Can I fit a bike carrier?

Hi all,

I've just agreed the purchase of a 1992 T4 Trident Autosleeper with a single tailgate. It's a hard-top rather than a pop-top, and it has the ladder on the back of the van. My question is, is there a rear mounted bike carrier (preferably Fiamma) which will fit on the tailgate alongside the ladder?

I don't envisage using the ladder for much other than cleaning the roof, so I could remove it, but cosmetically my preference is to leave it on if possible. The van has LPG conversion and the filling tap for this is very close to where a towbar would be mounted, so i'd prefer a tailgate mounted carrier rather than a towbar mounted one.

If the bike carrier sits across the ladder (provided there's enough clearance) then that isn't too much of an issue.

I've spoken to my local campervan specialist, plus a friend with 30+ years of experience of owning and converting their own vans, i've emailed Fiamma and i've scoured Autotrader etc for pictures of similar vans with both a ladder & a bike rack, and so far i've drawn a blank at each turn in terms of getting a definitive answer. In fairness, Fiamma have yet to come back to me.

Are any of you lovely people able to help me in terms of a) whether such a thing exists, and b) which model(s) I should be seeking out.

Any help & guidance would be appreciated, this will be my (our!) first foray into campervans after talking about it for years, so very excited about the whole thing, just want to try and make the logistics as smooth as possible.

Thanks in advance

Dave

Hello and welcome to this most friendly and informative forum. Advice will surely come your way shortly. 

Opinion only: fitting a bike rack to a tailgate is always a difficult compromise. If you want to use it with one or more bikes of any significant weight, you will need upgraded gas struts or the tailgate will not hold itself open. But then these can, in hot weather, make it difficult to close the tailgate when there are no bikes on board.

I looked at it in some detail (for a T5, but the principles are the same) and ended up getting a towball-mounted rack which folds down away from the back of the vehicle so that the tailgate can be opened. The system works well, and you don't have a big lift to get the bikes in place. I doubt that the LPG filling point would be hard to move, if necessary.

Fiamma make a bikerack specifically for the T4/5/ range of VWs.  It would not be possible to fit if the ladder remains.  It fits fairly easily to the tailgate but usually requires two holes to be drilled to hold the upper hooks, passing over the tailgate, in place. The hooks are load bearing not the small bolts holding them in place. The rack has a max load of 60Kg, most of which is transferred to the rear bumper step.  It is not possible to raise the tailgate when loaded as it fouls the upper bodywork,  It's a good rack.
Keith

KMRTOPAZ wrote:It is not possible to raise the tailgate when loaded as it fouls the upper bodywork

That would kill the idea for me - I couldn't use a van that size without regular easy access to the storage in the back!

no idea about a VW specifically, but many PVC owners use something like a Busbiker which is conncted to the chassis and can swing away from the door allowing access...
similarly, a tow ball fixed unit can swing back, away from the door.
these two methods will be more expensive but are fully engineered solutions.
good luck.

Hello Dave, Welcome to the forum. We have a Trident T5 with a rear mounted Fiamma bike rack. It carries two bikes, one electric (with battery removed to reduce lifting weight) and one mountain bike. It's quite an effort lifting the bikes onto the rack by myself but much easier with two people. Whether or not the rack would fit with your ladder in place l can't say. I suspect the issue would be whether there is enough sideways adjustment to allow the rack to fold up when not in use. As said previously there's no access when the bikes are on the back so its vital to plan ahead. I took mine off to stove enamel the steel fittings (wish they were stainless) refitting was simple in about 20 min. When not in use it folds up out of the way. The Fiamma website has loads of measurements which may help. Good luck

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Thanks all for your responses so far, really appreciate it. So, I presume the tailgate mounted rack (if I can get one to fit) would essentially be a fit & forget option, the rack would stay on semi-permanently  and I could open the tailgate easily when no bikes are mounted? With bikes mounted i'd have to plan ahead in terms of accessing the floor level storage. Or I could get a towball fitted (I already have a compatible carrier), the only issue being that it would effectively increase the length of the vehicle by a good bit and may require some relocation of the LPG set-up.

Food for thought. Thanks again.

Dave, the fiamma is a fit and forget and when folded doesn't protrude further than the rear bumper. The tailgate opens easily with it mounted on the door. You just can' access the boot when bikes are carried. My rack was already fitted when i bought the camper however i like the idea of Rooperts drop down towbar rack. It seems an ideal solution and doesn't appear to add much overall length. There would be the cost of a towbar to mount and maybe electrics and a lighting board if it obscures the rear lights??

davewilby wrote:the only issue being that it would effectively increase the length of the vehicle by a good bit

Indeed - my Thule adds half a metre to the length of the van, and something like an Atera Strada DL3 probably adds even more - but it's a beautifully engineered solution!

Of course, a Fiamma tailgate-mount also adds to the length too, though probably not quite as much. But I would guess that ferry companies will charge anyway, even though (in theory) you could probably fit the nose of another car underneath it when in use!

Thanks again folks. Having spent a while scouring Google Images I have seen a number of examples of what look like Fiamma carriers fitted to T4 Tridents alongside the ladder, so I remain hopefully. I think that might be my preferred direction of travel, alongside perhaps upgrading the gas struts.

If that won't work i'll use my existing Thule towbar mounted rack, and get a towbar installed. I'm guessing costs won't be massively different unless I strike upon a bargain bike carrier on Ebay.

Once again, really appreciate your input. Owning a van is entirely new to me so i'm just getting my head around how everything works, which bits work with which vans etc etc.

Sounds like you have a few options!

But, as you have not spent time with the van much yet, I would urge you to think what a massive pain in the butt not having access to the back of the van could be with bikes on board.

E.g.: gas runs out and need to swap cylinders? Take bikes off rack, swap cylinders, put bikes back. Need to access jack storage area? Take bikes off, access jack storage, put bikes back. Drop one of the rear seat belt clips through the gap in the rear bed? Take bikes off, retrieve seat belt buckle, put bikes back...

The gas struts on my Topaz were standard fit.  No upgrade required for the bare bikerack
The Trident has a similar rear upper body panel to the Topaz. It's not possible to open the hatch more than a couple of inches if a bike is carried on the forward (inner rail) .  If the bike is on the outer rail you might have more clearance, but you would need to take along your tame gorilla to hold it up.
I'm not sure about the clearance with the Trooper.
Keith

QRoopert wrote:Opinion only: fitting a bike rack to a tailgate is always a difficult compromise. If you want to use it with one or more bikes of any significant weight, you will need upgraded gas struts or the tailgate will not hold itself open. But then these can, in hot weather, make it difficult to close the tailgate when there are no bikes on board.

I looked at it in some detail (for a T5, but the principles are the same) and ended up getting a towball-mounted rack which folds down away from the back of the vehicle so that the tailgate can be opened. The system works well, and you don't have a big lift to get the bikes in place. I doubt that the LPG filling point would be hard to move, if necessary.

Hi Roopert
I have come to the same conclusion that the towbar mounted rack is the best option, roughly how much am I looking at?
Thule seems the best make of rack, how much for the Towbar to be fitted?

Welcome to the forum Wingyred. It's been a couple of years since I last did one, and it depends on exactly what spec you want. So, for example, if yours is a facelift T5 then you may well want to go with a dedicated wiring kit, but if it's pre-facelift then a simple bypass relay would probably be adequate. Costs vary quite a bit depending on whether you want a fixed or removable towball. P F Jones is a good place to look, and their prices have always been keen (for DIY) when I've been buying.

As far as I'm aware there is no best make of rack - the prices vary a lot depending on what you want. At the top end, the Atera Strada DL3 is hard to beat, but it does depend on whether you are ever likely to need to carry 3 bikes - and it does hang out of the back quite a long way. You also need to be aware that the DL2 does not slide away from the towball quite as far as the DL3 and that can make opening the rear doors/tailgate more difficult. There are many other models - last time I looked, MaxxRaxx seemed good value, and Thule were somewhere in the middle in terms of price. Another member here has fitted a Dutch-made towball rack that swivels on an arm, though I never really liked it as (IMO) it swivels the wrong side for UK traffic.

Different van I know, but you may like to consider:

Re: Towball mount

If you are carrying two bikes I would recommend a three bike carrier (This will give the inner bike clearance to the body, especially if you have straight handlebars which could 'clout' the body.)
Likewise if you are carrying one bike, I would suggest a two bike carrier.

Mine is a Thule and tilts.
However, the rear doors still cannot be opened.

PB

peugeotboxer wrote:
Mine is a Thule and tilts.
However, the rear doors still cannot be opened.

Have you looked to see whether the cables can be relocated or lengthened? I lengthened the cables on my Thule 928 by just a few mm and it now clears the tailgate (barn doors are easier to clear, I believe).

Roopert wrote:

peugeotboxer wrote:
Mine is a Thule and tilts.
However, the rear doors still cannot be opened.

Have you looked to see whether the cables can be relocated or lengthened? I lengthened the cables on my Thule 928 by just a few mm and it now clears the tailgate (barn doors are easier to clear, I believe).

Sorry, but I do not understand 'lengthen the cables?'

No cables on mine.

PB