What sort of tow bar for bike rack?

Thinking of getting a tow bar mount rack for my passat and have no idea what sort of tow bar i need… Is it just a square slotted hole type thing or one of them ball type things…. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Ball type.

Mine came on my car though so I can’t tell you any more.

you need a fixed flange towbar, not a removable swan neck type.

The bracket for the rack bolts between these 2 pieces

if you’re not going to be towing anything you don’t really need to fit the ball part, but it acts as a great buffer when reversing up to walls etc 😆

depends on the rack you buy, some fit on the ball and some bolt onto the plate

you need a fixed flange towbar, not a removable swan neck type.

why?

removable swan neck ones are fine – you just have to get the right carrier fitting.

I’ve got a removable ‘ball type thing’ on my Octavia to which I fit a Thule 9403 rack (clamps directly onto the ball). Very good combination, very secure, and the tow bar goes in the boot when I don’t need it. The rack comes with a built in light board as well which is handy. The whole thing is extremely easy to set up.

I would not be towing anything else it would solely be for the bike rack. So… If I get a rack that mounts onto the plate I could save money by not buying the ball bit and wouldn’t have the extra bit sticking out the back of my car? Thanks for all of the info ppl!

I use a 2″ hitch receiver. It’s basically a big bracket with a square hole that you can slide various adapters into (such as swan necks, bike racks etc) and secure them with a hefty pin. I have a 2″ one on my Land Rover and am trying to find the right one for our Mini so I can use the swing-away rack we have on it.

A few of them on here as an example: Passat hitches

The flange type (with 2 bolts in the photo above) will give you more flexibility in terms of which rack to buy and will be cheaper to have fitted. For me that and an aistoncycleracks.co.uk wheel support thing is the best combo (and I’ve tried a few!).

Another vote for the flange type. More secure than the ones that clamp onto a ball that is smooth and round.

if you’re not going to be towing anything you don’t really need to fit the ball part, but it acts as a great buffer when reversing up to walls etc

reversing up to anything 😉

Which rack have you got legal alien? Cheers

why?

removable swan neck ones are fine – you just have to get the right carrier fitting

couple of reasons, just my experience so I could be wrong.

I prefer the rack to be bolted solid to the flange, it just feels more secure to me. Having the towbar fitted is much cheaper. There seems to be a wider range when buying a rack, more options normally means cheaper.

Not having the actual ball fitted wont save much as that’s the cheapest part, I’d have it fitted anyway it may help when you come to sell the car.

I use a company by me called CDF towbars, the last one I had fitted cost about £20 more for them to come out & fit it than it would have done to just buy the hardware & fit it myself.

I have an Aiston rack with my removable swan neck towbar, had to use this http://www.pendle-bike.co.uk/shopping/ta-bm-adapt.php never ever had an issue with it moving. As I only use towbar for the rack it’s not an issue to leave on towball when not in use.

The rack I have is a Giant bike branded one. No idea if it’s a generic one they put stickers on or what, but I compared it to the equivalent Thule one at the time and this seemed to be a bit sturdier, albeit heavier.

The rubber gubbins for holding the bike frame are starting to wear after 5 years of light duty use, but I will be replacing them with some generic mini ratchet straps. The rack itself is still rock solid.

Here’s a shot of the hitch and the rack:

Here’s the bike on the back:

This is it mounted and swung away with the boot fully open. Easy to operate and plenty of space when it’s swung away:

Nice one, looks like sturdy piece of kit that mind! Thanks for all the info

That rack looks brilliant. May have to track one down; we currently use a Thule one that flips forward for boot access which is fine for my wife’s Focus but my Disco has a side opening boot ‘door’ which doesn’t clear it.
The Thule we use now clamps to the ball, we have used it with the swan neck on the Focus, my bolt on type on the Disco, dixon-bate on my old 90, seems fine. I prefer the idea of having a rack you can use on an y towball rather than being restricted to bolting a plate onto the car.

To the OP – what combination did you decide upon? I also have a Passat and need the tow bar fitting too.

I am considering Halfords 4 Bike Tow Bar Cycle Carrier – would anyone recommend anything different in a similar price range?
What about security? Is there anything I should ask for when getting the towbar installed? Are there any good strongly lockable racks around £200 etc?

From a bit of forum stalking I see that the OP has gone for a roof mount instead!

Does anyone here have a Halfords Advanced Foldable 4 Bike Tow Bar Cycle Carrier? It is similar to the “Halfords 4 Bike Tow Bar Cycle Carrier” mentioned above but it can tilt to allow boot access. However, it has a few negative reviews on the Halfords site so I would be interested to hear from anyone with first-hand experience of using it.

legal alien – we don’t do American style receiver hitches here in the UK unfortunately! They aren’t approved for towing AFAIK.

So we are stuck with the 2 bolt behind the ball type or the bodge onto the ball type of bike rack.

Random – that first one looks like a direct copy of a Thule one.

I’ve got one of these;

http://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbvehsel4_tab.php/car-specific-accessories/buzz_rack_moose_4_bike_tow_ball_carrier_no_brh204/Qx%40w%2C6M42VAwp3%40Rb%7B~cC4ure5u%7D%7Do

which has been fine. 4 bikes does require a little planning and some pipe lagging to prevent rubbing but, for the money it’s convenient, easy to store and robust.

re: security – I always use extra lockss and a cable through a chassis memeber/wheel when stopped.

couple of reasons, just my experience so I could be wrong.

I prefer the rack to be bolted solid to the flange, it just feels more secure to me. Having the towbar fitted is much cheaper. There seems to be a wider range when buying a rack, more options normally means cheaper.

yeah but you don’t NEED it to be a flange type.
I’ve got a swan neck one and a rack that clamps onto the ball.
It’s perfectly secure enough. It might not be as strong a fitting as bolts, but it’s secure enough. It never falls off. How much more secure does it need to be than ‘never falling off’?

How do you actually remove the rack from one that doesn’t clamp onto the ball – do you have to undo all the bolts every time you want to take the rack off?

To remove or tilt the rack on my Thule you just loosen 2 sprung bolts on the bottom of the rack which pass through the towbar bracket and its done.Mines a 4 bike one and i think it would be a bit flexy with 4 bikes,but i’ve done thousands of miles with 2 bikes no problem at all.

was: legal alien – we don’t do American style receiver hitches here in the UK unfortunately! They aren’t approved for towing AFAIK.

Never knew that. Thanks for pointing that out, was. Ignore me and carry on everyone. 🙂

Don’t forget electrics. A lot of the towbar mounted racks will need a hook-up for the lights and indicator board at the back.

wwaswas – that Roofbox site has lots of choice and that one of yours is definitely a contender – thanks!

My Thule eurowotsit top of the range carrier was rock solid on a swan neck ball but a bit wobbly on a normal flange towball. Swapped the towball for an Alko one and it’s all good (it just has a better surface for the securing bolt to but up against)