BUZZ RACK Buffalo 4 bike tilting tow ball carrier no. BRH404

Buffalo, a big strong animal, solid and reliable, just what you need from a tow bar bike carrier. This Buffalo also looks very smart, as well as being the best designed and most user-friendly hang-on bike carrier that we know about, at any price.

So what's the big deal about Buffalo? It's down to great design, top quality, and overall ease of use. Consider the following:

• These carriers are supplied ready to go; no assembly work is required.
• The patented conical tow ball clamp fits onto all 50mm diameter tow balls, even the ones which don't meet BS standards because they have rough casting around the tow ball neck.
• Fitting is a matter of spinning a hand-turning wheel, a really quick, easy and ergonomically satisfactory thing to do. Turn the key in the tightening wheel and the carrier is then locked to the tow ball. Another nut is tightened with an integrated handle and then the carrier is held really firmly.
• It's fine engineering, and strong - the Buffalo has been TÜV approved for 4 bikes to the proposed ISO standard R18-904-4, a standard some way tougher than current requirements.
• Tilting is safer than with most hang-on racks, because you can take the weight of the bikes as you push down on the foot pedal, and there is double tilt stop - a steel loop as well as the reinforced plastic foot pedal. When you lift the bikes back to the vertical, the foot pedal springs back to its closed position, holding the bike weight. A safety bolt, with a hand turning knob, needs to be removed before tilting, and replaced when the carrier is vertical again. This really requires two people when bikes are fitted - one to apply gentle pressure on the bike load so that there is no strain on the safety bolt, and then it can be easily turned.
• The tilt stop is at the optimum angle to allow most tailgates to open (won't tilt far enough most vertical tailgates, e.g. the Transporter and other vans).
• The bike frame holders usually need to be adjusted on the support arms first time out - distances between bikes may vary - before being tightened in place (tool supplied). They have properly padded cradles and long notched straps with a rubber protection for the bike frame. Each strap has a hole in the end, so it's easy to hold it and pull the strap tight; there's a quick-release to loosen it again.
• There's a really neat integrated locking cable; the cable slides into the tubular upright when not in use.
• The support arms are 34.2cm apart, outer edge to edge, a distance which will suit the majority of modern frames; we supply a telescopic cross bar for use with non standard frames - see 'frame adapter' below.
• There's a Velcro-fastened sleeve on the upright to protect the first bike, incorporating a tough closed-cell foam pad.
• Two top quality 300cm safety straps are also provided (buckles sewn not crimped). One of these should be threaded through all the bike wheels to prevent swaying and friction damage - it's up to you to provide any extra protection required - and the other should be passed through all the bike frames and then looped around the carrier.
• The bike holder arms are easily moved from the horizontal to the vertical - ideal for storage or when the vehicle is parked up.
• Dimensions = 84.5cm high from the centre of the ball and 67.0cm deep from ball centre.
• Weight = 9.8kg.
• A lighting board will be needed - see below - there's even one designed specifically for the Buffalo. We also list an electrical adapter which will be needed if you buy any of our standard 7 pin lighting boards and have a 13 pin electrical system.
• The build quality - tube bending, welding, rust proofing, painting, component quality - is exemplary.

Exchange scheme: Tow bar carriers are part of our 90 day exchange scheme - click on the link below for details - so you can order without financial risk. All current tow bar carriers from all the brands we stock are available for exchange, including Pendle and Thule, even if they are no longer part of our standard stock range.

BUZZ RACK is manufactured by King Rack of Taiwan, a specialist bike sector engineering company since 1996. Their factory is state of the art, with much of their production being tube bending, specialist welding and finishing for well known brands.

We offer our existing customers a full "Next Day if possible" spares service, and will cannibalise new stock as required to find you the parts you need.

To find the spare parts you need, please see the diagram below, identify the product codes, then choose them from the list below. If you need more than 1 of any item, change the quantities in the Shopping Basket.

Deciding which bike carriers to buy is not always easy, especially as you may not have had experience of using bike carriers before. We hope that our buying guides provide useful guidance about which bike carrier 'strategy' will be most appropriate for your circumstances, as well as highlighting the best features of particular models. We also have troubleshooting FAQs - for example, some customers struggle at first to fit four bikes onto a tow ball carrier, and wonder whether a different carrier would allow the bikes to be spaced wider apart. (It won't, but we have some good tips which make bike fitting much easier.)

Our bike carriers Exchange Scheme covers roof mounting and tow ball mounting bike carriers only. Rear door mounting / strap on carriers are not included, and nor are roof bars. It allows you to exchange within 90 days of invoice date. Most exchanges are for roof mounting upgrades, or are tow ball carriers with very basic tilting systems being exchanged for easy to use sliding / tilting carriers.

These are the rules of the bike carriers Exchange Scheme:

• You are allowed one exchange only.
• The original equipment must be in "as new" condition, subject only to fair wear and tear.
• The replacement items must be different models from the originals.
• The replacement items must not be part of a package deal or be from our Bargains section.
• Roof bars are never part of the Exchange Scheme.

This is how the exchange scheme works:

• We charge in full for the replacement items, including the appropriate carriage charge and a charge for any packaging needed for the return of the originals.
• We pay the return carriage costs.
• When the originals arrive back here we refund you for their invoice value but you won't get back more than the invoice value of the replacements. In other words, if the replacements are cheaper than the originals we won't be giving you "extra cash back".

Please note that we can only collect exchange scheme items from mainland UK.

Delivery charges and arrangements:

We charge a contribution towards delivery costs, depending on what you order, where you live, and how quickly you want the goods.

These are our standard charges; there are usually surcharges for all offshore destinations and some remote postcodes - for details please see our delivery information page.

Delivery of other items

Delivery times

Delivery times are calculated in working days (Monday to Friday, excluding Bank holidays).

Cut-off times for Express Delivery orders
Express Delivery orders placed before before the cut-off times shown below will usually be desptached on the date of order. Express Delivery orders placed after these cut-off times will be despatched the next working day.

Delivery FAQs

When will my order arrive?
There are no deliveries on Saturdays, Sundays or Bank Holidays, except for postable items where Royal Mail has a Saturday delivery. Express Delivery orders placed on a Friday (before 1pm) should be delivered on the Monday or Tuesday, Express Delivery orders placed on a Saturday or Sunday should be delivered on the Tuesday or Wednesday. The arrangements for Very Heavy Items are different and are shown above.

What about Next Working Day delivery?
Most Express delivery orders will arrive on the next working day, if the order is placed before the cut-off time (see above). Some will arrive on the second working day if there has been a "split-delivery". So-called “split deliveries” happen when the couriers do not have enough trailer space for everything that should be moved around the UK, so they will load what they can and leave the rest for the next trailer.

Is my delivery day guaranteed?
No retailer or courier company can ever "guarantee" a Next Working Day delivery. As well as split deliveries, all courier companies occasionally have the same transport problems as can happen to everyone else, including snow blocked roads, closed roads, traffic jams, mechanical breakdown, an inability to find the delivery address, or to gain access to it if, for example, it's in a block of flats. We work with some of the best couriers in the business, and overall they provide an outstanding service.

Do I need to be at home?
We are very flexible with our deliveries and will aim to deliver to an address which suits you – this does not need to be your home address. Goods can usually be left without signature - we prefer this with roof boxes. There's a "Special Delivery Instructions" box in the checkout area where we'll ask you to choose a typical instruction and then amend it to suit your particular requirements.

Payment options:

We take the following cards, and also PayPal. Please note that the entry on your card statement will be from "The Roof Box Company".

Secure payments

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Bike carriers with 7 pin plugs

Wheel support bike carriers which are supplied with 7 pin plugs usually only include rear lights, brake lights and indicator lights, which is why they are often called ‘3 function lights’.

Unusually, Thule bike carriers with 7 pin plugs also include a fog light; this works when plugged into 7 pin electrics, but it does not work when plugged into 13 pin electrics via an adapter.

Bike carriers with 13 pin plugs

Bike carriers which are supplied with 13 pin plugs include a fog light and reversing light, as well as rear lights, brake lights and indicator lights – which is why they are often called ‘5 function lights’.

If these are plugged into 13 pin electrics then all 5 functions will work.

If they are plugged into 7 pin electrics via an adapter then the fog light should work, but the reversing light on the bike carrier will not work.

Please note

These notes assume that your tow bar electrics have been wired correctly!

Tow bar wiring in the digital age is much more complicated than it used to be when everything was analogue. Our experience is that if you are having lighting problems, e.g. a fog light does not work in 7 pin tow bar electrics, the problem is much more likely to be caused by the wiring, not by a dud bulb in the bike carrier.