Can I fit a bike rack to my campervan’s rear doors?

QI own a 2019 WildAx Constellation 3XL on a Citroën Relay. I want to fit a bike rack to the right-hand side rear door. The racks are rated at a max load of 35kg and my two bikes weigh 31kg.

Is the door is strong enough to take that weight? I’ve tried Citroën, WildAx and the rack manufacturers, with no avail.

David Bradshaw

AYou can fit a bike rack to the barn doors of most Sevel-built (Fiat Ducato, Peugeot Boxer and Citroën Relay) vans but, just because you can fit one, doesn’t mean you should. You’re asking a lot of the rear door panel and hinges. For a couple of really lightweight bikes (say, a couple of 8kg carbon racers), it might be fine, but for heavier bikes, you’re asking for problems.

The other point to make is that with barn door bike racks you have to use them carefully. We had one on test a few years ago and, as I opened the rear barn door, the end of the bike rack smashed the tail light! In high winds, or if you open the door past 90 degrees, you risk damage to the bodywork.

The good news is that there’s a much better way of carrying bikes that not only allows you to take heavier bikes safely, but also allows you to still access the rear barn doors – a towbar-mounted bike rack.

A towbar is not just for pulling little trailers – it’s far more useful than that and is best viewed as a multiuse attachment point for all sorts of things.

In terms of bike racks, you can get all manner of designs from as little as £50, but it’s worth spending a bit more to get an easier-to-use model (cheap ones use spanners to fit and straps for the bikes, while the expensive ones simply clamp on in seconds and use rigid bars to hold bikes in place). I’d look at things like higher-end Thule models or my personal favourite, the Atera Strada DL3, which costs about £370 from roofbox.co.uk and takes up to three bikes weighing a total of 45kg (or 63kg with an optional fourth bike attachment). It is a doddle to use.

It clamps quickly onto my campervan, has locks for each bike, and has a clever sliding mechanism that allows you to slide the whole rack rearwards with the bikes still attached so you can still access the barn doors. I’ve used an entry-level rack for many years, but this one is far easier to use and I wish I’d bought it years ago.

The other advantage of a towbarmounted rack is that you can take it from vehicle to vehicle, as it’s not brand specific, so it’s only a one-time expense. Peter Rosenthal