etrailer | Yakima EXO SwingBase Swing Away Hitch Extender Review

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Full transcript: www.etrailer.com/tv-review-ya...
Hi everyone, It's Yvan here at etrailer. And today we are looking at the Yakima XO swing base swing away hitch extender, designed to be used with Yakima accessories here at etrailer. The Yakima exo system is a system that's designed to mix and match different accessories to kind of build up and an in out with this system. The core point is the swing based hitch extender, you cannot start the Yakima exo system without this piece. The Yakima exo system swing base, works with the double up two bike rack for your biking needs, the snowbank ski and snowboard carrier, the gear locker, enclosed cargo carrier, and the gear warrior cargo carrier. Build up with a swing base for accessories for different adventures so you can go hiking, you can go camping, skiing, cycling, it's really up to you.
The arms use a cleat system to hold onto your accessories,, and these use locking speed nabs. Let's take a look at how speedy are these speed nabs. Where starting at the completely open position, and then start tightening down these speed nabs. Here they are completely secured. And then you just lock them into place.
There are two cleats on each end of the arm holding onto your accessories and keeping them in place. I've thrown a whole bunch of different accessories and put them through their paces, and I have noticed that they really grip onto them very well. These cleats keep the nice secure and tight, even as we run around with them. This swing base comes with three locks; one for the hitch pin or anti-rattle bolt, and two for the speed knobs. Now when you are going to be adding accessories, you will need lock cores to match.
So I highly recommend counting how many lock cores you think you're going to be needing and getting them all at once so that they will all be key alike. When you do have this loaded up with say your bike racks, your cargo carriers, and you do end up covering your license plate and your taillights, that's perfectly fine because you can get the lit kit. And it plugs into the swing base which will allow you to relocate your tail lights as well as your license plate to keep you safe on the road. This is a very heavy system and I actually needed help to install this into my hitch because it weighs a total of 64 pounds. One thing to know is please make sure that you have the hitch capacity for your entire system because this is just the base.
And as you add up the gear or your bikes, you will end up adding more and more weights to your system. The heaviest this can carry is if you use the gear warrior cargo care, and that can carry 250 pounds. But it also depends on what kind of accessory you are using. You will get the most weight capacity out of the system. If you use it alone without the top shelf, and you will notice on our product pages the different weight capacities your accessories will have depending on where they are mounted. The main feature of the swing base is that it can swing away, and to do so first note that you have a handle on the side that please use this as a swing in way and bring it back. Cause this is where you'll get the most support. But to start the swing away process, you have this knob here at the back that you need to loosen. Note on larger vehicles with protruding bumpers, this can become a tight fit but there should be just enough space to rotate that knob. Once that is loosened, you then have this other knob you need to pull out, and that releases the entire swing base. And then you can push it out 90 degrees before it secures right here in the corner. This swing away features is especially useful if you have accessories like the bike rack where you can mount and dismount your bike on each side. Now let's take a look at some measurements. First, we're going to talk about the height of this swing base, because lets say you have a door or a tailgate you are worried about when it comes to clearance, you're going to want that measurement. I'll give you some base measurements because your actual ground clearance and height will depend on where your hitch is on your vehicle. So measuring from the bottom lip of the hitch receiver, it sits at 11 and 5 eighth inches. Then measuring from the top of the swing base to the ground, it sits at 18 and a quarter inches. If you do have a wider vehicle you'll wonder if this does swing out far enough. So I'll measure from the middle of the swing base, which is aligned with the middle of your hitch, and to the furthest point it sits at 33 inches. If you are worried about clearanc

[@lixmos]

Hi, you guys demoing this rack system on a Toyota RAV4. Doesn’t the RAV4 has 150 lb tongue weight limit? The rack system itself with gear locker and second shelf already at 166 lb before you put any gears on it. I have a Forester, and I’m thinking about getting the Exo system but I have the same problem.

[@ferretwulf]

What is the distance from the rear edge of the 2" hitch receiver to the outside of the folded arms (with the unit installed and the arms folded for storage)? Trying to figure out if I can fit my SUV in the garage with the unit folded and no one seems to have that measurement.

[@proguardpets389]

is that true of weight limit of 250 pounds as another yakima video said total capacity was 100 lbs and an 80lb weight capacity with the top bracket? i would like to put my 200 lb motor bike on the swing away only - let me know

[@khalidthallab8858]

Hi