Our new bike rack that my OH has lovingly made for our Conway Corniche Trailer Tent.
------------- July 2010 - Golden Sands, Mablethorpe
August 2010 - Withernsea Sands
April 2011 - Golden Sands, Mablethorpe
July 2011 - Golden Sands, Mablethorpe AGAIN!!!
August 2011 - Somewhere in Norfolk maybe Cromer!!
That's mighty impressive!
two questions:
What's the clearance to the top of the trailer from bike wheels?
And ...
How much does it add to the nose weight?
Oh ... and a third ...
When are you going into mass production!!??
Thank you!! There is 18 inches clearance I believe between the bike wheel and the trailer top...if I was listening correctly when the OH explained!! It hasn't added anything to the nose weight....our trailer is twin axle braked and the draw bar has been extended previously (before she became ours). The bikes sit over the latter half of the trailer and with the kitchen/gas bottles/portaloo all being at the other end of the trailer it balances out perfectly. We have hooked up and had a run round the block and it works spot on!!
The bike rack is originally one that fixed to a tow bar as we had a Nissan Navara. We changed vehicle a couple of months ago (Mercedes ML) and we now have a swan neck tow bar which the bike rack would not fit and we also had the dilemma of towing the trailer and taking the bikes.....we considered roof bars but weren't very keen as having the ML we would struggle to lift them that high on to the roof in the first place and to be honest I really don't consider these roof carriers safe! A rack that fitted the spare wheel carrier would not have been high enough and the bikes would have caught the trailer......so the cogs were whirring and the OH decided the best way would be for them to sit over the top of the trailer but we didn't want to pay out really for an actual Conway/Pennine rack as even second hand these fetch in the region of £200+ so he decided he could weld a plate to the draw bar close to the trailer that the bike rack would slot on to but could be removed if required.....and hey presto!!!
As for mass production....I wish!!
------------- July 2010 - Golden Sands, Mablethorpe
August 2010 - Withernsea Sands
April 2011 - Golden Sands, Mablethorpe
July 2011 - Golden Sands, Mablethorpe AGAIN!!!
August 2011 - Somewhere in Norfolk maybe Cromer!!
What about the payload weight? The old Corniche is rated the same as my Camargue, ~100Kg braked. We decided not to put a bike rack on our Camargue because it plus 4 bikes was going to take up at least 60Kg of this and it didn't leave much for carrying kit. We put the bikes on the car roof instead.
We contacted MaxxRaxx and unfortunately the only one they could offer wouldn't fit our vehicle as we have the rear mounted spare wheel.....to be honest it's really been a nightmare trying to find something accommodating to us which is why the OH decided to do this instead......no doubt we may get some strange looks and a few questions!!
------------- July 2010 - Golden Sands, Mablethorpe
August 2010 - Withernsea Sands
April 2011 - Golden Sands, Mablethorpe
July 2011 - Golden Sands, Mablethorpe AGAIN!!!
August 2011 - Somewhere in Norfolk maybe Cromer!!
Check the noseweight with all the bikes on to ensure it is within the manufacturers spec. The bikes are a long way forward & all that weight is directly on the towbar. If it is overloaded & you either have an accident or get pulled at a spot check then you'll find your insurance is invalid. That said, it is an elegant job.