Bicycle Racks

[NightSky]

Has anyone tried fitting a bicycle rack to an X Type saloon? If so any recommendations?

[PaulRidley]

I don't know if you have a tow bar fitted to your car, but I can say that the tow bar mounted types ( Thule etc ) by sheer virtue of the fact that they are mounted on the bar are so much better than the "clip-on" type. So saloon or estate it makes no difference.

Ours takes 4 bikes and it's great.

[NightSky]

Thanks for the advice Paul. That's the route I had almost decided to go with.

On the subject of tow bars and their electrics, does anyone know if you need to use a bypass relay on an X Type, or can one "cut" into the rear wiring loom and take direct feeds for the trailer lighting without problems for the bulb failure warning sysem?

[drb100]

We had the Jaguar supplied bars and carrier. A bit expencive and a fiddle to fit but they did work well and held two mountain style bikes firmly in place.

We had a Brink demountable tow bar as well for pulling the caravan but did not use that type of carrier on that partiicular car. I have however used a tow ball mouted carrier sucessfully on a different vehicle, the only issue was being unable to get anything out of the rear of the car with the bikes in place.

David Bates

[J44EAG]

I seem to recall that your Co-ordinator, Steve, wrote an article in a recent JEC magazine regarding tow hitch wiring. Probably some time over the last six months or so.

Most modern cars now require a by-pass relay due to the complexity and sensitivity of the lighting circuitry. It think you will find details of this relay and applications by going to a typical tow bar supply site, picking a suitable bar and then exploring accessory possibilities. The relay is often listed as an essential unit therein.

Mike K