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Hi Folks, wife and I want a bigger van, something transit/expert sized. But there's a catch, it's mainly used for transporting our (agility) dogs inside in nice comfy, secure crates accessible via the rear door(s) at all times. Therefore any bikes need to be outside on the van (not an option to do it the other way round) whilst still being able to open the rear doors.
We'd rather not pay the VW tax if possible, but I'm scratching my head whether carriers actually exist for your more normal vans that will work for our use case? My Googling hasn't turned up anything I'm 100% sure would work so I'm soliciting the experts (you lot!).
Things I've considered;
1. Barn doors & rear rack - can't see a rear rack for transit/expert sized, definitely possible for a bigger van but we can't go bigger.
2. Roof rack - sounds awful and impractical
3. Tow bar rack - not sure it would tilt enough for either door type and would rather not have to put it on and off.
Anything that would disprove my above thinking would be much appreciated.
Cheers!
Are you using the middle of the van for something? Should be able to get the bikes in via the side sliding door and there should be space unless it's already in use.
As in parallel to the bulkhead? I'd naively assumed they'd be too long even with the wheels off...
Depends how far down the conversion route we go. Mrssboardman wants it to be possible to sleep in for one person when she goes to dog shows on her own, but then the bikes wouldn't be there to get in the way. :thinkingface: (I assume emojies still don't work!)
I guess one thing we should do is take my bike with us when we go take a look. Realistically 99% of the time it'll be my road/gravel bike rather than the mtb.
Oh that's neat. Does look expensive but another thing for me to Google. Ta!
Barn door two bike racks can fit all sorts of wagons, not just VW.
It says it's for H3 only but that seems a bit restrictive, could be worth a call to see if it's just because it's got to be higher to not obscure lights (in which case some trailer light units mounted higher up might get round it?)
https://www.agentfiamma.co.uk/fiamma-carry-bike-200-d.html
We used to carry bikes widthways in the rear of a previous shape Dispatch. 29ers would fit with the front wheel out (this was pre really long frames, but if your hoses / cables allow the bars and fork to rotate 180 deg then that might shortens things). We used to have them on a shelf to allow storage underneath and lift them to the wider bit over the arches (probably not needed if in the middle away from the arches).
I've just checked our current shape Dispatch and it is 1.6m inside between the sliding side doors (crew van with door trim so a panel van might be a smidge wider). You have lots of height to play with so it might work rear wheel on floor, front wheel out and a raised mount for the fork (with storage underneath accessible from one side door).
When I have all the seats in my Viano (8 seater, so 2 bench seats in the back), I carry a couple of FS MTV's in the back width ways with wheels off. That with full trim, so a normal van will have more room, especially in the middle where the sliding door is.
Strada DL3 fits on my T6 (and t4 before) and allows rear access when slid away.
Put the dogs in the middle through the sliding door, and bikes in the back?
This is how many police vans are configured, just for dogs + crims, not dogs + bikes!
Put the dogs in the middle through the sliding door, and bikes in the back?
Dogs on a rack, bikes inside?
sboardman
Full Member
Oh that’s neat. Does look expensive but another thing for me to Google. Ta!
Probably cheaper than a new van! 😉
I'd definitely consider a narrow bike section between the factory bulkhead and the crates. Depending on width of van you might get the bikes in complete, or front wheel off with or without fork mounts. The best option would be if you can get twin sliding doors as the extra door is slimmer than a standard van wall so will give slightly more space, and you could top and tail the bikes so the bars don't foul each other. Ducato/Relay is particularly wide and although not so common, there are SWB low roof ones.
Of course this also opens up options of storing dog feed and other stuff in the same area when not biking, even a couple of hammock bunks if you are so inclined.
Finally, if they must be on the outside, I have seen bikes mounted vertically on van doors before, like you would hang them in the garage. Can't recall if this was a seasucker style rack, homebrew mod with fork mounts bolted through the door or something else commercially available, but might be worth looking into. Those offset camper style racks seem to do the job but as they are permanent, any gentle bump into a solid object will pringle your rear door, and you may find the wheel rails projecting out from the main/first opening rear door is annoying to step/duck around, especially at dog shows when you don't want to be banging your head/face on them in a restricted space.
We have Renault Trafic minibuses (L2H1) which (pre-baby!) we used to use as a ghetto-camper in the off-season. Our original setup had bikes going in via the sliding door, cross-ways, with wheels off. No problem to fit even pretty big bikes in (I was riding an Orange Stage 6 29r in size L at the time).
We later shifted to having them on a towbar rack as we wanted to maximise inside space. We could live with not being able to open the barn doors easily as we only used the rack when moving between locations. We would take it off once on a campsite.
Could you make it so that the dog crates are removable when you don’t need to transport them? I know a few friends who’ve done this, they’re dog walkers and so theirs didn’t need to look pretty, just be safe and secure
Pal of mine has dog crates like you described. They're not full height so bikes lie on top or a mattress can be thrown up there for sleeping.
For barndoors, the type that teenrat posted above are what I was going to suggest - think Fiamma make them for most van types. Personally I'd steer away from the towbar mounted racks. Yes you can get some that swing away from the doors but in my experience with the Strada DL3, they still don't swing away enough to get "proper" access like you'd probably want for getting dogs in/out of cages. More "shuffle around the bikes and grab bits within reach" type thing. Also I fkn hated my Strada DL3 - the most cumbersome, heavy and over rated rack in the world. A mates Thule equivalent did all the same things as the Atera did but weighed and cost less and folded down to half its size.
For a tailgate, I think you can get them for all van types but the VW Transporter-esque rack that holds the bikes high up on the back of the door would be an option.
That said, I'd definitely look at getting the bikes in the van in some way, even if they were wheels off.
Finding a van with tailgate rather than barn doors (not easy, I know) opens up more options usually. Fiamma 3-bike rack on our Transit Custom with tailgate - I'd rather not use it but at times it's useful, especially with limited cargo area due to being a double-cab in our case.
Edit: add to what DBW says, something mounted to rear door(s) preferable over a towbar rack IME. Most/all are high enough to clear the lights/numberplate, plus no storage issues when not in use: it's always just there.
Not a serious suggestion, but thinking about the side racks used by window companies and installers. Has anyone seen a side carrier used for other stuff?
(No, the cyst on the rear window of the new Defender doesn't count)
Bikes should easily fit in the middle via the side door(s) if you take a wheel (or perhaps both) off.
This is unlikely to take much longer than strapping securely to an external rack.
And you can leave them in the vehicle when you pop into a shop, go for a wee at the services or whatever.
Thanks folks, that's extremely helpful! It confirms I want to avoid a towbar rack entirely and could cope with a rear rack even if we did end up with barn doors (I'd rather a tailgate but they are indeed difficult to find).
Crates will be a 2x2 at the back (dogs are n+1 in agility even more so than bikes in my experience...), and I do like the idea of being able to put a bike behind the bulkhead too.
My scouring of the various sites offering fiamma racks hadn't found anything that explicitly said "fits a transit/expert" so I'm grateful for those links. I hadn't really considered the slightly more generic racks without hearing from someone who'd done it before.
My suggestion that the dogs just hang out on the front seats and my wife goes in the back with the bike was not met with enthusiasm. But I can now be confident of finding a rack that would fit whatever van we buy if they do have to live outside. 😉
We've got a partner at the moment and the bike goes on a roof rack which is a pain in the backside, especially as a short person. Anything will be an improvement from my point of view.
Crates will be a 2×2 at the back
If these are fixed in place, the sleeping requirement is likely to be a problem.
As in, medium sized vans are too narrow for most people to sleep widthways.
I believe this is why the next size up (Movano, Master etc.) are popular for camper conversions.
Not a serious suggestion, but thinking about the side racks used by window companies and installers. Has anyone seen a side carrier used for other stuff?
Not for dogs or bikes, no 🙂
@chakaping - yeah fixed crates, but with doors both ends. For solo camping you can open the inward facing door and pop your legs in there. Then point yourself into the van itself lengthways. We're both shorties so with a bit of wriggling the sizing fits. Others have done the same so we've got a specific conversion setup in mind. A dedicated bike space behind the bulk head might make that a bit trickier, but if the sleeping platform were raised so you were in the top-most crate and the wheel underneath the platform I reckon it might be OK.
A van side car for bikes/dogs/wife could be an entertaining option, though I wouldn't be able to fit it on the drive.
For solo camping you can open the inward facing door and pop your legs in there.
Righto, I think I'm with you, but isn't there a dog in the crate? Or is that a useful legwarmer anyway?
Thinking about the removable crate idea a bit more.
Add a partition down the middle of the van made from cage/mesh about 3ft wide on the dog side, then add a removable (or just hinged) shelf at half height. You've then got an easily converted dog crate / bike store on one side and bed on the other.
Re: tilting
I don't have a van, but my Scorpion Buzzrack tilts well out of the way enough to open the tailgate on either of my Disco's - D4 with split tailgate, D5 with full tailgate. I'd imagine you'd be able to open normal doors too on a van
One dog normally manages to wiggle its way into a sleeping bag when we're in the tent so I imagine that would continue in the van. They are small and efficient little feet warmers.
Interesting idea about the folding shelf. I like that a lot!