Adding a hinge to roof rack mounted equipment

[mpit]

Bit of a weird one, which I’m hoping that the internet’s experience and/or creativity might be able to help me solve.

I’ve got a bike mounted to a roof rack, but in order to avoid paying inordinate high vehicle fees (>2.24m) on a regular ferry crossing, I’d like to be able to lie that bike down flat on the roof, temporarily.

I had this idea that if you could mount the bike rack to some kind of lockable hinge, this could be very conveniently done!

I’ve searched a lot, the best I found is plastic polyamide friction lock hinges which probably aren’t strong enough for the application.

Any suggestions beyond this being a dumb idea? 😂

[C-J]

I like to idea of multi-purpose / adaptable solutions.

However in this case if you have the roof area to pivot the bike to a horizontal position, then why not just tie it flat (to the roof bars) for the entire journey?

[996TT02]

Done a lot of bike strapping personally, even designing and scratch building a quick detach "rack" system for no less than 5 MTB's off the back of an 4x4, secure enough to travel long distance and even off road without a single strap yet bikes are taken off in almost only as much time as it takes to lift them off it, ready to ride. Is there any reason you can't secure the bike flat on the roof in the first place, using simple foam padding and straps (never ever bungees)? If the handlebars are a problem, loosen the stem and twist it around so it's parallel to the front wheel.

Otherwise yes everything is possible it all depends on your skillset and tools availability, but am thinking if the bike can be flat for the crossing it can start off flat and stay that way.

[MDMA .]

I get the idea, but seems a lot of messing to fabricate the required parts. Easier to just get a tow bar mounted carrier or a cheap hang off one for the tailgate. Buy a second hand one for the trip and sell on afterwards.

[Krikkit]

You could definitely have something made fairly easily, put up some pictures of how a bike sits in the rack at the moment.

[Matt_T]

I had the same issue with 2 x kids bikes on ferries to the IOM. The suggestion of the ferry workers was the take the wheels off the bikes and fit them in the car any way possible and have the kids / passengers board as foot passengers.

I did this several times before buying a towbar mounted rack.

[vikingaero]

C-J said:

I like to idea of multi-purpose / adaptable solutions.

However in this case if you have the roof area to pivot the bike to a horizontal position, then why not just tie it flat (to the roof bars) for the entire journey?

This. I've seen lots of Heath Robinson ways of bikes being strapped horizontally onto roof racks/baskets - many people use pool noodles to protect the bike/rack/bars. Most of them just involve removing the pedal on the roof side and loosening and retightening the handle and then strapping down.