Until my current set up, I had a Yakima roof rack mounted on my hatch
vertically. Had as many as 4 bikes on it at a time.
Worked wonderfully. Very easy to use and didn't interfere with going into
limited-height structures, like parking lots, garages,
outside lots with overhead limiters on them. Also sometimes in areas where
there are trees overhead.

I got the towers/feet at a local rack shop that had old-style roof gutter
mounts for the OE Yakima 6' bars.
Since the hatch is slightly pyramid-shaped, the more weight put on the top
bar, the more rigid the mount
became on the hatch. I used a fork mount up top, rear wheel mount on the
bottom, and front wheel mounts
on the top bar. I usually had either 1 or 2 bikes on it.

I got a piece of PVC and slid it onto the right hatch strut so that whenever
I had bike/bikes on the hatch,
it would stay up if I needed to access the rear of the van. I still use that
for my current set up, but have
added one of those strut clamps that mechanics often use (it screws/clamps
onto the strut shaft) as well
as the PVC.

Bob

>
>
> From: Michael Sullivan <sandwichhead@GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Bike Rack Rec
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Date: Monday, December 28, 2009, 4:57 PM
>
>
> Just wanna put two cruisers on the hatch. Have Yakimn racks on top, w/o
> bikes attachemnt, but prefer hatch mount. Any recs for a cheap install?
> thanks.
> Michael in San Antonio
> 91GL AT 'Gringo'
> 73 Beetle
>
>
>
>
>