Van Single Rear Door Bike Carriers

Last year I fitted an OmniStor Thule 18 8002 00 Bike Carrier to my 1995 AS Harmony just before going away for one month to Germany. I experienced numerous persistent problems with the carrier and, cutting a very, very long story short, after doing a significant amont of on-road repairs and modifications, when home I returned the carrier to the manufacturer and received a full refund.

However I am now in the market for an alternative. The Fiamma 200D appears to be the most appropriate for my Boxer. I wonder whether any forum members have had experiences with this type?

I am also interested to know why Fiamma specify their 200D carrier as being applicable for Boxer, Ducato and Relay up to 1999. I wonder what feature of the rear doors changed in 1999? From 2000 - 2006 Fiamma specify their 200DJ carrier which appears to operate on the same mounting principles as the OmniStor carrier. However the OmniStor carrier was specified as 1994 - 2006 i.e. for the full duration of mk1 and mk2 Boxer production. Did doors get stiffer at some stage? I think not from my observations (having one new and one old door following an accident in Geneva some years ago.)

In summary the problems I had with the OmniStor carrier were as follows:

• It didn't matter how tight the lower fixing rail was clamped to the door, the LH end habitually slipped down the door. NB the LH end takes appreciably more load than the other end which is supported by the hinge and yet the design relies merely upon friction to support this critical part of the carrier.

• As the lower fixing rail slipped, joints held with insubstantial self-tapping screws were forced apart to such a degree that total failure of the carrier and loss of the bikes on the autobahn was only narrowly avoided. After drilling further fixings into the rear door to eliminate slippage of the lower carrier rail, the same poorly designed joints persistenly came undone.

• Clearances in pin joints where the carrier hung from the upper fixing rail were inexplicably large and, accordingly, the carrier rattled both vertically and laterally under almost all conditions, and violently when fully loaded.

• When carrying two mountain bikes within the total rated loading of the carrier, the forces on the single RH rear door were such that the outer upper edge of the door was continuously deflecting away from the van body with much creaking and, in my view, risk of fatigue damage to the rear door. In the end I locked the two rear doors together and to the van body with steel cross bracing and old pallets, taking the rear doors out of use for the duration of the tour. Only through this measure did the creaking and scraping become sufficiently reduced to actually tolerate driving the vehicle on anything other than a perfect road surface.

In the end I did a full engineer's report on my experiences with this carrier and I got a polite and understanding response from OmniStor's Belgian factory. I understand that OmniStor have been taken over by Thule (whose products I have usually found to be first rate) and I got the indication that Thule are working their way through the OmniStor portfolio of products including this one, re-engineering where necessary. However I am reluctant to give OmniStor a second chance without a thorough examination of any future designs before purchase, so fundamentally poorly designed was this offering.

Your experiences with bike carriers on Boxer rear van doors would be of great interest!

Bartfarst

Thanks for highlighting the problem, recently my wife has been asking about fitting a bike to the back of our 2003 Boxer. I will make sure she reads this article.

We had Martins of Exeter fit a Fiamma 200DJ for two bikes when we purchased our Symbol (2006 model on Boxer). Have carried two adult mountain bikes around France this June. Went over some very rough coastal roads and a couple of large but umarked speed bumps (consequently at an inadvisable speed). Carrier and bikes didn't shift. No warping or movement of rear door since carrier fitted. It has four side grips and two bolts through the door. In all, a pleasing bit of kit with very easily operated cycle restraints that have also not loosened at any time.

Many thanks.

keylockb wrote:Carrier and bikes didn't shift. No warping or movement of rear door since carrier fitted. It has four side grips and two bolts through the door. In all, a pleasing bit of kit with very easily operated cycle restraints that have also not loosened at any time.

Sounds like a good recommendation! The principle of the 200DJ is, I think, the same as the Omnistor in respect of mounting positions and you don't see or hear any flexure of the rear door at all? Can only think that the design if the Fiamma is superior in the details of its dimensions and construction.

Thanks,


Bartfarst

I had a tow hitch fitted on my VW T4 and a simple plate welded to this took a really simple removable bike rack all carried off the tow hitch and easily left behind when not needed.


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