 | Home > Camping, Caravanning and Holidays > Four bikes and a caravan |
 
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| TheWarden Member Since: 25 Feb 2013 Location: Southampton Posts: 179   
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I have the Discovery 5 bike version.... It will be interesting to see if it fits the Defender
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12th Mar 2013 7:55pm |
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| WarPig Member Since: 04 Dec 2009 Location: Sheffield Posts: 1748  
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12th Mar 2013 8:34pm |
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| TheWarden Member Since: 25 Feb 2013 Location: Southampton Posts: 179
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My Discovery post did not fit
 4x4 version ordered.... |
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14th Mar 2013 4:11pm |
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| TheWarden Member Since: 25 Feb 2013 Location: Southampton Posts: 179
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Yeah - it's the spare wheel. If you don't have one, the Disco version will be fine
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15th Mar 2013 5:20am |
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| WarPig Member Since: 04 Dec 2009 Location: Sheffield Posts: 1748
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Thanks
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15th Mar 2013 11:16am |
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| WarPig Member Since: 04 Dec 2009 Location: Sheffield Posts: 1748
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Ive just bought a Maxxraxx Discovery so I'll post some photos when its arrived and fitted
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18th Mar 2013 7:05pm |
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| LandRoverAnorak Member Since: 17 Jul 2011 Location: Surrey Posts: 11324
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Excellent, that's damn decent of you
 Darren
110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia |
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18th Mar 2013 9:07pm |
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| MartinK Member Since: 02 Mar 2011 Location: Silverdale (Lancashire/Cumbria Border) Posts: 2665 
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Just a thought on the Kari-Tek.
I've had 3 x 30kg kayaks on the roof of my Defender with the Kari-Tek. That's 90kg. My bikes are lighter, si I think it may be possible... Defender "Puma" 2.4 110 County Utility (possibly the last of the 2.4's) |
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20th Mar 2013 10:01am |
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| LandRoverAnorak Member Since: 17 Jul 2011 Location: Surrey Posts: 11324
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Hmm, I suspect our bikes would be more than that. There are four anyway, but mine is an electric bike (due to dodgy knees) and weighs about 36kg on its' own. Darren
110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia |
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20th Mar 2013 11:59am |
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| WarPig Member Since: 04 Dec 2009 Location: Sheffield Posts: 1748
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Even better, make a ramp and ride it on  |
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20th Mar 2013 12:36pm |
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| LandRoverAnorak Member Since: 17 Jul 2011 Location: Surrey Posts: 11324
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Heh, heh, there'a a thought
 Darren
110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia |
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20th Mar 2013 12:45pm |
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| WarPig Member Since: 04 Dec 2009 Location: Sheffield Posts: 1748
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My Maxxraxx Discovery 4 bike rack arrived today, bought it from ebay 2nd hand. Ive just had a dry run through fitting to see whats what...
 Click image to enlarge Seeing as I dont have a rear mounted spare wheel, the Discovery model rack gives plenty of clearance from the rear of my Defender...
Upright securing pin is missing, I need to buy one.. Click image to enlarge Towing height extension post added, to give more clearance for the caravan tow hitch..
Rack tilts down to access rear door.. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge It all packs away neatly in the Maxxraxx kit bag..
One thing Ive noticed when the bikes are mounted is there is some play between the bike cradle and the post, meaning the bikes do move slightly. Not sure if theres anything that can be done about that? So now Im going to Plastikote spray the towbar mounting bracket and refit it properly with longer bolts. Once Ive added the securing straps from the maxxraxx to the roof bar I should be in business. Im going to test it with my caravan hitched up next week so I'll post some photos later :thumbsup: Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated |
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21st Mar 2013 11:43am |
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| WarPig Member Since: 04 Dec 2009 Location: Sheffield Posts: 1748
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I managed to test out my 4 x bike Maxxraxx Discovery whilst towing the caravan today, and thought I'd post the results.
I wanted to test whether the bikes or rack would foul the caravan when the steering was on full lock. So I towed my caravan to a local carpark where I would have space to manoeuvre at full lock. Overall the rack is a success but it can have its limitations when reversing. My four bike Maxxraxx is second hand so im not sure how old it is, but to start with I discovered that with my left hand towball mount (Maxxraxx also do a right hand mount) I have to assemble the rack onto the towball mount prior to hitching the caravan up, otherwise the caravan hitch prevents me fitting one of the locking pins. So I un-hitched the caravan, assembled the rack along with the height extender section that helps the bikes clear the jockey wheel, then re-hitched the caravan. Click image to enlarge My Discovery model rack is offset from the rear of the Defender to allow some clearance, but if you have a spare wheel on your rear door then you will need the 4x4 model that is offset further. I then mounted my bike onto the outer most cradle to see if it would foul the caravan. Click image to enlarge Maxxraxx advise using the ratchet securing straps when using the height extender, these fasten from the end of the horizontal bar and then onto your rear door, but preferably to a roof bar. I havent got my roof bar fitted today so I didnt bother, plus I was only manoeuvring in a car park. Whilst driving forwards with full left/right hand steering lock there were no issues, but when reversing into a jack knife the bike wheel did foul the caravan.. Click image to enlarge I was interested to see if the caravan Alko stabiliser hitch would foul the towball mount, but fortunately it didn't.. Click image to enlarge I then moved the bike forward onto the inner cradle which gave plenty of clearance for me to apply full left lock. I then reversed with both full right & left lock to jack knife the caravan and see how far I could go before the bike fouled the caravan. Eventually it did foul on the jockey wheel handle. Click image to enlarge Noticing that my bikes front wheel was lower than the rear wheel I took the bike off and mounted it the other way around, front wheel to the right. I also tied a bungee rope around the front wheel, pedals and frame to stop them moving about. I then reversed in a normal manner and everything was ok... Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge I then tried reversing both left and right into a jack knife where eventually the bike did catch on the jockey wheel handle. I cant see myself normally reversing in this manner except when positioning my caravan onto the site pitch, so Im happy with this. I now need to try it out with a second bike on the rack to see how far I can reverse into a jack knife without fouling the caravan. Im aware that before performing any extreme reversing I will have to remove the bikes from the rack. Another option would be to punch out the pin that secures the jockey wheel handle and replace with an 'R' clip. That way I dont have to worry about the bike catching the handle. Or I could purchase the right handed mounting plate which will move the bikes over a little, but at £55 this is the expensive option 
Overall its a great rack which allows the bikes to be mounted/removed from the rack whilst the caravan is hitched to the car. Im not sure I would want to try carrying 4 bikes though, as I dont think there would be enough clearance from the caravan, and the tow bar nose weight limit may be acceded? Click image to enlarge Finally, on my Maxxraxx which is at least a year old, the clamp bolt that holds the main post upright (and allows the rack to tilt down when removed) has to be inserted from the right. This is impossible to do with the caravan hitched to the tow bar, bad design!! 
Ive spoken to Maxxraxx and they can supply an opposite mounting plate that sits to the right of the tow bar. The clamp bolt is still inserted from the right, but as the towbar is now to the left, this allows the bolt to be removed whilst the caravan is hitched, so the rack can be tilted down somewhat to open the rear door. If buying a new rack from Maxxraxx its worth specifying the right hand foot plate mounting bracket. Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated Last edited by WarPig on 5th Apr 2013 9:46am. Edited 5 times in total |
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3rd Apr 2013 5:57pm |
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| db950 Member Since: 01 Feb 2012 Location: Lincoln Posts: 560 
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Very helpful warpig
Might invest in one of those racks although I do have the spare wheel on the door so would need the other model. 1997 Ex-MOD 110, Pop Top Camper, build thread https://www.defender2.net/forum/topic72352.html 2014 Discovery 4 SE Tech Instagram @the110camper |
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3rd Apr 2013 6:49pm |
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