Towbar mounted bike carrier (+ towbar)

danlightbulb

Hi,

I know this isn't a vehicle forum however I have done searches and its very difficult to find any information, so I thought I'd give the experts here a try.

I am thinking of fitting a towbar and a towbar mounted carrier. I want to do this myself. A towbar for a mondeo mk3 can be had on ebay for around £50 used (they are £150+ brand new). Do they just bolt on to the existing car underside somehow? I'm not bothered about the electrics as I'll only be carrying bikes (and relatively infrequently).

Is there a specific type of towbar I need for fitting a towbar carrier, and how do the towbar carriers attach?

Many thanks
Dan

nicklouse

most use existing mounting points.

you will need electrics.

not really.

danlightbulb

Are the towbar carriers the best available? Currently have a rear mounted one but uts awkward with all the straps and the bikes are hard to stack on it even with wheels off.

nicklouse

for me any sytem that supports the wheels and the frame.

Towbar mounted Thule followed by roof mounted thule.

sanchez89

on my focus the towbar mount is in place of the rear reinforcing bar behind the rear bumper. you will electrics for a light board and you will probably need to display a number plate too, unless its clearly visible with the bike on the car.

not sure how easy it is to do the wiring connections, i hate electrics and the towbar fitters did mine.

danlightbulb

Well to get a towbar fitted with electrics seems to be about £300 so I'm not doing that. I'll put a numberplate on the back, probably remove the light fittings. The rear lights will be visible through the wheel spokes anyway, and for how infrequently I'll use it its not worth it.

This whole bike rack thing is starting to annoy me tbh. 90% of the time i'm on my own, so can throw the bike in the boot with the seats down (still a hassle tbh), but its the 10% of times when I go with my mate its much more of a hassle, and very occasionally there are 3 of us, which is really awkward.

I'm gonna see if I can pick up any used roof rails too, maybe that would be cheaper.

batmo

danlightbulb wrote:

The rear lights will be visible through the wheel spokes anyway.

This would seem okay to me and it obviously seems okay to you, but would it seem okay to a traffic cop...?

danlightbulb

Batmo wrote:

danlightbulb wrote:

The rear lights will be visible through the wheel spokes anyway.

This would seem okay to me and it obviously seems okay to you, but would it seem okay to a traffic cop...?

Yeah I guess traffic cops are jobsworths so you're probably right

It seems like its going to cost too much for the towbar mounted ones anyway, so I'm looking at roof mounted.

These seem reasonable:

http://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbvehsel4_tab.php/car-specific-accessories/cruz_bici_rack_lockable_bike_carrier_no_940_005/Qx%40w%2C6M42VAwp3%40Rb%7B~cC4ure5KtWN

I already have bars but they were cheap ones and not lockable so they are not currently on the car. They required a spanner to fit, does anyone know if lockable roof bars are any faster to fit?

And how quickly fitted are these roof carriers?

Cheers

cr250noob

I got my tow bar fitted by a company on the net, iirc it was around £170 which included the electrics. I use this rack from gooutdoors. http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/towbar-bike-rack-p181939 £19.99 without the discount card, couple of ratchet straps and your away. I carry my bike only mostly, so saves having to fold seats down and crud the car up.