Towbar mounted storage box with bike rack?

Anyone have this combination? I think Thule have a solution that mounts the bike behind the box but, as it would be fitted to a van, I wondered if a bike mounted above the box would work better.

I’ve seen it done but I think it was two separate racks, box on the tow ball and rack on the towbar collar (if that makes sense).

I didn’t like the look of it on the smallish SUV it was on but the same idea on a van might be better – not least because you wouldn’t have to attach both items to the towing structure.

Westfalia do a box that mounts on the normal carrier and I think there is a 3rd bike adapter, not sure if they can be used together though.

Thinking about it more, I wonder if I could use a door-mounted bike rack and a towbar box/bag carrier.

That’s what I’d do on a van

At that point I’d consider getting a bigger van.

Slight thread hijack but has anyone ever had any problems carrying stuff other than bikes on a towball rack? I want to do it this summer but my wife’s concerned about legality. I’m very capable of tying things down securely and rack is a Thule Euroclassic 929 so all solid bars on main frame!

@LD

Assuming type approval rules apply I’d guess there’s a strong prospect of not technically legal.

I would expect that the reason those rack box things are legal is they are a type approved product designed to connect to a different type approved product.

I’m not convinced a heap of dry bags / boxes is going to pass the same test. Whether anyone would actively care outside of an incident I don’t know but one dropped item could cause a hell of a smash and some interesting insurance and Police discussions. Not sure that’s something I’d want to defend.

Yeah I can see the logic in that. But what would be the difference between strapping the stuff to a rear bike rack and my roof bars? The former being more secure and less prone to removal forces.

I think it just needs to pass the test of ‘is it a secure load’?

I’ve seen quite a few boat/dinghy trailers fitted with the plastic rattan style garden storage tubs, although it’s worth remembering that they would not be waterproof in driving rain and the tubs themselves are often not that strong to being twisted and can pop open at the corners.

Bike above the box would probably be best via a door mounted rack… If they were attached to the towball via a rack extension that’s a lot of mass twisting the towbar and clamping system. left/right/back/forth

@LD I have a Bak Rak and carried all sorts of stuff on it from firewood to dry bags to alu boxes.

Bak-Rak Storefront

Not been stopped yet 🙂

Does anyone actually know if a door mounted rack for a storage box would work with a tow bar bike carrier? The Fiamma T5 barn door rack looks like it sits quite high up so maybe

Wouldn’t a trailer be an easier option? Random picture from t’internet:

No

Watching with interest but I think my car has a rated nose weight limit of about a teaspoon of sugar so putting a box and bikes is not likely to be an option.

Surely you can put whatever you like on the tow bar so long as it is secure?

So long as you don’t go above the loading specified in the type approval of the tow bar unit and the vehicle itself.

Its the vehicle and the tow bar that are type approved, not the bike rack.

Hence….

@yoshimi

Yes – see here…
https://www.t6forum.com/threads/vw-bike-rack-with-external-storage-box-solution.12923/page-2

Or even here…

Thule ‘BackUp’ style towbar mounted boxes

Presumably the vice is for holding stuff to work on when the Vehicle is stopped rather than to clamp and hold anything you like – the clamp would presumably rattle free if you tried the latter..

Watching with interest but I think my car has a rated nose weight limit of about a teaspoon of sugar so putting a box and bikes is not likely to be an option.

Most cars have at least 50kg for noseweight, and if you have high mount rack mounted on the boot/rear doors, that isn’t on the towbar anyway so just comes off the main vehicle payload

It’s 100kg. I don’t have a tail gate mounted rack but guess could look for one- didn’t really consider that – means no not access though. If I’ve got 3 bikes plus the weight of the rack it’s self I don’t think there’s much spare. I seem to recall struggling for traction on a moderate slope with just one Susser on the back.

Most cars have at least 50kg for noseweight, and if you have high mount rack mounted on the boot/rear doors, that isn’t on the towbar anyway so just comes off the main vehicle payload

depends a bit on why the nose limit is there. if its because they’re worried about the towbar snapping off, you’re correct. if on the other hand its due to the dynamics of the vehicle, then hanging bikes out the back regardless of the fixing methodology should count towards it.

Having seen how towbars are attached to cars/vans, I very much doubt anyone is worried about them snapping off with 100kg of load.

I seem to recall struggling for traction on a moderate slope with just one Susser on the back.

whilst the overall load will make it harder for a fwd vehical to keep traction, having the weight of the bike hanging off the back will make almost no difference. In that scenario the rear axle is your pivot point, so you’re talking about maybe 50kg (bike + rack) acting on a lever of maybe 1m long, compared to 500kg of engine acting on a lever thats 3m long.

It was probably just slippery that day

100kg is quite generous to be honest. My bike rack itself is rated to something like 60kg.

I have a Thule 3 bike rack with a 4th bike adapter and a Thule storage box that fits to the rack using the ratchets and straps, which enables you to fit 1 bike on the adapter. It is a trick bit of kit. The rack was £350, the box a similar price and the 4th bike adapter £85.