Bike rack rather than gas bottles on the A-Frame......

My Dandy 4 has no front box, just a plate with clamps to attach two gas bottles. I have been wondering whether I could get a used bike rack (the sort with rails to stand the bikes on) from Ebay, butcher it and fix it to the A fame rather than the gas bottles. My worry is that on a botched reverse with the trailer, I may trap the bike between the trailer and the corner of the car. I am unlikely to get that much turn on going forwards, but reversing with a trailer has never been my strong point.

My normal bike rack is towbar mounted, so it is either bikes and sleeping in a normal tent on the ground, or no bikes and Dandy comfort.

Of course a tailgate mounted 'high rack' would probably work with my Touran, since by clearing the rear lights, the rack would also clear the top of the Dandy.  i would have to lift the bikes quite high to get them on the rack though. Also, I am not happy with the force that this type of carrier exerts on the tailgate/bumper. Roof mounted bikes on the Touran are definitely out....

It would mostly be a single adult mountain bike and sometimes a second childs mountain bike with 20" wheels, so there would still be a good gap between the bike and the car.

Other than the reversing clearance issue, the nose weight would go up a lot, but I don't think that would affect stability too much as it is weight where the trailer has a fixed point. From a towbar perspective, I am rated for up 75Kgas the nose weight. Also towing 400Kg with a 1700Kg car tends to help with stability.

Any thoughts........

Sounds like a good plan as long as the space is sufficient. I find reversing short trailers like the small dandies is a lot harder than caravans. Everything goes wrong much quicker. Only saving grace is you can see over the top at where you are trying to go. I often unhitch and push it instead.

The nose weight must be OK for the dandy. A couple of gas bottles and a battery must be pretty heavy and that's what the boxes were designed for. Also puts some of the weight on the tow ball instead of on the normally heavily loaded dandy 500kg suspension units. I think it a shame they didn't use 750kg on the designers/discoveries.

Sounds like a sensible plan to me.

I've got an old bike rack that was passed on to me that fits behind a bolted towball allowing it to be used together with a towed trailer. I think I know where the frame is, I'm not so certain about the tow bar attachment.

I'll see if I can dig it out over the next few days and take some photos, which may give you some ideas.

I doubt I'll ever use it so if it's of any use and there's a sensible way of getting it to you, you're welcome to it even if it's just to experiment with. Let me see if I can find it first.