have you tried lifting the back of the rack at the same time ?

It’s the ratchet that’s jammed, will try the GT85 approach. Brute force may be an issue, I appear to be the youngest and strongest at the campsite, and I’m a pathetically weak 53 year old.

Find the heaviest person to stand on the handle, then pull the release catch

Lift the edge of the rack as above. Fairly normal way to get round a stuck Altera rack.

Have you tried lifting the back of the rack at the same time ?

To quote myself.

Whenever it’s gets sticky, try lifting the car up by the end of the rack. It may in un-jam it .

Good old STW – was Googling the issue ahead of ringing Roofbox tech advice when I stumbled on a similar thread from 2018.

The suggestion was use a G clamp to get enough pressure on the release button (my plan when we got home.e) or use a ratchet strap.

Big tug on a ratchet strap and it pinged free and came off beautifully.

Hopefully it will go back on when we go home on Friday!

You probably don’t need to go so tight, on my Thule, as long as it’s got a firm positive feel, I just make sure it’s got enough resistance to stop the rack twisting left and right on the ball.

@morecashthandash

This is worth reading

https://support.roofbox.co.uk/hc/en-gb/articles/4409281312786-How-do-I-maintain-my-Atera-Strada-

I had a problem with my Atera Strada Sport M3 recently. I phoned RoofBox and an hour later I had a WhatsApp video call with their tech guy to solve it. Great customer service

Put rack on towball and let it rest, then lift the rear of the rack (furthest from car) about 5mm up, then clamp the towball – doesn’t need to be all-your-weight tight but it should be a solid clamp.

I’ve had this a couple of times on my Atera rack when I’ve forgotten to do the wee lift.