Saris Hatch Huggers Bike Rack Accessories – Custom Fit Solutions Trunk-Mount Racks

My car back window goes up all the way I didn’t feel very good about hooking onto it with latches this makes me feel better and allows me to give it a little slap with confidence as I say “this ain’t going nowhere” before I hit the road makes the whole rack feel solid

Work great

This fills a need many have. Enables you to use your Saris on an SUV with "weak" plastic spoilers on top of the rear hatch by allowing the straps to go past the plastic and be held in between the metal hatch and the metal body. The thick padding ensures no scratches.I was swapping the straps out between these on my SUV and the originals hooks when on my roadster until I realized that the hatch huggers would also work just as well in the trunk of the roadster and also reduce the (admittedly rare) possibility of scratches on the trunk lid. Doh!

The Saris fit guide (http://saris.com/catalog/racks) indicated I needed to get these hatch huggers for my Bones 2 Saris Bones 2 Bike Trunk Rack, Black. I was a little reluctant because I figured I could make the hooks work. Well, after doing a test fit, it turns out the hooks would have damaged my taillights, so I bought a set of Hatch Huggers.I fiddled around with these to figure out the best way to mount them. I basically put them where they need to be, droop the straps out of the trunk, then shut the trunk. Next, just pull the straps tight. No problem - and the straps end up just where I want them on the trunk.My only complaint is that they can rub the paint. I know one of the Saris design goals is to "protect the paint" but there's just no way to keep a nylon strap from rubbing the paint as the car and rack move and bounce under load. So I picked up some 3M door edge tape 3M COMPANY 84901 DOOR EDGE GUARD .4 X 10YD, put it on the edge of the trunk where the strap rubbed, and away we went. No paint problems. I think it would be great if Saris included maybe 12" of this tape with the Hatch Huggers.

If Saris says you should use these on your car, get them. I thought I could get away without using them with my Saris Bones 2. I probably COULD, but I was risking the normal hooks coming off if I stopped suddenly and the weight shifted forward.The hatch huggers can't come off, not without ripping through the sheet metal of your car. (And they are big and soft so that's not going to happen)They are easy to put onto the Bones straps. Just remove the original straps with the hooks and replace them with these. Takes 2 seconds to swap them out. Once they are installed on the car the rack is super secure and CANNOT fall off the car even if the other 4 straps fail. (You wouldn't want to drive with the other 4 straps broken. The rack will flop all over the place. But it won't fall to the ground. So you'd have time to safely pull over to the side of the road and fix it without having to run into the street to retrieve whatever's left of your bike)I have also found that the Bones 2 rack is easier to install on the car with the hatch huggers than with the metal clips. I can put the hatch huggers onto the trunk first and they hold the rack up while I attach and tighten the other 4 straps. Without the huggers the upper hooks fall off while I adjust the lower straps and it's more difficult to put it on.All in all, for a product I was slightly annoyed that I had to buy to make another product work properly, these have been a very good experience.

It worked

I'm not struggling with a rear hatch, I'm struggling with trunk seam clearance. I'd tried a 3 bike Bones some years ago but could never get the middle/side anchors to work in my trunk seams without bulging or bending the trunk lid wherever they were placed. The top and bottom anchors were fine, but the side wouldn't go without force/damage. I'm not sure they had these then, but wow they sure work for me now on a 2 bike bones... With the trunk slightly ajar, I place the top anchors on the trunk lid with the rack itself sitting lightly on top. Then I get slack in the side 'Huggers' strap and drop one down along each edge of the trunk lid into the trunk, then I move on and adjust the bottom anchors at the bottom edge of the trunk at the bumper. At this point I shut the trunk. Making sure the 'Huggers' have enough slack to accommodate for the motion without coming out of the trunk, I'll slightly raise the lid and shut it down firmly. I take up the 'Hugger' strap slack to snug the block up against the inner side of the lid, tighten at the buckle and I'm good to go. Everything cinches up tight and the rack is rock solid. I couldn't use this rack, or maybe any rack, without it. Hope this helps!

I replace all six straps with it by buying 3 pairs.Besides no potential damage to the trunk, with my Saris adjustable bones it now fits no ANY type of the cars