Fiamma 4xbike carrier.

[BigSkiddy]

G'day
Has anyone had any experence in using the Fiamma 4 x bike carrier attached to the rear of their van.
Looking to get one fitted by the factory with my Jayco Discovery.
I plan to carry 3 adult Mtb bikes plus a smaller (kids sized). Eventually will need to carry 4 adult mtbs.

Couple of the bikes are worth $2000+ so would also be interested in peoples comments regarding any damage that could occur and if you still need to 'pad up' the bikes.

 

[Lara]

Hi there BigSkiddy and welcome to the forum!
That would be a whole lotta weight added to the rear, maybe too much? Might be worth looking into other options. Theres quite a few members with expensive bikes like you, and they say their bikes would only ever travel on the roof of the car to avoid damage.
Hopefully some of them will chime in and give you some first hand advice!

 

[chartrock]

G'day and welcome BigSkiddy. Just use the search box @ top right with the word Fiamma and you will find a wealth of pros and cons.

 

[BigSkiddy]

Thanks Lara and chartrock. The weight may be an issue, perhaps that's why most people appear to only have the 2 x carrier and not the 4 x. I'll search through the posts and see what I can find.

 

[Burnsy]

Welcome BigSkiddy, not sure I'd like to know how you come up with that name! As far as I know there is only a couple of expandas that have alloy in the rear wall for a bike rack but I wouldn't hang 4 bikes off it. I hope to have a new rear bar made before the June weekend that will hold 4 bikes, but that's mounted off the chassis. Quite a few options on other threads, let us know what you decide on.

Cheers.

 

[Brad]

Welcome bigskiddy.
For bikes like that, I would not be putting them at the end of the van.
If you think about where most jolting would occur over the length of the van (be it up or down or sideways sway) it will always be at the back of the van. I wouldn't think bikes like that are designed for that type of shaking.

 

[Brad]

Oops, great name by the way

 

[BigSkiddy]

For bikes like that, I would not be putting them at the end of the van.
If you think about where most jolting would occur over the length of the van (be it up or down or sideways sway) it will always be at the back of the van. I wouldn't think bikes like that are designed for that type of shaking.

I wouldn't think there would be too much jolting, the Discovery is a tandem axle. Plus they are mountain bikes and if you saw the jolting they got and the punishment I gave them, a ride on the back of the van is going to be very tame. But where I think I am going to come unstuck is with the weight capacity of the rack itself, 60kgs max and each bike weighs approximately 16kgs so I'll be 4kgs over.

Also worth noting in my research Fiamma website only has the 4 x bike carrier under their 'motorhome' listings and not the caravan. They only specify a 3 x bike carrier, which is concerning that the Jayco salesman at a recent caravan show tried to sell me a 4 x to put on the back, when it appears that Fiamma may not support it.
http://www.fiamma.com/EN/products/carry-bike/caravan/caravan_back/

So I'm thinking of just putting the 2 x carrier on the back and fitting another 2 x on the A-frame, however there has been a lot of "I wouldn'ts" on this thread (no offence ) so if anyone out there actually has the 4 x carrier on the back of their Discovery tandem axle I'd still like to know their thoughts

 

[Burnsy]

Hi bigSkiddy, I made a new bar for the back of our 16' when we had it (single axle) and had a 4 bike rack that slipped into 2 sections of RHS (double pole rack). I mainly only used to take 3 bikes away but it was fine, even friends that followed said they hardly moved. In saying that I could tell when they were on the back, but I think a van with 2 axles would be better stability wise, I'm going this way again on the 18' but will move spare to the A frame. The back really suits me as I have no rear beds which means I can leave the bikes on if need be.

Cheers.

 

[BigSkiddy]

Hi Burnsy. I think having the bikes on the back is a lot more practical.
Are you going to mount a traditional bike rack on it, one that holds the bikes on the crossbar? Be keen to see some pics when done.

I love my mountain biking and if I can't fit the bikes on, it defeats the purpose of me having a caravan.
I also want to keep the roof of the car free so I can put on a kayak or two, but don't tell the Mrs. It's one step/toy at a time

 

[Brad]

Take a look at this link that talks about yaw effect.
http://www.towingstabilitystudies.co.uk/stability-studies-simulator.php

I have also seen first hand a bike frame on the back of a van that had shaken loose and the bikes were destroyed as it hit the road.

The ezilift WDH comes with an adaptor that can take 4 bikes also. It is just one of those racks with the two prongs extending out that you just load the bikes onto.

 

[Burnsy]

Hi Burnsy. I think having the bikes on the back is a lot more practical.
Are you going to mount a traditional bike rack on it, one that holds the bikes on the crossbar? Be keen to see some pics when done.

I love my mountain biking and if I can't fit the bikes on, it defeats the purpose of me having a caravan.
I also want to keep the roof of the car free so I can put on a kayak or two, but don't tell the Mrs. It's one step/toy at a time

Hi mate, yeah that's the plan, yes they mount on the crossbar but a double pole rack, less bounce and it distributes the weight better on the caravan bar. I did have plans to make a fiamma style rack that stays on permanent and folds up but a lot more work, but for our Big W bikes this will do me! When I'm done ill post some pics.

 

[crustt]

Probably be wise to order the extended A-frame when ordering your van, to give you a bit of room to work with.

 

[expanda]

We have the two bike rack -



I think you will find the factory will only warrant and install a two bike rack as there no bracing in the wall for the rack just a couple of square washers.

The dealer did offer to expand the two bike rack into a four later on.

But IMO there is no way I would put four of them on the back as it would be to much weight on the fiberglass.

We got the extended drawbar but that will take the boat motor.

So we got these for the roof of the car and we will the ladies bikes on the roof as they don't have a Y bar and the blokes bike on the back of van -

http://www.yakima.com.au/au/shop-en/bike-racks/top-en/frontloader.html