Roof Box on a bike rack?

[Heebson]

Hey Gang - hoping someone has gone down this route before!

Context is that we’re going skiing in our motorhome (for the first time) - but it’s not a big van! An A-S Neuvo, it’s only 6m and has one relatively small under bench garage. There is a Fiamma Pro-C bike rack on the back, which I’ve switched to e-bike rails. I also have large car roof box. And finally, as we’re going for an extended period, it’s made sense to buy skis, rather than hire.

The cunning plan is to somehow mount the roof box onto the bike rack and transport the skis in it.

I did a bit of research and got confirmation some people have done this, but frustratingly short of detail! Having had a quick look, the weight is fine, the length is fine, but I think the box will be too wide to either sit on the horizontal rails or mount onto the vertical bars if I remove the rails.

Anyone have experience here?

Thnx,
Heeb

 

[Minxy]

Pictures would help us help you!

 

[MalcMc]

Hi Heeb, I’ve fitted a back box on my bike rack, in principle got to be the same, just add holes in right place & bolt on, I silicone sealed existing holes in box, works for me fine

 

[jwells]

Put the skis across the bike rack!
We had a Nuevo, it's not winterized, outside water will freeze, you will use alot of gas keeping warm! Avoid staying in high altitude sites unless spring skiing!
Most important thing is to weigh the van with all the kit onboard, you will probably find your back axle is well over weight!!!
Hope it all works out for you, wish my body was still up for it!!

 

[Heebson]

Put the skis across the bike rack!
We had a Nuevo, it's not winterized, outside water will freeze, you will use alot of gas keeping warm! Avoid staying in high altitude sites unless spring skiing!
Most important thing is to weigh the van with all the kit onboard, you will probably find your back axle is well over weight!!!
Hope it all works out for you, wish my body was still up for it!!

jwells thanks for the reply. In theory, our van has the Winterised pack. We’ve been out in sub-zero, but not extreme! Did you have water tank heating pads? Obviously still worried about exposed pipes freezing solid! Will be doing the bucket method with the waste. We’ve weighed ourselves with e-bikes on the rack and were on the wire, so yes, will be being careful there. Any other tips/warnings about skiing with the Neuvo greatly appreciated!

As to just putting the skis straight onto the rack, I’ve heard horror stories of how much road muck can make them rust/degrade.

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[Heebson]

Hi Heeb, I’ve fitted a back box on my bike rack, in principle got to be the same, just add holes in right place & bolt on, I silicone sealed existing holes in box, works for me fine

MalcMc what kind of backbox do you mean? And did you mount to the horizontal bike rails, or remove that and mount onto the vertical rails (as I’ve seen with a roof box)?

 

[Heebson]

Pictures would help us help you!

!

 

[Mikeco]

Hey Gang - hoping someone has gone down this route before!

Context is that we’re going skiing in our motorhome (for the first time) - but it’s not a big van! An A-S Neuvo, it’s only 6m and has one relatively small under bench garage. There is a Fiamma Pro-C bike rack on the back, which I’ve switched to e-bike rails. I also have large car roof box. And finally, as we’re going for an extended period, it’s made sense to buy skis, rather than hire.

The cunning plan is to somehow mount the roof box onto the bike rack and transport the skis in it.

I did a bit of research and got confirmation some people have done this, but frustratingly short of detail! Having had a quick look, the weight is fine, the length is fine, but I think the box will be too wide to either sit on the horizontal rails or mount onto the vertical bars if I remove the rails.

Anyone have experience here?

Thnx,
Heeb

I use one of these

https://bags4everything.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/rear-storage-bag-with-pocket-grey-2.jpg.webp

 

[Minxy]

Having had a quick look, the weight is fine, the length is fine, but I think the box will be too wide to either sit on the horizontal rails or mount onto the vertical bars if I remove the rails.

I'm trying to imagine what you mean by too wide. Do you mean it will stick out too far backwards, ie too deep?

Can you mount it with the back of the box facing the back of the MH with the 'hinge' on the side and the opening on the other side, ie as a door would open? You'd need to have straps/netting to keep the contents in place when you opened it but could possibly work.

 

[KASPAR]

How many pairs of skis? Can you not just put them in a ski bag inside the van to travel, then under the van when on site?

Or strap the ski bag to the folded bike rack, vertically?

I did once fit a Thule roof box vertically to a bike rack by bolting roof bars on the cycle rack and mounting the roof box on the roof bars. You could replace the bike carriers with roof bars on the outside part then mount the roof box on them.

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[Itsmcb]

Noticed this on Facebook yesterday, might give you some ideas

 

[Heebson]

Noticed this on Facebook yesterday, might give you some ideas
View attachment 953779View attachment 953780View attachment 953781View attachment 953782Thak

Thanks. Yeah, I actually exchanged messages with this very helpful guy. The fundamental differences are the mounting rails attached to the van : (a) they are much longer than ours, so can have the cross (roof) bars quite far apart - I’d need to have cross bars much closer together, so drilling new mounting points and worrying about stability, but not impossible ; (b) more fundamentally, our vertical mount poles are too close together for existing roof box clamps - again I guess I could drill out some new holes, but again worry about weakening the box and stability.

Think I also envisioned having the box horizontal across the van, with the bottom of the box in its normal orientation on the fold down rail, or facing the back of the van, 90° to normal.

 

[Heebson]

How many pairs of skis? Can you not just put them in a ski bag inside the van to travel, then under the van when on site?

Or strap the ski bag to the folded bike rack, vertically?

This is Plan B & C!

I did once fit a Thule roof box vertically to a bike rack by bolting roof bars on the cycle rack and mounting the roof box on the roof bars. You could replace the bike carriers with roof bars on the outside part then mount the roof box on them.

Can I ask if you had the same Fiamma Pro-C rack as me and a standard width roof box (I.e. not family or slim).

 

[Heebson]

I use one of these

https://bags4everything.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/rear-storage-bag-with-pocket-grey-2.jpg.webp

Mikeco was quite excited (as it’s not too pricey) - but I don’t see it being big enough for my 176cm skis!

 

[Mikeco]

Mikeco was quite excited (as it’s not too pricey) - but I don’t see it being big enough for my 176cm skis!

They would not fit as only 1200mm long, however they make bags to order and they would probably make you a longer version if you asked. Your skis would not be secure from theft though so probably not a good idea.

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[Minxy]

Noticed this on Facebook yesterday, might give you some ideas

That's pretty much what I was trying to describe he does, a picture makes it clearer though.

 

[KASPAR]

This is Plan B & C!

Can I ask if you had the same Fiamma Pro-C rack as me and a standard width roof box (I.e. not family or slim).

I had a Thule bike rack, Thule roof bars, and guess wot? a Thule roof box Atlantis 780 480lt that took longer skis.

Thule is a modular system, fully interchangeable with a bit of thought and disregarding the destruction book. Pre the elf and safe tea brigade and the PE backers who have taken them over; they no longer give you bits you ask for, as 'they are not produced for doing that as we want to make you buy the latest most expensive version of something that could be repurposed. Sustainability, of profit, not environment more like. I used the 'T' track mounts on the roof bars through the roof box mounting holes. The bike rack was for a totally different vehicle according to the destructions. Swap the fixings top for bottom fitted wot I needed. The bloke I bought it off was pig sick as he'd paid a fortune for a new set up for his new vehicle when he could have swapped the fixings over, like wot I did!!

 

[EuroTrotters]

I just popped our skis on the bike rack

 

[jwells]

We found the water tank heat pads to be very ineffective, of course it also depends on how low the ambient temperature is!!
You will need to be on ehu all the time and have a small electric heater to run, or diesel heating. We did once come to an agreement with a local shop and borrow a large gas bottle for the time we were there.
How long are you going for?

 

[MalcMc]

MalcMc what kind of backbox do you mean? And did you mount to the horizontal bike rails, or remove that and mount onto the vertical rails (as I’ve seen with a roof box)?

I have a Fiamma box, mounted directly on the bike rack, base and back not hard to do

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[Heebson]

So, I ended up going for it! In case it’s any use to future readers, here’s a quick summary of what I did to use the old Halfords car roof box to carry skis on the bike rack of our Motorhome. We were away from 4 weeks and it worked perfectly.

First thing I should say is that you may have a different solution, depending on the positioning, orientation or size of your bike rack & roof box, but the principles probably should hold - but no guarantees given!

Our AutoSleeper Neuvo has a Fiamma Pro-C mounted on the back. I had previously swapped the original bottom rail (the whole piece that folds down) for a dedicated eBike one, so I had this spare. You can use your normal one, just will need some rebuilding.

1. I had a two bike rack. It’s easy to unbolt and remove the rails the bikes sit on, so you have a flat platform to put the Roofbox on.
2. I worried that this base was too narrow, but realised there were plastic pegs holding what was actually a longer piece in place (for the 4-bike rack I guess!) I removed the pegs and extended it. It was still a little short, but I reckoned close enough. (Pic 1)
3. I didn’t really trust those plastic pegs, so replaced them with bolts! I then wrapped it in pipe insulation to cover the bolts and cut down vibrations (Pic 2)
4. Think about which way the box will open: the easiest access meant the top would ‘push’ the box further away from the van, so had to compromise and rotate it. With the Roofbox now on the rack base I could figure out where the fixing bolts would go. Those nearest the van worked with the original adjustable holes, but I had to drill new for the other set. The quick fix connectors that came with the Roofbox still worked, but for belt & braces, I swapped two out for nuts and (a lot of) washers. If I had enough, I may have changed all four.
5. I managed to get my hands on some high density foam which I cut to size to secure the skis. There are some commercial products for the same job. I used some offcuts to cover the inside bolts.
6. At the last minute I added two red ratchet straps to make it more visible (and if I’m honest, a tenuous safety net, if something failed!).

Job done! I stuck in a couple of lightweight items (old dishcloths for drying; spare bucket; brush; shovel), but wanted to keep it light. Obviously double-check your weight rating for your rack.

Tweaks for next time would be (a) a couple of small drain holes for the inevitable snow melt and (b) something like hazard tape to make it more visible - this was really for when we had to park nose-in