><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!

I checked the label on my Paulchen rack a little more closely.  It reads:

max. belastung 40kg
mit belastungsverst�kern u.
verstenungstrenan 70kg

Alta Vista came up with a partial translation:

max. load 40kg with belastungsverstaekern u. verstenungstrenan 70kg

Any German speakers care to translate further?

Thanks,

Tony

Anthony L. Mourkas
Hampden, Maine, USA
1984 Vanagon Westfalia
1991 Jetta Eco Diesel
1991 Volvo 240 sedan