Bike Rack weight

Hi.

First post so excuse me if this has been raised before.

I have a bike rack fitted which the manufacturer states has a 60 kg weight limit.

The rack is designed for 4 adult bikes so I'm hoping it will hold four bikes of 15 kg each. 

Have I understood this correctly or do I have to deduct the weight of the bike rack from this therefore allowing me only four much lighter bikes ?

Help appreciated.

Thanks.

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Thanks.

It will hold 60kg so 4 x 15kg bikes are possible

Page 4-1 of my A-S Handbook states "The maximum mass of the rack and cycles combined is 60kg."

The max carrying weight of the  Fiammia bike racks are 60kg max as shown in the photo of the bike rack instructions and showing 4 x bikes at 15kg each or 2 x 25kg bikes

I don't doubt that Fiamma specify the 2-bike rack to carry 2 x 25kg bikes and the 4-bike rack to carry 4 x 15kg bikes but A-S specify the mountings on the back of the motorhome for a maximum of 60kg which includes the mass of the rack, bikes and presumably a cover, lighting board, warning board and securing straps.  If 4 x 15kg bikes are carried, the load on the A-S mounting points will exceed 60 kg.

Ok, so we're saying as a minimum that the rails should support 60kgs.

So is it likely that the 4 x 3cm screws fitted to my Motorhome are sufficient for this purpose ?

Unhappylad wrote:Ok, so we're saying as a minimum that the rails should support 60kgs.

So is it likely that the 4 x 3cm screws fitted to my Motorhome are sufficient for this purpose ?

Not sufficient at all, when I fitted mine to the back of the Autotrail I used 10mm threaded stainless steel rod with spreader plates and inserts in the holes so I did not crush the wall ,

4 x 3cm screws not good enough

Caraman wrote:Page 4-1 of my A-S Handbook states "The maximum mass of the rack and cycles combined is 60kg."

To me this just suggests that AS are maybe saying the max weight which the MH wall will support is 60kg 

I'd not go within miles of this....
60kg circa 2m behind rear axle, 1 m added to overall length,
60Kg lost payload.
Bare minimum I'd do if really must is get the van properly weighed to get ACCURATE both axle weights and total then do the sums.
Needs through Ss bolts, M8 min imho large ss washers both sides.
Still wouldn't even consider it.....
.

The 2021 Broadway like my 2019 Nuevo already has mounting rails for a Fiamma Pro bike rack whose total weight, including everything attached to it, must not exceed 60 kg.  The fibreglass rear wall of the motorhome has wooden fillets at the attachment points for the mounting rail.  No additional screws should be used.  Like others I would be unhappy loading the rear wall to 60 kg, especially with a 4-bike rack that sticks out further than a 2-bike rack and therefore has a greater moment.  I doubt my 2-bike rack plus its load ever exceeds 40 kg and most of the time its much less than this.

you could fit a towbar mounted bike rack ,   I have the std rails on my malvern but rather use a towbar mounted one

Seems like a lot of bikes for what I thought was a 2 belt 2 berth van!

If I were doing it (on a doorless van) I think I would look at a towball mounted rack with additional bracing (for security) to the rear panel rack mountings. I still have trouble with the idea of heavy loads totally supported on a tow ball!

Thanks everyone for their thoughts and comments.

I'll go back to the Dealer and talk through the options.

IanH has already said it but you need to be clear what your axle mass limits are and what your actual axle masses might be when your van is fully loaded without bikes and then with 4 bikes on the back, either on a Fiamma Pro or a tow ball rack, including the weight of the racks, lighting boards etc and tow bar for the tow ball rack.  This particularly applies to the rear axle.  If you put say 100 kg on the back of the van, due to the long rear overhang it could increase your rear axle mass by at least 150kg due to the transfer of mass from the front axle onto the rear axle.  Its also worth knowing the load index of your tyres.  TyreSafe recommend that an axle mass does not exceed 90% of its two tyres' combined maximum permitted load.  For example, my Nuevo's current tyres have a load index of 109.  This means each tyre has a maximum permitted load of 1030 kg.  Although my Nuevo has a rear axle limit of 2000 kg, TyreSafe recommend that no more than 1854 kg of it is used (90% of 1030 kg x 2).  In my experience, dealers are coy or not very knowledgable about these things.