A Frame Bike Racks
Hi Everyone,
We have had a bike rack on the back of our current caravan (Elddis Affinity 554) for the past 3 years but now we are changing the van we are looking at having one mounted on the A frame.
I've looked into the issues around nose weights and tow ball limits etc. and I believe I'll be Ok with that, My main area of concern is how the bikes may restrict manoeuvrability.
Does anyone out there have a 2 bike rack fitted to an ALKO chassis A frame who could give some advice please?
Thanks
Pete
Comments
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Very few caravans have a low enough nose weight for this to work, so do make sure of the new loaded caravans before you buy the fitting. I know lots of continentals do it but my feeling is that most are overloaded.
Not clear what bikes you have but if you add the weight of the fitting and the bikes in most cases you will have very little left for the caravan.
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Having for years towed with bikes on the rear of a Defender110 I can vouch for bikes between the vehicle and the caravan's front have their challenges.
The 110's steering lock was so dreadful I had no issues with fouling driving ahead, not so sure with the very much better lock on some vehicles that will hold true with them. It is easily tested with a "viewer" standing by. Greatly elevating the bikes helps that way round but it will depend on the car's rear end shape your way round.
The big issue is going astern, ie backing the van, here jack knifing rather than steering lock comes into play. It is essential to have a "viewer" standing outside, and what might have been a simple backing task becomes a multi point shuffling job.
Very glad I no longer need to do this, space enough now with just the two of us to put them in the vehicle.
The Dutch I have seen use an elevated towball on a pillar clamped onto the "A" frame, onto which they use a standard tow ball mounted rack. Then when on site they use that rack on the tow vehicle, if going off for a remote cycling ride. Seems the best interpretation of the "A" frame option for me.
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We had a bike rack on a long BPW chassis A frame years ago, and it worked well with one bike, but I have not seen any British built vans with A frames longer enough to take a bike rack. We now have a German built van but because it was built for the British market it's to short for a bike rack. If you fit one on a short A frame there is a good chance you will damage the bikes and the back of your tow vehicle.
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