Liftgate Bike Rack Detection

[mzun23]

I have a '22 EX Premium and I am curious if the liftgate is supposed to detect if there is something blocking it. should it recognize any obstruction and prevent from opening?

I have my Kuat NV bike rack about 50% of the time installed and I the first time my wife accidentally opened the liftgate, we could've sworn the liftgate detected the rack and stopped itself from opening and closed itself.

Second time, my wife opened the liftgate and it did not detect that the rack was installed. Unfortunately it hit the rack and now we have a small scratch

Third time, I bent down to grab some things from the floor, and while the key was in my pocket, it activated the liftgate and hit my bike before it hit the rack. Once it hit the bike, the liftgate closed itself.

Now we are paranoid about having the bike rack on and I take it off all the time, we have smart liftgate off (don't want to accidentally stand behind the vehicle and the liftgate opens up), and we're now wondering if smart liftgate has some rear obstruction detection as well . Any help?

 

[staypuppy]

It only does what you’ve experienced…. It’ll stop if it hits something. There is no proactive detection of obstacles.

 

[mzun23]

It only does what you’ve experienced…. It’ll stop if it hits something. There is no proactive detection of obstacles.

That's a shame. Just gotta be on high alert then when my bike or rack is on.

 

[tpgh]

Disable it so it doesn’t automatically open.

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[bruesjoh04]

Now we are paranoid about having the bike rack on and I take it off all the time, we have smart liftgate off (don't want to accidentally stand behind the vehicle and the liftgate opens up), and we're now wondering if smart liftgate has some rear obstruction detection as well . Any help?

Just turn off the power liftgate. Easy.

 

[Keniff536]

I've always been paranoid of this when I carry my bike. I did realize the liftgate only auto opens when the doors are locked. So I always immediately unlock the doors when I approach the Telluride and my rack is attached. It's almost second nature now. I did consider(still might do it) wrapping my bike rack with black rubber tubing where the liftgate would contact my bike rack.

 

[mzun23]

Disable it so it doesn’t automatically open.

I do have it disabled. Its our own human error, just curious if the liftgate detected obstructions like a bike rack

edit - nevermind I re-read your message, and I assume you mean to manually open it, yes that is an option

 

[mzun23]

Just turn off the power liftgate. Easy.

right, easy fix, I was just curious if there was some sort of detection because the first time my wife accidently opened it, the lift gate did not hit the rack and closed itself (from what we assumed as we did not hear a banging of the liftgate and rack nor saw any scratches), then we had our mishaps after the fact.

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[mzun23]

I've always been paranoid of this when I carry my bike. I did realize the liftgate only auto opens when the doors are locked. So I always immediately unlock the doors when I approach the Telluride and my rack is attached. It's almost second nature now. I did consider(still might do it) wrapping my bike rack with black rubber tubing where the liftgate would contact my bike rack.

right, I turned off the smart liftgate for that reason. I might add some rubber padding to the rack. The liftgate hitting my bike was a freak accident as the keys were in my pocket. Luckily it hit my handlbars before anything else

 

[PittPa]

Haha, so funny is I fixed this issue this weekend. I have a Kuat rack that I glued a small square of material (think mouse pad cushioning) to the part of the rack that makes contact with the trunk lid in case I or anyone else forgets. Now, it will touch it and revert back, no damage.

 

[MtbDad]

That's a shame. Just gotta be on high alert then when my bike or rack is on.

I hope the bike was ok!

 

[mzun23]

Haha, so funny is I fixed this issue this weekend. I have a Kuat rack that I glued a small square of material (think mouse pad cushioning) to the part of the rack that makes contact with the trunk lid in case I or anyone else forgets. Now, it will touch it and revert back, no damage.

yea thats going to be my solution, unfortunately after the fact. Although the scratch isn't too noticeable. Wife still feels terrible.

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[mzun23]

I hope the bike was ok!

bike is ok, now that would've been a disaster LOL!. Hitting up a bike park this week