Aluminess Questions

[Pschitt]

Originally Posted by geoffff

... The top support connects to the van door hinge in such a way that the carrier can flex away from the van body, causing the whole carrier to shake a bit over time on rough roads -- and the carrier's latch starts to line up poorly as the carrier sags. I need to do a lift-with-one-hand unlatch-with-the-other maneuver to unlatch the carrier for access to the rear door...

Just ask U-Joint Offroad. They do a replacement top support that makes impossible the carrier to flex. Great improvement.

[CapitalE]

Does Aluminess still sell the swing arm bike rack? I can't find it on their website.

[aluminess]

Originally Posted by CapitalE

Does Aluminess still sell the swing arm bike rack? I can't find it on their website.

We do not recommend mounting any bikes on our swing arms. The leverage that is created is tremendous and puts a lot of stress on our components. We have explored different swing arm ideas, but nothing yet has been created that can support the types of bikes people are putting on the swing arms. We have a number of customers that had no issues with the bike rack swing arm. It's the people that put tandem bikes, 4 bikes, or motor scooters on them that causes the problem. Since there isn't a way for us to prevent people from putting these things on the rack we had to discontinue them.

Sportsmobile used to mount Thule Tracks to the top of our box to mount bikes that way, but they started breaking the boxes. We saw boxes crack from the force since they are made with thin aluminum. We do not recommend this option either.

I know it is not ideal, but the best way to carry bikes is on the roof, or on a front or rear hitch.

[CapitalE]

Originally Posted by aluminess

We do not recommend mounting any bikes on our swing arms. The leverage that is created is tremendous and puts a lot of stress on our components. We have explored different swing arm ideas, but nothing yet has been created that can support the types of bikes people are putting on the swing arms. We have a number of customers that had no issues with the bike rack swing arm. It's the people that put tandem bikes, 4 bikes, or motor scooters on them that causes the problem. Since there isn't a way for us to prevent people from putting these things on the rack we had to discontinue them.

Sportsmobile used to mount Thule Tracks to the top of our box to mount bikes that way, but they started breaking the boxes. We saw boxes crack from the force since they are made with thin aluminum. We do not recommend this option either.

I know it is not ideal, but the best way to carry bikes is on the roof, or on a front or rear hitch.

That is really good information. Thanks for the detailed reply.