Fiamma bike rack, uprated struts???

[00Bongo]

Hi everyone,

Im currently waiting for delivery of my V6 bongo in the next few weeks and am V excited . Its mainly going to be used for weekends away in the hills as i'm a keen mountain biker. I am very keen to get a Fiamma bike rack as having searched all over the forum i like the way it looks and fits. My bongo has a spoiler so I understand that i will have to get it cut which i'm not that bothered about as i belive AVA will do it for about £45 quid.

My question is what are the struts? where are they? and why do they have to be uprated? .

Apologies if this seems a daft question but i cant seem to find any answers!

[mikexgough]

The struts are for the Tailgate (there on the outside edge of the door and inside the tailgate jam (if that make sense - like normal cars), many guys on here use an SGS engineering in Derby (on the outskirts) should their struts need a regas or replacement - I believe that they are very good.

I have a Fiamma Rack and my struts didn't need regas or anything, but I did get a spare set for my parts from evilbay for £12 inc postage.. so at least if mine fail I have a back up set so that my others can be regassed

There is an alternative strut that is uprated but it is a bit shorter than the original ones from RS, there about £70 the pair , do a search on here to get the info

[phiiiiil]

We fitted one recently; the tailgate holds its own weight when fully up or even anywhere in between, so it's much better at it than my old Focus was - I'd sometimes forget about the bike rack, give the lid a quick shove to bring it gently down only for the thing to go much faster than anticipated and clonk me on the head - ouch!

The Fiamma bike rack is great. The only "observation" I have is that when you first hang it over the tailgate it looks like it's about two inches too short! That was a scary moment until we did the bolts up and it works nicely.

Actually I tell a lie; the biggest problem is what it says on the back - "Mercedes Vito"? Diiiiiirty!

Phil

[vanvliet]

Yep the Vito seems to be a better fit than the VW
Perhaps the £45 is for cutting the rear spoiler but another member has come uo with a better solution which involves modifying the top brackets .Do a forum 'search' for info