Bike rack security

[HannahFrances]

I have, or did have, a 4-bike tailgate VW bike-carrier (version1) for a T6. While it was parked on the road someone has been along and pinched it - we assume they used the specialist VW tools to remove it as the van wasn’t damaged.

Before I put the same thing back on, does anyone have advice on security of the bike rack (rather than the bikes)? We wondered whether doing a mix and match of anti-theft screws would be worth it, or might that just end up with the van being damaged?

Usually the van is kept on a private driveway out of sight, and covered by security cameras, but not on this occasion.

Thanks all!

 

[ginkster]

I came across a good sounding solution on the California forum a while ago but not tried it. Essentially you replace the clamp bolts with normal hex ones (rather than the original torx ones) then use a gadget to block the hex head. Have a look at Hexlox.

The original bolt is just a very standard ‘security’ torx bolt rather than anything VW specific. The tool to undo them is very, very common. A rubbish design in my opinion.

 

[HannahFrances]

Thanks @ginkster this sounds like exactly what we need!