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This is my second post having got such great feedback on the first one so here goes...

Now, I am sure some of you will think I am mad (and please say so) but any other thoughts on fitting a tow ball on the back of a trailer tent would be appreciated. The idea is this, buy a towball-mount bike rack which can be used directly on the car once on site. Travelling with the TT I can fix it on the back of that instead. Having looked at a Cabanon Stratos a Witter-type ball would be easy to fix directly to the chassis member. I think other similar designs of TT, those without a rear kitchen box, would also accomodate one. It seems in principle the simplest, leat-fuss and importantly the quickest solution for car/trailer flexibility (see my other post on Touring to appreciate the need for speed).

I am sure I would need to balance the trailer by putting a bit of extra weight in the front, probably a more-than-usually loaded A-frame box. The total weight of carrier plus three bikes would come to less than 60kg so I could calculate the necessary balancing weight. The trailer would be about 1m or less longer which might be an issue I suppose. The TT already has the necessary lighting socket for the lighting board necessary on the bike carrier as its own rear is more-or-less a large lighting board from what I saw.

why not buy a tow ball bike carrier that you can also tow with?

We do that with a Thulke bike carrier.

Why not just put the bike rack onto the towball and then tow the TT?? That`s what we do (We have a Witter one) and it works just fine. You have to be aware of the slight chance of  clipping the bikes on the trailer corner while doing a sharp turn, but in practice this has never happened to us.

we have our bikes on a rack on top of tt but obviously you cant use that once pitched. If you use a tow ball one then your turning is restricted if bikes hit front box. However if you look around you can get ones with extension kits to lift bikes above front box.

Thanks for all the replies and advice. Having never seen it, a box on the A-frame and the bikes on the back of the car seemed too close for comfort. So it is good to hear it works! I have one nagging question qbout this configuration however, probably a silly one. What about nose weight?

I think on my car that the max nose weight is 60kg. I assume that you need some positive nose weight from the trailer for good towing. I also assume that the car limits the nose weight so that it does not break or become unbalanced. For a max nose weight of 60kg the bike rack alone would take almost all of that leaving none for the trailer. However I assume here that in calculating the nose weight load for the car you have to add the trailer and bikes together to get a value, is this correct? If so, can the trailer be trimmed for almost zero nose weight and is that alright?

Incidentally, if anyone can name the exact model of a bike rack they use that works like this it would be handy. 

http://www.maxxraxx.co.uk/Racks/prices_flange_ball.html

this is one I found but I dont think it is the one I have seen before but the only one I can see at the minute.

I am not all that into nose weights but I assume if you put a but more weight in the back of the trailer it will level off similar to when you were suggesting the other way round. We did not get this style in the end as it so happened our tt came with the rack on it.

Not only do you have to take into consideration the nose weight of the trailer but also how much weight you intend to carry in the back of your car. If you do not watch it you could end up overloading the back axcel. This will result in your jockey wheel being very close to the ground!

John

We use the Thule Bolt On 9705 - it's one of the few that can carry 4 bikes. We also tow the trailer tent.

The only thing is it has a bit of a bounce - which is apparently normal, but still disconcerting in the rear view mirror. It also tilts so you can open the boot with it on.