Space in the truck bed?

TheAmRheins wrote:
How about a roof mounted bike rack on the crew cab?

Only if you're Wonder Woman, Popeye after eating some spinach, Hercules, or the Hulk! Sorry, lifting bicycles onto the roof of my truck would take a lot more strength than I have! It's hard enough just lifting them to my bicycle carrier from ground level!

How about a roof mounted bike rack on the crew cab?

Hitch should be mounted directly or forward of center line of rear axle.
The idea is for the pin weight to be carried by the rear axle.

With a longbed you will have roughly 4' of open space in front of hitch (between hitch on cab)

BUT anything place up there needs to be no higher than the bedrails as front of 5vr will swing into that area when turning corners, maneuvering trailer.

Behind the hitch you will have roughly 2' of open space (between hitch and tailgate)

BUT anything you place back there will need to be lower than bedrails as 5vr pinbox will be swinging back & forth in that area.

I have an enclosed generator (inside an insulated aluminum box) in front area.
It is even with bedrails.
Between it and the hitch is where I carry a 35 gallon tote

Behind the hitch I have a low profile tool box. I can open the top with 5vr hooked up.

This is very similar to the way my bed is set up......


If I had to carry 4 bicycles I would consider placing 2 of them inside the 5vr and 2 of them on a pin box hitch. Only 2 because I would not want them to extend very far forward and have to worry about truck cab and bikes making contact

I would only consider a rear bike hitch IF trailer hitch/receiver were a factory option (or built/designed by a competent welder----like my Dad was) and the bike rack was of real high quality/strength and had a means of adding straps to minimize bounce/shaking back & forth

Space in front of the hitch is useable while towing, as long as you consider height clearance while turning. My tri fold tonneau covers this area, and i really don't have to even secure anything unless its extremely light. Space behind the hitch and the tailgate is useable up to the rails, but gets a good deal of turbulence. I have at times stood bikes up between the cab and hitch without any problems. Most hitches are mounted over the back axle. I've heard some talk about moving it back slightly, but I personally wouldn't consider it. That's just me, though.

This is about the best you can do with storage with the fifth wheel hitch... Add a fold-a-cover to the top of all of this for closing off the bed when unhitched.


photo from google search

Roy Ken

The hitch needs to be nearly directly over the rear axle. Some manufacturers will specify an inch or so one way or the other, but that's it. Don't want your bikes outside consider a toy hauler or stick with your TT. Some people have installed hitch mounted bike racks, but to me they always seem very difficult to get bikes on and off. We used to carry two bikes on the front of my TV and two on the back of the TT. We have also placed them inside using a bike stand like you see on the street corner except built for home use. Both worked fine and some padding around the bikes and they did not seem to move.

I gave up a 5th wheel years back for the very reason you are talking about. I missed the truck bed too much and did not like having to remove the hitch just to use the truck. I actually like the Travel trailer better now as I get older, everything on one level. No steps to the bathroom and bedroom. Fewer steps to get into the camper. Just my preference. Some love the 5th wheel, some not so much.