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hiya,

 we have just bought a thule 9705 bolt on bike rack for our zafira, we are camping in 3 weeks n want to take 2 adult bikes and 2 bigish kids bikes which will fit on rack, we want to know if this will work while towing our mp712 trailer and whether it will work if we get the high sides for trailer too???? we want to take all bikes n have the extra space in trailer and wondered if it would interfere when turning??

 can we have our cake and eat it??

ta 

I would think this probably can't work.  You are already using up a lot of your rear axle loading with passengers plus the noseweight of the trailer.  Adding bikes would probably put you over the limit.

Jim

thank you to all who replied, unfortunately bike rack can just hold 4 if 2 are kiddie size and you can not pull a trailer although advised we could!! that is unless travelling in a straight line! we returned it and went camping in a transit, great!!! we got all 5 bikes n camping gear in with room to spare, now selling trailer(see ads). as for all who mentioned weight being a factor, we asked advice from the people who fitted our tow bar n they reckon it can hold a ridiculous amount n need not worry.

ta again!

There is a limit to noseweight, and it won't be enough for the bikes and the trailer on a normal car.  You would have to weigh the bikes to be sure, but four bikes and a trailer just has to be too much.

Jim

4 bikes and a trailer is probably doable nose weight wise on something with say a 100 kg noseweight like a 4x4 (about 70 kg for 4 bikes + carrier, 30 kg proabaly oka faor  typical camping trailer - my 5x3 trailer when loaded up for camping has a noseweight of about 20-30 kg

As for bikes on the roof. It's not always easy - high roofs like a big MPV are somewaht difficult. Some bikes can be on the heavy side, and not everyone is stroong enough to lift a bike up easily.

Bikes on roof is a good idea, I have a Scenic and it works for us (not full size MPV but close).

The big thing to watch is car parks etc. that have a height limit (and a barrier).

When driving a car / mpv you naturally think the vehicle will fir underneath.

When towing a caraven or driving a van you naturally check.

not checking and having bikes on the roof can be expensive and messy.