Deleted
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Racks
Aug 10, 2016 22:30:21 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2016 22:30:21 GMT
3 bikes, 1 rack, no tow bar.
In a rush I just bought one that'd go on the back of the Landcruiser. ( the manly metal one not the nasty girlie plastic one).
It was ok, only used it in the freeway, not on rough terrain.
But a question;
It rests against the back of the car on two padded horizontal bars one of which in turn rests on the window. Is this usual and acceptable?
I realise that weight is trying to pull the tack away from the car and it is the straps holding it against the car, but even so.
Or am I under estimating the strength of a back window?
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WDB
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Racks
Aug 11, 2016 10:39:36 GMT
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Post by WDB on Aug 11, 2016 10:39:36 GMT
The combined weight of three bikes and the rack might be 45kg. As a static load, I'd expect that to be no problem for the glass to withstand - especially since the Land Cruiser's rear is (presumably) near vertical, so only a small vector component of the load is resting directly downward on it.
But it won't be a static load once you get moving. I know from seven years of watching our towbar carrier in the mirror that the whole thing flexes up and down with the movement of the car, even on super-smooth French motorways, even though from outside the car it looks solid and immobile. The flex is engineered into the carrier to dissipate the energy away from the car and the towbar - similar to the flex in an aircraft wing. In your case, I'd be a little concerned about that energy - albeit with a smaller amplitude, as it's closer to the centre of rotation - being directed back into something as (relatively) fragile as a pane of glass. If you're bouncing the LC up rocky Andean roads, that's a lot more energy to dissipate.
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Deleted
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Racks
Aug 11, 2016 12:21:12 GMT
Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2016 12:21:12 GMT
I have done it with no problem, but again using smooth roads.....and light-ish bikes.
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