SailSki
VIP Member
Picking up an earlier thread and taking inspirarion from some of the solutions, you may be interested in the modification I made to me Atera Strada DL so I can carry skis and bikes at the same time (I particularly like spring skiing days when you can ski in the morning and go sailing/biking etc in the afternoon in 20deg).
It involved the sacrifice of an old pair of Thule square bars to make them 1m long, attached with security bolts from Orbital Fasteners (M6x50mm with matching barrel nuts).
Then cut down some Thule aero bars from ebay so could use the roofrack clamps for roof rails on the Thule square bars. Needed to extend the channel underneath to get the clamps closer together.
The vertical aero bars are then removable and it all folds up and fits in the boot of the Ocean.
All is lockable and secure apart from the pivot bolt for the vertical part of the rack. Need to think of a solution for that.
This setup allows 4-5 pairs of skis and up to 3 bikes (but check overall weight limit on rack).
The slide-out feature of the rack still works and the boot can be fully opened with the skis in place.
My skis are long at 1.87m and fit pretty snugly behind the van with minimal projection each side.
They do however pick up some road muck so thinking of solutions for that.
I use some lengths of rope from the top of the bike rack vertical support around the centre of each pair of skis to help position them on the rack when opening and closing, and also as a safety tether.
It involved the sacrifice of an old pair of Thule square bars to make them 1m long, attached with security bolts from Orbital Fasteners (M6x50mm with matching barrel nuts).
Then cut down some Thule aero bars from ebay so could use the roofrack clamps for roof rails on the Thule square bars. Needed to extend the channel underneath to get the clamps closer together.
The vertical aero bars are then removable and it all folds up and fits in the boot of the Ocean.
All is lockable and secure apart from the pivot bolt for the vertical part of the rack. Need to think of a solution for that.
This setup allows 4-5 pairs of skis and up to 3 bikes (but check overall weight limit on rack).
The slide-out feature of the rack still works and the boot can be fully opened with the skis in place.
My skis are long at 1.87m and fit pretty snugly behind the van with minimal projection each side.
They do however pick up some road muck so thinking of solutions for that.
I use some lengths of rope from the top of the bike rack vertical support around the centre of each pair of skis to help position them on the rack when opening and closing, and also as a safety tether.