Carrying bikes with a 5er

We have the Swagman Hitch mounted 2 bike carrier on the back of the FW. Have had it for several years and very pleased with it.

I used to remove the front wheels and lay two flat in front of the hitch. Got tired of doing that and made a simple pin box mount to carry them.




Holds at least 3 26" bikes. Plenty of cab clearance. Have not tried for 4 yet.

Did not like the bouncing I had seen with the ones on the rear.

2-MTnesters, have you had any issues with the bikes rubbing or bouncing into the back of the 5er? Do you secure the bikes and/or the rack with anything?

BB_TX, I would assume you load the bikes before hitching, correct? What sort of bike rack do you have? How does your "receiver" attach to the pin box? I have a Reese 5th Airborne pin box, and I'm not sure I would be able to mount anything on it.

Thank you both for your replies.

I have a front hitch on the truck and they go there

RnTBnB I have never had any problems that you mentioned while carrying the bikes. I did have to use this adapter since the hitch on the FW is 1 1/4" and the bike rack is 2". The hooked parts that clamps down on the bikes are padded with rubber but I wrap a piece of leather around the bike tubing where the rack tightens down on the bike as extra protection. The bikes are 21 speeds and the cables for the gears and rear brakes are exposed in that area and the leather goes under the cables. This keeps the cables form scratching the paint on the tubing. The bike rack is easily removed if you don't want to take the bikes and there are areas for you to lock each bike individually on the rack. Also if you would be concerned with the bikes getting dirty while traveling you can use This cover to protect the bikes.

A lot of us carry our bikes inside the fifth wheel, along with a portabote and 2 kayaks.

n7bsn wrote:
I have a front hitch on the truck and they go there

Us also

2-MTnesters wrote:
We have the Swagman Hitch mounted 2 bike carrier on the back of the FW. Have had it for several years and very pleased with it.

X2

Lillyputz

RnTBnB wrote:
........

BB_TX, I would assume you load the bikes before hitching, correct? What sort of bike rack do you have? How does your "receiver" attach to the pin box? I have a Reese 5th Airborne pin box, and I'm not sure I would be able to mount anything on it.

Thank you both for your replies.

Having a Ford tailgate step makes my loading easy. I just back the truck to within a couple feet of the mount, lift the bikes into the bed, step up into the bed, and set the bikes on the rack. It is a Thule 4 bike rack.

I also have a 5th Airborne pin box. Did not want to drill into it so designed the mount with side rails (2"x2" angle) with holes that matched up the the pin box bolts. Just pulled 3 bolts each side, set the mount in place, and replaced the bolts. It does not touch the top of the pin box. Here is a picture that shows it a little better. Receiver was about $20 at Harbor Freight.

On a front mount hitch in front of the truck.