External improvements - lots of questions

[Ignis]

Now that we've done our first France tour in our recently bought Bongo we're seriously thinking of the following.

1. Roof racks and box. We have an opening roof with fitted skylight and vent, but I still think that roofbox may not be a bad idea. Two issues bother me: how much more fuel will my Bongo consume? And how will I get up to there? On the positive side, I really hope I'll be able to declutter the inside, as too much stuff goes in there... Would a plastic or fabric box work better? Or should I forget this idea?

2. Bike rear rack for two bikes. Which one?

3. Awning: drive-away or pull-out one?

Any ideas/comments/recommendations are appreciated!

[silage]

Easy and cheapest answer.............take less stuff! ............fuel on the Bongo is poor anyway, slim down to racing snake size nipper

[Ignis]

Easy and cheapest answer.............take less stuff! ............fuel on the Bongo is poor anyway, slim down to racing snake size nipper

Say it to my wife about taking less stuff please!

[Spencer54]

Get the bike rack by Fiamma and then you can use it to carry a back box.
Depending on your budget you can either buy the Fiamma one or get an ex military Laycorn box.

One is £300 other is £50

Two birds one stone

[Gasy]

I think drive away awnings are better for having a base to return to at night
Store stuff hence de cluttering bongo when on holiday as you can go out for the day and leave bedding chairs etc in awning

But wind out will be better for wild camping / 1 nights top touring holidays

Some people have a box on there towbars

[mikeonb4c]

Now that we've done our first France tour in our recently bought Bongo we're seriously thinking of the following.

1. Roof racks and box. We have an opening roof with fitted skylight and vent, but I still think that roofbox may not be a bad idea. Two issues bother me: how much more fuel will my Bongo consume? And how will I get up to there? On the positive side, I really hope I'll be able to declutter the inside, as too much stuff goes in there... Would a plastic or fabric box work better? Or should I forget this idea?

2. Bike rear rack for two bikes. Which one?

3. Awning: drive-away or pull-out one?

Any ideas/comments/recommendations are appreciated!

Less drag if load carried behind tailgate than on the roof. Is yours a tintop or an AFT (or aftermarket lifting roof). I recall one person fitting a roof box to a tintop and positioning so they could reach through the opening Sun roof, open the roof box and put stuff in/take stuff out from inside the Bongo.

[Ignis]

Less drag if load carried behind tailgate than on the roof. Is yours a tintop or an AFT (or aftermarket lifting roof). I recall one person fitting a roof box to a tintop and positioning so they could reach through the opening Sun roof, open the roof box and put stuff in/take stuff out from inside the Bongo.

mine is AFT and unfortunately our skylight cannot be open fully - an old-style one.

Yes, probably, I'll have to fit something behind tailgate, though I hate the idea that the car will be even longer than now..

[Ignis]

I think drive away awnings are better for having a base to return to at night
Store stuff hence de cluttering bongo when on holiday as you can go out for the day and leave bedding chairs etc in awning

But wind out will be better for wild camping / 1 nights top touring holidays

Some people have a box on there towbars

Thank you. Probably you are right about drive-away awnings, they seem to be more versatile. Hope that with practice it won't take too long to set them up.

[Ignis]

Get the bike rack by Fiamma and then you can use it to carry a back box.
Depending on your budget you can either buy the Fiamma one or get an ex military Laycorn box.

One is £300 other is £50

Two birds one stone

You would not know the exact model of those Fiamma racks please, would you? Seems like there are quite a few of them, but no mention of Bongos on their website.

[mikeonb4c]

I think drive away awnings are better for having a base to return to at night
Store stuff hence de cluttering bongo when on holiday as you can go out for the day and leave bedding chairs etc in awning

But wind out will be better for wild camping / 1 nights top touring holidays

Some people have a box on there towbars

Thank you. Probably you are right about drive-away awnings, they seem to be more versatile. Hope that with practice it won't take too long to set them up.

Gasy is right, and for what you'd end up spending sorting out roof box /back box you could get a Khyam Motordome 2nd hand off ebay good condition for £250 with luck, and they go up very quickly ( bit like an umbrella) and handle extreme weather very well. Even quicker is a Quecha pop up tent but then it doesn't 'seal' on to the Bongo to provide a dry enclosure and learning how to put it away is something that takes more practice than a Khyam Motordome.

[Spencer54]

Get the bike rack by Fiamma and then you can use it to carry a back box.
Depending on your budget you can either buy the Fiamma one or get an ex military Laycorn box.

One is £300 other is £50

Two birds one stone

You would not know the exact model of those Fiamma racks please, would you? Seems like there are quite a few of them, but no mention of Bongos on their website.

I think its the Fiamma 935

Simon is your boy for this, he has the Altea Strada I believe and the following - which if budget is no problem undoubtedly the best solution.
No weight on the tailgate, all on the ball hitch.

[Simon Jones]

It's a good rack and works well with the Thule Backup box (with a few modifications):

[philpdr]

Nice set up Simon,does the weight of 3 bikes or a full box affect handling much?

[Gasy]

The tow bars will only take a max of 85kg
So it's only like having a bloke standing on the back
Doubt it's to bad to worry about
Think Simon has those airbags inside to rear springs which would help
But if you don't go over 85kg should be no prob

[Simon Jones]

I've got rear spring assistors which help to stiffen the rear end up a bit. We tend to try to keep the weight fairly low in the box so it tends to be things like sleeping bags, groundsheet, levelling blocks rather than bags of clothes or awning. You need a good sturdy towbar like the one from A1 which I believe Ian sells in the club shop. I've also made a small bracing piece that connects to the rear ladder to help stabilise it and reduce any 'bounce'.

This was the mk1 version using modified Thule Easy base and a cut down Kari Tek sliding roof bar system. It worked ok but was a bit to bulky for my liking.





It could left in the extended position if you wanted to keep the tailgate open.