Bike Racks
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[edit] Roof Racks
A roof rack is great for strength, but not good for mileage or ease of loading and unloading. You can also carry some other things like boats or couches or rooftop boxes. They make your vanagon look tougher and ready for action. Pop-top owners can mount the rack permanently to the top or to the raingutters.
[edit] Testimony
- Here is mine fully loaded with eleven bikes when I was moving to the Pacific Northwest from San Diego. (Lee Peterson)
- Here is mine with four bikes. Allows use of poptop without restriction.
[edit] Hatch Racks
Hatch racks come in a variety of designs. Some are lightweight and/or low-cost, attaching to the rear hatch temporarily using straps. These can often be removed and installed on another vehicle if the need be. Others are much more heavy-duty, and may be made specically for Vanagons, allowing you to mount bikes on rails much as you would a roof or hitch rack. Some of these may also allow you to mount attachments to carry cargo other than bicycles. Carrying capacity depends on the model, but usually carry two to four bikes. These racks don't affect your mileage or crosswind steering as much as a roof rack or trailer.
[edit] Testimony
- I have one on my van in this picture. Try and get one from a good brand like Thule or Yakima. The Walmart ones will break or damage your vehicle. I had one give out on me after only a few uses when I was living in Colorado. I'm sure having three heavy bikes on it and going over a few high mountain passes in my Syncro led to it's early failure, but that's what we do with these vans. (Lee Peterson)
- I use a Paulchen hatch mounted rack. It was actually for a T4 (Eurovan), but I cut down the uprights and re-joined it to make it fit the Vanagon. It holds 3 bikes securely, even on bumpy logging roads. See Ron Lusser's pics of his Paulchen here. (A. Bell)
- I bought a rack from Gary Lee and I'm really happy with it. It's a custom job for the Vanagon, and Gary's craftsmanship is exceptional. I use two Yakima Viper rails with this rack. The only downside to the rack was the cost, both in terms of the rack and the shipping. For me, however, the rack was worth every penny. (Jarrett Kupcinski)
[edit] Hitch Racks
Hitch racks They require a strong hitch be installed on the back or front of the Vanagon but it's a nice thing to have anyway, it's good to be able to tow small things and makes a good winching out anchor point when you get stuck in baja. I have no doubt about the strength of my Dennis Haynes hitch for this. A hitch that bolts on the tow loops may not be the best idea.
[edit] Testimony
- Hitch racks are my favorite. I have a Thule T2 and love it. I only have the 2 bike rack but may upgrade to carry 2 more if I need to. There are many other manufacturers that make quality hitch racks, Yakima, Sportworks, Saris all have great ones. My favorite ones use the wheels to attach the bikes to the rack. This style will take almost any kind of bike, some of the hanging style racks are difficult to use with smaller frames or step through style bikes. If you ride mountian bikes and get muddy the hitch rack keeps you the cleanest when loading and unloading the bikes. If the city buses in your area have bike racks in the front they work just like those. The quickest loading and unloading of all the options. Can be moved to any other vehicle with a hitch the same size as yours. It is an expensive option but not much different than the trailer if you factor in the wiring and registration fees. Doesn't affect mileage or crosswind steering as much as a roof rack or trailer. I can see the bikes in my rearview mirror while I'm driving. Bikes are loaded and uloaded the quickly and are lockable. Here is what mine looks like. (Lee Peterson)
- I also use a hitch rack, from Hollywood Racks, but didn't want to have the darn thing in the way of the rear hatch so I had a local welding shop mount a hitch receiver to the front of our van. There was some inventive smithery involved, but the rack is quite sturdy and keeps the bikes completely out of the way. I'll see if I can take a detail picture of how it's mounted. (Rocket J Squirrel)
[edit] Trailers
Trailers are also very useful for things other than bikes.
[edit] Testimony
- I bought a trailer from Harbor Freight for the above move and loaded it with a few hundred pounds of stuff. You can see it in the pic linked above. As mentioned in a earlier post it did bounce around a bunch when it's empty or mostly empty. Also it must be registered and have a plate on it. You must also wire your vanagon for trailer lighting. Small trailers are very hard to back up. I can't see mine in my mirrors untill it's practically jacknifed. (Lee Peterson)
