Fortwo Bike Rack – Aftermarket

Here is the Rack4Smart kit supplied plus an eyebolt that I used to improve the kit.

Take the 2 parts of the A-frame…

…push them together and fit the bolt to secure the 2 sides.

Take the bicycle arms, insert them into the A-frame and…

…tighten them in place with the thumbwheels.

Place the key in the locking bolts…

…and twist the key to release the locking tab.

Slide the locking bolt into the base of the A-frame. Repeat on the other side.

Remove your rear tow eye covers and offer one of the locking bolts up to the tow eye thread.

Using the supplied spanner/wrench, tighten the lock bolt.

Twist the key back to lock the bolt and then remove the key.

Repeat on the other side. With the bolts locked, they cannot come undone.

You are now supposed to take the strap with the hook and place the hook either this way around on the cabrio

or worryingly, this way around on the coupe.

With the boot hatch closed, the strap can be pushed through the grip…

…and pulled tight…

…to take up the slack and anchor the top of the frame to the car and stop it moving.

It is now ready for bikes to be placed on the arms and the velcro straps and bungee cords to be used to secure the bikes. The supplied bungee is OK I guess. It’s to be used to stop the bottom of the bike flapping around.

Modifications To The Kit

First of all, there is no way I’m letting a glass hatch with a glued latch take the strain of the bikes. It’s asking for trouble and failure of the latch adhesive or the glass would give you a massive bill. I bought an M8 (8mm) eye bolt.

In the boot of the 451 are 2 plastic covers that can be removed to reveal M8 threads. Screw the eye bolt in.

I then bought a cheap dog lead with the same width webbing. The lead has a swivel clip on one end.

The lead has enough webbing to pass up through the boot and out…

…to the clasp on the A-frame.

Tidy the remaining webbing away.

Far more secure and less likely to cause any damage.

For a 2nd modification, I decided to cut the bike arms down so they only carry 1 bike. This is because I’ll only ever carry 1 bike so I had no use for the 2nd holder. Clamp the bike arm in the vice and cut the end off using a hacksaw.

Clean the edge up with a file or sand paper.

On the part that was cut off, remove the screw from the reflector…

…apply some glue…

…and stick it onto the new short arm. Repeat for the other side.

The refitted arms are a lot more compact.

The bike can now by fitted and secured.

Issues Of Interest

It’s worth noting that the police can (and probably will) pull you over for obscuring the rear number plate with a bike. Depending on the bike, it can also obscure the tail lights. So, be sensible and fairly assess things before driving.