Bike Carrier - to bolt or clamp?

[gedger]

I have just bought an Autosleeper Symbol and wish to attach a bike rack. I have 2 options from Fiamma. A clamp on version that requires no drilling of the body work (200 DJ) or a bolt on unti that requires 4 holes to be drilled in the rear door (200D).

 

http://www.outdoorbits.com/fiamma-carrybike-cycle-rack-cb200dj-p-448.html

http://www.outdoorbits.com/fiamma-carrybike-cycle-rack-cb200d-p-180.html

 

Has anyone had any experience of either and can make a recommendation?

 

Thanks

 

Richard

[Mel B]

We haven't got either of these but my observations would be that the 'clamp on' one could at least be moved to another vehicle if you change vans without adversely affecting the van you're taking it off, also you aren't drilling holes into the door to let in water/moisture to cause rust etc.

 

For the clamp on model you'd have to have sufficient clearance for the 'clamps' to go round the edge of the door I assume?

 

Size wise there's nothing much to choose between them that I can see.

[fred grant]

third option me biddy is to have something bespoke built by PWS of pule. it attaches to the chaasis towbar mountains so no holes, loading or scraped paintwork on the doors

 

f

[Robinhood]

If the clamp model fits your year of 'van, I would be inclined to go for that.

 

I fitted the equivalent of the other model years ago to a Symphony. It wasn't particularly difficult (the usual jitters when drilling just in case it wasn't quite in the right place), but you do need to get access to the rear of the door skin for bolting through the lower mounting (panels etc to remove/replace). On mine, I made sure that for strength, the upper mountings went through the hollow door frame (significantly thicker double skinned). This left these bolts visible on the inside though, acceptable, but not particularly neat.

 

I think the clamp version would be neater, and certainly should be a little easier to fit. I note it says no drilling 'except security screws'. I wonder what this means, but I suspect there is the option to screw through from behind (non-load bearing) to stop someone un-clamping the whole unit. If so, you might get away without doing that.

[devonchris]

If you have a tow bar look at tow ball bike racks which just clamp to the tow ball.

chris

[maggyd]

Well ours is attached to a tow bar and chassis it was already fitted when we bought the van, I have heard of one that was attached to a Burnster loosening and causing ingress trouble.

[gedger]

Thanks for your replies. I think I will go for the clamp on model, looks like the easiest option and I can't see any disadvantages....

 

Richard

[gedger]

To finish the conversation I bought and fitted a 200DJ, took me about 1.5 hours with no problems; cost £150, under half the price Marquis quoted me to supply & fit so a worthwhile job.

 

The rack has the new premium rails which have nice plastic sections for the wheels to fit into but the actual rails themselves don't grip the tyres so tightly. The rack is off centre (only mounted on one door) and does flex a fair amount with two bikes fitted but the clamps to the rear door are secure.

 

Observations:

 

I have taken the rack off after a trip and noticed that it's already started to rust on the painted fittings, looking closely the powder coating has been chipped. Stones or poor manufacturer, who knows...

 

There was some light chaffing on the door paint where the rubber seals on the clamps touch the door. Polished off easily but may look for some clear self adhesive plastic sheet to stick on the door like that supplied for the door edges.

 

Where the clamps go round the door edge they bind slightly on the rubber seal making the door harder to shut, and almost impossible with the weight of the bikes on the door.

 

In conclusion it works but not perfect....

[Jana]

Hi there, wish I had read this earlier and could have passed on our experiences.

Bike racks !!! hmmmmm. We have a Autosleeper Duetto and the bike rack has been the only thing we have nearly argued over.

 

First we bought a towbar and a towbar mounted bike rack. OH decided it may need a light board, just in case the Police were behind us. Slight problem it was going to prove impossible to run the electrics due to the Autosleeper conversion. So the towbar came off and went into the garage never to be fitted again. We have since sold both items as I was tired of stubbing my toe on the towbar (no pun intended lol)

 

So we too bought a Fiamma 200DJ after having seen it fitted to a Ford Transit conversion by a different convertor. End of problem ? no. As ours has glazed rear doors the brackets weren't in the right place so the bike rack was modified to accomodate this. But as it may pivot a bit due to 2 bikes (after I had bought a newer lighter bike to put onto the rack) we had to use a strap through the rear doors to help.

This bike rack has been used once on a trip to Vanfest in 2006. We have tried to use it a couple of times since but the sheer hassle makes it not worth the effort.

We have however taken the bikes by wrapping them up and putting in the van carefully. However you then can't go through the van and should you need the loo en route this has to be approached from the rear doors and makes cooking your tea on the way home almost impossible unless you take it back out the rear doors and eat in the cab.

Perhaps this bike rack will end up on Ebay too unless of course we keep it until we ever decide to trade the van in and try and do a deal.

 

You may find some of the clear plastic carpet overlay may be your answer to the worry about damaging the paint as we used it one the 3 occasions the rack made it onto the van (twice taken off immediately due to stress

) and it would appear to help.

 

We do only take the bikes when

1) the weather looks good

2) the area we are staying is flat enough for our type of biking

3) we are staying long enough to warrant taking the bikes.

 

We don't fancy a bolt on one as there must be some stress to the doors when bikes are carried this way.

 

Think I had better go and open some wine as just thinking about how much this has cost is enough and we still haven't got a solution.

[gedger]

Having re-read my post I think I was a perhaps a bit too negative.

 

The rack fitted the glazed rear rear doors perfectly and was secure but did have a bit of flex in the rails with the bikes on but there were no concerns about it falling off.

 

Sounds like the fit to the transit is less than ideal, I note in the fiamma catalogue the transit isn't a listed model that the 200DJ fits.

 

Thanks for the tip about the clear carpet overlay, never heard of it but will go to the local carpet store and ask for some.

 

Richard

 

[Jana]

If you send me a PM I will send you some in the post as you need so little and I know there is some lying around. I will gladly post you some as I only used the edge bits so hardly worth buying for that.

I bought mine at Wilkos for about £2.99 for a previous van but it never lay flat on the carpet.

[Clive]

Having been following a motorhome on a motorway when the clamp on tripple bike rack let go directly in front of us spewing bike bits all across the carriageway I now always recomment those that BOLT to a properly fitted tow bar mount.

C.

 

[Ranger]

If you put it on the tow ball mounting, how do you open the back door???

[Col]

I have a Fiamma 200D bolted to the back door of my Duetto because I wanted the security of knowing it will not fall off. No problems regarding using the back door with the bikes on it. However there is a problem regarding height. I am 5-9" and I can just about get the bikes onto the rack. The problem is with the piece which clamps onto the bike bar. Securing it is difficult, undoing it is very difficult. I carry a small step which solves the problem but feel that the 200D is not really suited to a transit with a window. You would need to check where it will be placed on the door.

Col

[griffly16]

Hi

 

Fitted a 200DJ to our Adria Twin (Ducato) for a trip to France last month. Did a shortish (250-mile round trip) to the Gower before we went to check for steadiness etc, then checked/tightened all bolts and covered 2500 miles in France with no problems at all. Did not fit security screws as didn't want to drill the rear doors.

 

Some frequent checks to the rack will hopefully prevent it falling off!

 

Griff

 

[b6x]

Installed a 200DJ onto the back of our Twin yesterday. Pretty straight-forward job, just very time consuming as the instructions were very vague and the pictures pretty unclear. (or I'm a bit slow)

 

Not sure if I've tightened it too much, or not enough as I didn't seem to get any real sense as to whether the bolts were tight enough. They always seems to have a bit more turn in them, but the thought of damaging the door has made me not go too overboard. I'll stick the bikes on, and then give it a go for a few miles and see how it looks. Certainly feels solid enough.

 

And, I guess, worse case is a few scratches at the point of the clamps... thats still gotta be better than holes drilled into the panel

 

 

[JohnD]

Does the 200DJ fit on the new(post 06/2006) Peugot Boxer vehicle? The Fiamma catalogue only mentions it being for the Fiat Ducato and dealers I have contacted seem unsure.

[Guest starspirit]

Do bear in mind how these racks can severely restrict access via the rear doors.

This may or may not be an issue for you, as it depends which doors you regularly use?

Because these racks protrude they can also be prone to being clouted with head or shoulders whilst passing.

Might be worth looking at some in real life prior to deciding and the best way to do this is around the parked vans at a show where you can also talk to the owners.

[Hymer C 9.]

On our last motorhome because we did not want to drill it, we went for one of the racks that fit on to a tow-ball, all singing and dancing cost over £200. it did the job but when ever we took it off because we were not useing the bikes it was a big awkward to store, and equally heavy carrying it up and down when we sold the van the people did not require a bike rack, so we kept it but fortunatly the new van we purchased had a fiamma one bolted on, oh so much easier wish we had one in the first place, in the end Ed was so fed up moving the old one around we took it to the skip so that shows what he thought of it. Carol.

 

 

[Guest caraprof]

I decided to go for a Fiamma bike rack, which is securely bolted through the rear of my motorhome. I was initially worried about holes in my M/H but then it occurred to me that it's already full of holes for all of the other things that are fitted and these seem to be fine!

I had it done by a first class company who located the cross-members and made sure that the bolts went through them. My rack holds two fairly heavy electric bikes and it's as steady as a rock. It's fitted so that it doesn't obscure the number plates so there's no complication with electrics for an extra plate etc.

Having had racks that clamp on the rear of cars I think that this is in a different league. No assembly or messing about, just fold it down and put the bikes on it!

Needless to say if you've a rear door then it's a different story.

[gedger]

JohnD - 2007-10-07 9:20 AM

 

Does the 200DJ fit on the new(post 06/2006) Peugot Boxer vehicle? The Fiamma catalogue only mentions it being for the Fiat Ducato and dealers I have contacted seem unsure.

 

There are 3 versions of the 200DJ, make sure you get the model for the later van and you should be fine.

 

I saw one fitted to a new Ducato as an example before I bought to fit my older model Boxer.

 

Richard