Bicycle carrier front of truck or pin box. (Updated W/pics)

Lantley wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Another reason for a standard long bed truck!

I'm sure the OP prefers a short bed for a reason which is fine.
It is sort of ironic that the OP is making his short bed combo just as long as a long bed combo, by putting bikes on the front. The front mounted bikes ultimately increases/extends the overall length of his rig.

But when the front bike rack is off the truck shrinks back down. Long bed is always long bed.

I use a pin box solution for the bikes. I can get 4 on there, two adult and two kids bikes. The front hitch gets the big T post for the canoe. At 17' the canoe goes from about 12" after of the rear of the cab to about 18" forward of the front T rack.

Most in our group run pin box solutions. A couple have racks on the rear of the trailers. And a couple have enough bikes and yaks for 6 people onboard!

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Another reason for a standard long bed truck!

I'm sure the OP prefers a short bed for a reason which is fine.
It is sort of ironic that the OP is making his short bed combo just as long as a long bed combo, by putting bikes on the front. The front mounted bikes ultimately increases/extends the overall length of his rig.

Another reason for a standard long bed truck!

OPer here. Thanks to everyone who responded. Much to think about. I was leaning to the pin box rack mainly because of cost. I can make the hitch part for around 30-35 bucks. The Curt front hitch that mounts under the truck along with the blocker beam is 190 bucks. Me I am cheap. Anyway got the 5er home tonight from storage. I did some measuring and I only have 36 inches between the cap of the 5er and the rear window. I stood the bikes as close together as I could and from handle bar tip to handle bar tip was 27 inches. I just don't see how they will fit and not hit on the easiest of turns. I think I will just bite the bullet and get the front mount hitch. I can see where the bikes will be easier to mount. Thanks again, John.

I have done both.
Pin box wins hands down.
Front receiver extends overall length of rig a good bit. The extended length may not be an issue, however it can also be a huge issue if you are trying to get into a tight camp site.
Bikes can block visibility and headlights.
Bikes need to be unloaded from front reciever,Bikes can remain on pin box without being unloaded until you need them.

As you can see, either one will work...

I use a front receiver mount on the truck, and have no issues.

Temps are the same, with or without them there. I monitor them with a digital gauge cluster, so get an exact temp reading.

I actually went this way because we sometimes carry 4 kayaks on a roof rack along with the bikes out front. Can't do that with bikes in front of the nose of the 5th wheel.

A version of this will work. This is one I made.



Here are a couple of more links to more similar. You could always buy and Arvika though.
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27284595.cfm
This one was made by a FR forum friend. It can be raised slightly to be used on short beds. See the Aquaman post.
Aquaman's bike rack

We have been using front hitch and rack for the last 3 winters. No problems with vision or heat issues.Very easy to get bikes on and off which is worth a lot to us. Last winter the bikes rode over 10 000 miles out front.

It is definitely best to get a rack such as Swagman that holds the bikes by the wheels. Hanging racks let the bikes swing around in the wind.

ah64id wrote:

jjj wrote:
I have a front hitch on my Ford that carries 3 bikes and in the dessert heat never had a air flow problem. If my sig.pic shows up it is on it.

Just to play devils advocate... what do you use to monitor the temps to verify there aren't any airflow issues?

Dash gauges don't show enough, and are not the most accurate across the board.

The Ford grille looks like it does not allow a lot of air flow to begin with. Lot's of chrome!

How about interference with head lights and turn signals?