tonyg3nwl Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Hi folks, I am still considering fitting a carry lift carrier and see that purchase price varies 450 to 550 depending on source. I enquired for a guestimate of fitting costs locally and was advised that it could be as high as 450 to 500, but they would need to see the van to find out if it could be made to fit. I explained that I have a reversing camera on rear of van which might have to be moved. this guestimate seem to be a bit on high side, admittedly without the seeing the van, (Autocruise stargazer 2009 by swift,) I asked Swift if they could tell me where the hard points were for rack fitting, but they declined saying it was confidential information that would not be released, even to a dealer Does anyone have any experience of fitting one of these racks, or other comments re fitting costs. I obviously must get a proper quote, and will arrange this in reasonably near future. Is it better to let dealer to arrange purchase himself. tonyg3nwl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Had Enough Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 tonyg3nwl - 2015-01-30 5:35 PM Hi folks, I am still considering fitting a carry lift carrier and see that purchase price varies 450 to 550 depending on source. I enquired for a guestimate of fitting costs locally and was advised that it could be as high as 450 to 500, but they would need to see the van to find out if it could be made to fit. I explained that I have a reversing camera on rear of van which might have to be moved. this guestimate seem to be a bit on high side, admittedly without the seeing the van, (Autocruise stargazer 2009 by swift,) I asked Swift if they could tell me where the hard points were for rack fitting, but they declined saying it was confidential information that would not be released, even to a dealer Does anyone have any experience of fitting one of these racks, or other comments re fitting costs. I obviously must get a proper quote, and will arrange this in reasonably near future. Is it better to let dealer to arrange purchase himself. tonyg3nwl We may have had this conversation before but, knowing what I know now I wouldn't go this route. I've just had a towing bracket fitted to my Hymer A Class. It cost £350 and is unobtrusive and must be a better option than drilling through the back wall of your MH with the added risk of a heavy weight straining on it. I then use one of these, which I had on my last 'van http://goo.gl/eD8mli There are various models for heavy electric bikes or up to four normal ones. They are low down so no heavy lifting, which is presumably why you're considering the lift bike rack. You can take it with you to your next MH, as I have done. It is a superb piece of kit (watch the video) as is solid as a rock when on. Another huge advantage is that the bikes are separate from the body of the MH so putting a cover over them is easy as there are no arms in the way. I'm not sure how easy it will be to cover bikes on the lift models, unless of course they can be covered whilst it's lowered. Even if that's that case you still have to have a special cover with slots in the back for the arms. We use a superb waterproof cover that we bought for peanuts for covering garden furniture. It slips on easily as is secured by two long straps that go round the whole assembly. When we had a conventional bike rack I often felt that every severe bump risked the thing ripping off the back wall. My Thule carrier was about £329. It's for two very heavy electric bikes and, even if you go for a more expensive model for four bikes, the total cost will be a lot less then what you're contemplating now. But for me the price was secondary, it's the stability and the fact that there's no need to do a major construction job through the rear wall of your 'van. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Den Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 I have 1 of these Thule Electric cycle carries for sale. Just changing MH's and the garage in the new one will take both bikes. £100. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyg3nwl Posted February 1, 2015 Author Share Posted February 1, 2015 Hi, ihave just reread the above post, and have attempted to send a pm.not sure if it was sent successfully is the carrier you refer to a rear wall fixing type, or towbar mounting version. have you a phone number via pm to discuss. thanks tonyg3nwl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Den Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 It's the type that fits directly to the tow bar ball. With lock. Very strong bit of kit. We have 2 electric full size cycles and caused no concern. It's ready to except your reg plate. The cycle clasps also lock. Den Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Had Enough Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Den - 2015-01-31 4:14 PM I have 1 of these Thule Electric cycle carries for sale. Just changing MH's and the garage in the new one will take both bikes. £100. Before selling your Thule carrier I would see how happy you are with the practicalities of storing two bikes in a garage. I have a large garage but still find keeping bikes in it a pain. I find it a struggle fixing them in the garage and other things get in the way and have to be moved. It's cumbersome and inconvenient and also restricts the amount of stuff that we can carry for longish trips. I know that others do store bikes in their garage and seem happy with the arrangement, and you may be, but again, if you haven't actually done it on a proper trip, it will do no harm to see how you get on when using it properly, so to speak. If you do find it inconvenient you may regret selling your Thule carrier, which by the way, if it's the one I think it is, is far too cheap! Apologies in advance if you have actually used your new 'van with the bikes in the garage and are happy with the arrangement, but your post suggests that you may not have tried it yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Den Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 That's a good idea. But I have a problem storing them normally. We're puchasing the Chauson 610 with a very usable garage. With our present MH the garage is great for chairs ect but only foldable cycles, and with the new one we decided to go for the optional slide out BBQ, thus saving valuable garage space. So as long as I've done my calculation correctly all should be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyg3nwl Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 Hi, if you still wish to sell the bike carrier, can you please give a contact phone number via private message (pm) on this system. I am still wondering which route to go down, and went to a couple of dealers yesterday, and got conflicting advice. One recommends the towbar expensive option, the other says the carry lift "probably could be fitted" . Towbar route is most expensive, but was recommend as it gives rear end shunt protection as well.. got qoute from pws for towbar, and have attempted to get budgetary prices from other options.awaiting replies. still undecided. experimenting with other homebrew lifting options using winching arrangement, to lift onto existing rack Tonyg3nwl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Had Enough Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 I'm not sure how you work out that the towbar method is the most expensive. You're quoting prices of around £500 for the bike rack and at least that much to have it fitted. A Thule bike carrier for two electric bikes would be about £350 and possibly cheaper for lighter bikes. My towing bracket cost me £350 but I'm lucky in that we've a superb guy near Blackpool who custom makes them at very good prices. But even assuming £600 for a towbar you're still looking at a total price around the same, or less, than the rear mounted lift bike-carrier. However, you can't take a rear-mounted carrier with you when you sell the MH, whereas you can keep the Thule, so that's £350 saved off your next set-up. But surely the biggest advantage of the towbar system is that you're not drilling through the back of your 'van, disturbing cupboards or other furnishing, leaving it more prone to water ingress and possibly having problems with your reversing camera? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyg3nwl Posted February 17, 2015 Author Share Posted February 17, 2015 Update on this subject possible consideration of using carry lift, or similar, be it on towbar, or fixed to rear wall now that we have had prices from several sources, means that the idea has been totally abandoned due to cost..simply far tooexpensive, and too many complications to fit on our van in place of existing bike rack. so we have decided that between us, the armstrong method of loading will be used, and minor adjustments of clamping mechanism provide us with a useable solution.. test run around the block with 2 ebikes on rear totally fine. Locking and covering bikes for travelling with fiamma bike cover, and secondary bungee aound cover gives me confidence, and saves a fortune. worst case price quoted was 1400 pounds, ripitoff or what..waffle about type approval for special made to measure.. tonyg3nwl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Den Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Just a quick bit of advice. Electric bikes a expensive, we fitted a relatively cheap alarm with a long steel cable for a piece of mind. Den Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyg3nwl Posted February 18, 2015 Author Share Posted February 18, 2015 Thanks for advice..we have 3 locks, 2 deterrent ones and one very heavy duty type..and if tyey want to , theywill probably need some professional cutting equipment..I am hoping that the one next door is eazier, tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suda Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 We have a panel van conversion with a tow bar, Thule rack and 2 electric bikes minus batteries and saddles. Is this much weight at the rear of the Fiat chassis acceptable and should it be included in the pay load. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyg3nwl Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 Hi, take your van to a weighbridge and get axle weights..compare the results wit plated weights on van, and see if there is enough margin. tonyg3nwl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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