<SNIP>

the Paulchen rack is rated for a load of 40 kilos, or 88 pounds.  Unless you
are carrying high end road bikes, four bikes will exceed the manufacturer's
load rating.

<SNIP>

Actually this is not quite true.  Paulchen make racks for many different
vehicles in Europe and many of them are limited to 40 kg.  However, the
Paulchen racks for Vanagons are rated up to 70 kg.  And I have this directly
from their installation guides!

And of course it's all passed by TUV.

The "Grundtraeger" or base mounting units 11201 (up to 1979 vans or Bus Typ
1) and 11212 (from 1979 to 1992 or Bus Typ 2) can both take up to 70 kg and
both can take the extension rack attachment to take up to 4 bikes weighing
up to 70 kg.  And that includes the cheaper aluminum bike mounting rails
(Economy class) as well as the trombone handles of the First Class system.

All this weight does not just hang from the top of the rear door - much of
the weight is taken up by 2 foot pieces that rest on the rear bumper.

Actually, Paulchen racks are basically divided into 2 components.  The
"Grundtraeger" is vehicle specific and is the base mounting unit.  The
accessories (e.g. the bike carriers, ski attachments, etc.) are general to
all base mounting units.  So if you ever moved to a Eurovan or something
else, you could keep your trombone handles and ski grips etc. etc. and
simply buy another base mounting unit specific to your new vehicle and
remount all your old attachments.

Interestingly, they make base mounting units for Chrysler Voyager, Jeep
Cherokee, Honda Civic and Accord, quite a few Toyotas, and of course most
European models of cars and vans.

It's an expensive system but surprisingly flexible and the quality is
excellent.

I saw quite a few Vanagons in Germany last summer with the 4 rack Paulchen
system being used.  Seems to work just fine with 4 bikes.

Oh yes, I don't work for them etc. etc.

But I do have 4 bikes mounted on my 90 Westy right now and am really happy!

Rich
90 Westy