Avocet1 said:
Ah OK. No chance of putting the smallest bike in the back of the Hippo? A 4-bike towbar mounted carrier doesn't half put a strain on the neck of the towball and the hippo towbar has a fairly small bit of box section projecting backwards to the ball! Basically, it's worth trying your bikes on one of you can. They do need "nesting" together carefully. Also check how easy it is to get the top arms through the frames of the inner bikes to the outer ones. That can be tricky if some of the bikes are kids' bikes and some are adult. Some of them can hinge down to let you get the tailgate open (which is handy if you have anything OTHER than a hippo)! It's a right pain to get into the boot once all the bikes are on.
Click to expand...
How does a 4 bike tow bar put any more strain on the neck of the bar, in comparison with towing something (ie caravan)? Or is that a stupid question?
'Nesting the bikes'... @Nodge68 bike rack looks like they all have their own 'slot'??
We have 2 adult bikes and 2 kids bikes would that male a difference for which rack I buy?
 
Not a stupid question at all! Normally, something (like a caravan) attached to a towbar via the towball. The ball and the hitch become a ball-and-socket joint like your hip. Most of the weight of the caravan is taken on its wheels, so the load on the towball is really just the "drag" of the caravan, plus a bit of downward load because of the noseweight on the tow hitch. When you go round a bend, there's also a bit of side load.

When you put one of these bike carriers on, there's no "drag" load pulling backwards on the towball, like a trailer, but the bike rack has no wheels so it's like a big crowbar trying to wrench the towball off the tow hitch. The longer the bike rack, and the heavier the bikes, the bigger that leverage is. I don't know if that makes any sense? It's hard to explain without pictures! Please don't panic over it - the towball and the bike rack manufacturers will have done loads of testing on their products, but I've always felt that the really long ones are a bit "cruel" to the back half of the vehicle (and the towball and it's mounting bolts)!

Yes, the bikes have individual slots for their wheels, but the slots are not two "half handlebars" width apart, if that makes any sense? You're best putting the first bike on facing (say) left, and the second one facing right, and the third facing left...and so on, so that the handlebars aren't next to each other. The same is true of pedals. This works well when all the bikes are the same size and shape, but we've found that it's actually quite messy to do when you have an adult men's mountain bike, a lady's road bike, and a kid's road bike. I don't suppose you're anywhere near Cumbria? You could try ours. If you know anyone with a similar style of rack, it's really well worth playing with it! I saw a really clever one the other day, made by Westfalia. Probably pretty expensive but it folded up vertically against the back of the car when there were no bikes on it. Really handy because otherwise, when you park up somewhere and go for a bike ride, the thing sticks out a mile and you can't get into many parking spaces.
 
You could always rig a support strap up to the roof bars to stop the rack from bouncing over bumps. That's what worries me about those hitch racks. A mate at work is a mountain biking fanatic who travels 1500km to Utah every year to bike at Moab. Last year he was a mile from home when his car was rear ended destroying a $6000. mountain bike. It was insured on his auto policy but it seems they don't understand custom bikes as he ended up out of pocket by a considerable amount. He still uses a rear mounted rack as he hates getting his bike covered in dead bugs on the roof! :(
 
I appear to have solved my V6 Hippo's hesitation issue. It had a major lag when I hit the throttle, bad enough that I was worried I had some gearbox solenoids on their way out.
Over the weekend I had a good look at the vacuum lines and found that the pipe to the rear head just under the VIS valves wasn't pushed fully home. An adjustment sorted that out.
The other thing I sorted was a new fuel filter. The one in it was a VDO, so very likely the original 15 year old filter. It wasn't too difficult to change other than getting the 4 clips holding the filter
off using only two hands. I also picked up a good tip on the ZT forum to remove the big seal from the pump body and fit it on the tank flange before reinserting the pump.
The Hippo is running much better now. The hesitation is gone and I am happy and relieved that I won't have to spend an afternoon on the creeper working blind to replace the solenoids. :D
One thing I did learn is to give the fuel system time to depressurise before disconnecting the fuel line at the pump. Driving with the windows down today to clear the petrol smell was a bit windy!
 
My old fl1 passed its mot, which was a bit of a surprise and a heck of a relief. Usual assortments of advisories all including the phrase 'Severely Corroded', brakes pipe, sills, floor etc. The mot definition of severely corroded is a lot different to mine. Now that it has another's years reprieve, I think I'll treat it to a good service. The bottle of K seal I chucked into its cooling system last year is still holding up well, touch wood. I can stop looking on eBay for another one now.

Col
 
Land_girl said:
Haha... I'll need a 4 bike one as there is four of us. Never owned one before so I couldnt compare.
Click to expand...
This is the situation we're in, only we sometimes needed to take 5 bikes (3 on the back, 2 on the roof).:eek:
Avocet1 said:
No chance of putting the smallest bike in the back of the Hippo?
Click to expand...
I hung a universal type bike rack on the spare wheel. However it wasn't central and I wasn't confident that it would stay put over a long journey.
Avocet1 said:
A 4-bike towbar mounted carrier doesn't half put a strain on the neck of the towball and the hippo towbar has a fairly small bit of box section projecting backwards to the ball!
Click to expand...
The Freelander tow bar is designed to take a tow ball download of up to 150Kgs, so a 75 Kg bike rack is well within it's capability.
Avocet1 said:
It's a right pain to get into the boot once all the bikes are on.
Click to expand...
That's true. That's true enough. The boot requires to be accessed via the back seat, which actually isn't the difficult, unless there's a dog guard fitted.
 
Avocet1 said:
Not a stupid question at all! Normally, something (like a caravan) attached to a towbar via the towball. The ball and the hitch become a ball-and-socket joint like your hip. Most of the weight of the caravan is taken on its wheels, so the load on the towball is really just the "drag" of the caravan, plus a bit of downward load because of the noseweight on the tow hitch. When you go round a bend, there's also a bit of side load.

When you put one of these bike carriers on, there's no "drag" load pulling backwards on the towball, like a trailer, but the bike rack has no wheels so it's like a big crowbar trying to wrench the towball off the tow hitch. The longer the bike rack, and the heavier the bikes, the bigger that leverage is. I don't know if that makes any sense? It's hard to explain without pictures! Please don't panic over it - the towball and the bike rack manufacturers will have done loads of testing on their products, but I've always felt that the really long ones are a bit "cruel" to the back half of the vehicle (and the towball and it's mounting bolts)!

Yes, the bikes have individual slots for their wheels, but the slots are not two "half handlebars" width apart, if that makes any sense? You're best putting the first bike on facing (say) left, and the second one facing right, and the third facing left...and so on, so that the handlebars aren't next to each other. The same is true of pedals. This works well when all the bikes are the same size and shape, but we've found that it's actually quite messy to do when you have an adult men's mountain bike, a lady's road bike, and a kid's road bike. I don't suppose you're anywhere near Cumbria? You could try ours. If you know anyone with a similar style of rack, it's really well worth playing with it! I saw a really clever one the other day, made by Westfalia. Probably pretty expensive but it folded up vertically against the back of the car when there were no bikes on it. Really handy because otherwise, when you park up somewhere and go for a bike ride, the thing sticks out a mile and you can't get into many parking spaces.
Click to expand...
Ah yes! I see now! Common sense now I've been told!
Yes I get what you mean Re the handle bars.
I liked the sturdiness of Nodges one.. but now you've said what you have Re getting into the boot, not folding away, parking. I'll assume that these are not a quick on/off type install (tools required) so maybe not for us after all!
Whenever we go away I always just take the 2 youngest' bikes (which fills the boot).
I guess I could just go and get one to fit o the spare and just take their bikes.
 
Nodge68 said:
That's true. That's true enough. The boot requires to be accessed via the back seat, which actually isn't the difficult, unless there's a dog guard fitted.
Click to expand...
Isn't difficult until, the boot is inaccessible, all three kids in the back seats and someone remembers they packed their tablet charger in a bag in bottom of the boot! Lol (that would happen to me!)
 
Colthebrummie said:
My old fl1 passed its mot, which was a bit of a surprise and a heck of a relief. Usual assortments of advisories all including the phrase 'Severely Corroded', brakes pipe, sills, floor etc. The mot definition of severely corroded is a lot different to mine. Now that it has another's years reprieve, I think I'll treat it to a good service. The bottle of K seal I chucked into its cooling system last year is still holding up well, touch wood. I can stop looking on eBay for another one now.

Col
Click to expand...
Thats cheered me up... knowing that my fl1 is in slightly better nick (when I thought it was really bad!).
 
Land_girl said:
How does a 4 bike tow bar put any more strain on the neck of the bar, in comparison with towing something (ie caravan)?
Click to expand...
The bike rack puts the same amount of down weight on the tow ball, as a correctly balanced caravan. The Freelander is designed to take twice as much down weight as a normal car, so a bike rack is well within the bar's capacity.
Land_girl said:
'Nesting the bikes'... @Nodge68 bike rack looks like they all have their own 'slot'??
Click to expand...
You need to place the bikes in alternate directions, so the handle bars of the first, go over the saddle of the next. The bikes also need to be put on the rack, starting with the largest first, progressively getting smaller, so the smallest is the furthest away from the car.
Land_girl said:
We have 2 adult bikes and 2 kids bikes would that male a difference for which rack I buy?
Click to expand...
I have a 29er MTB, then my 27.5" MTB, the middle daughter's 26" MTB and the youngest BMX. All fit on the rack very well, and much more securely than universal type racks.
 
I carted two adult bikes up to Scotland once, it was a right faff and the straps marked the paint. When we got there I discovered there was a bike hire place locally. I would check that next time.

Col
 
Land_girl said:
but now you've said what you have Re getting into the boot, not folding away, parking. I'll assume that these are not a quick on/off type install (tools required)
Click to expand...
The rack comes off the car in 2 minutes. It uses a combination of a hand-wheel to pre-tension the ball fitting, then is clamped up tight with the supplied spanner. It really doesn't take long to remove, and can be stowed in the boot, when not in use. However it doesn't need to be removed to open the Freelander boot, as it's well clear of the bottom of the door. Just the bikes need to be removed first.

Alternatively you can lock all the bikes to the rack, which makes storing them securely while away very simple.
Land_girl said:
Isn't difficult until, the boot is inaccessible, all three kids in the back seats and someone remembers they packed their tablet charger in a bag in bottom of the boot! Lol (that would happen to me!)
Click to expand...
Boot packing just requires a bit of for thought, that's all. ;)
Land_girl said:
If I had a roof mounted one where would I stow the step ladder to reach the roof? Lol
Click to expand...
This is the problem I had, which is why I wanted to get the tow bar rack.
 
Nodge68 said:
The rack comes off the car in 2 minutes. It uses a combination of a hand-wheel to pre-tension the ball fitting, then is clamped up tight with the supplied spanner. It really doesn't take long to remove, and can be stowed in the boot, when not in use. However it doesn't need to be removed to open the Freelander boot, as it's well clear of the bottom of the door. Just the bikes need to be removed first.

Alternatively you can lock all the bikes to the rack, which makes storing them securely while away very simple.

Boot packing just requires a bit of for thought, that's all. ;)

This is the problem I had, which is why I wanted to get the tow bar rack.
Click to expand...
Well certainly changes my opinion. We don't go far with our bikes but when we do it would be nice to all go together!
 
On the tow bar bike rack front, I used to have a Pendle rack on for my old 5 series BMW. It was great and really adjustable. I only carried 2 bikes so moved 2 holder to the back and spaced the front two for more clearance.
 
I had that cracked chassis rail welded today. I had a price from a local body shop of $720 NZ [ about £360] which I felt was way to much. The two main body repairers are booked up for more than a month. I went to another smaller body shop who specialise in restorations, I only took it there for them to have a gander at the chassis rail and give me a price. There were two other small problems to sort too.The rear nearside door strap had come adrift and there was a crack in a weld on one of the rear subframe elements.

I got a message that the cost would be $115NZ [ £57] with was basically an hours labour plus some welding material and GST [vat]. I was pretty surprised at that. Anyway, I popped over to pick up the car and he'd actually done the jobs! Quite neatly too. Delighted to say the least. He said ...yeah as it was up on the hoist and the subframe was easy to lower he thought he'd just do it - save time and a second visit to get it done. Someone get that man a beer!

Also organised to get two minor stone chips on the wind screen sorted as well - those will be seen to by the weekend.

Four jobs to go.
#1 A leak in the rear luggage area- I thought it was the nearside rear quarter glass leaking as there are water seepage marks in the dust down the body work - took the plastic trim off and all seems well sealed. I get a wet patch in the rear left corner. Might be the window / door seal on that side.

#2 I've got a cam seal weeping which I find maddening last they are about two years old. I suspect it's the exhaust one [above the alternator].

Is there a tool to help remove these seals? Is it easy to make or a common workshop tool? I know Haynes says to drill a small hole in the metal body and put in a self tapping screw and pull it to but it's tricky getting a small cordless drill down in there and I don't want to damage the cam's seal surface.

#3 the driver's door latch to replace

#4 the driver's electric window motor to swap. I plan to swap the passenger on to the driver's side and vice versa. Can anyone tell me if those motors are identical or left/right handed?
 
Cleaned the entire interior of the ol hippo today. 3 hours, mind you she was filthy! Also I found a gadget that I didn't know she has... pull down the mirror adjuster and it folds in the wing mirrors! Well the drivers one folded in, is the passenger one supposed to as well?
 
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