Ladder Mounted Bike Rack

I used the ladder mount bike rack to haul two bikes for about 26,000 miles. I regularly hauled 4 bikes total and sometimes 7 so I appreciated being able to put two of them on the ladder.

I agree with the others who have said to secure them from bouncing. Bungie cords work very well for this.

I've seriously considered going this route a few times, but have always decided against it.

Main reason being: I just do not trust the RV ladder to safely handle that weight when on the road for any length of time. Yes, an RV ladder is designed to handle 2-300 lbs of load. However, it was designed to handle a STATIC load of that amount; they are NOT designed to handle a DYNAMIC load of any kind. Dynamic meaning, a load that bounces, shifts going down the road. Doesn't matter how well you strap it down, its still a dynamic load, not a static one, when the RV is going down the road.

I know there's lots of folks will post on here that they do it and it works fine for them. It may well work OK in some cases if you limit it to just one small bike and strap it down real good. For us, though, when I think about the things that could happen if you lose the bike and 'launch' it back at the people on the road behind you..just ain't worth the risk to me. I prefer to keep all our bikes on the towed vehicle, anyway, as there are times we want to take the bikes places we'd go with the toad, but would not want to take the Motorhome.

After a three thousand mile trip to Texas, I abandoned my custom fabricated ladder-mount bike carrier and reverted to a tray-style hitch mount. No apparent damage to our ladder, but the hitch mount is 100 times easier.
Custom bike mount write-up that concludes with our tray-style carrier arrangement:
CLICKY
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27582581.cfm

jbrad13 wrote:
We use a ladder rack for my wife's cruiser and my mountain bike. Got about 5,000 miles with this rack and no issues. Be sure the rack is secure before leaving and at every stop. Others have noted the rack twists; check the bolts occasionally, tighten and keep it square and you will have no problems.

Also the star nuts inside the stand offs rust and cause the mounts to loosen. I had to fix several on mine.

We use a ladder rack for my wife's cruiser and my mountain bike. Got about 5,000 miles with this rack and no issues. Be sure the rack is secure before leaving and at every stop. Others have noted the rack twists; check the bolts occasionally, tighten and keep it square and you will have no problems.

If you have a pass through you can store the bike there out of the rain and not have to worry about the bike rusting,falling off, or being stolen. I store mine in my pass trough and my wife's in the trunk of the tow car with the wheels removed. Also when we go into town and she goes shopping which I don't particularly like to do I will assemble hers and explore the surrounding area. Another reason I like to keep one in the trunk of the tow car is when your sight seeing takes you to the top of a Mountain it is fun to ride downhill on the bike. Just my thoughts.

Water-Bug wrote:
If your ladder wasn't factory installed, don't even think about it. The factory knows the exact location for the reinforced ladder mounting points. EVERYONE ELSE is just guessing.

Non factory mounted ladders can be mounted correctly, especially under the advice of the manufacturer...

If your ladder wasn't factory installed, don't even think about it. The factory knows the exact location for the reinforced ladder mounting points. EVERYONE ELSE is just guessing.

I have successfully used that set-up at least a dozen times. I bungy the bikes onto the ladder/bumper as well to keep them from "bouncing".

I climb all 200 lbs of me up and down the ladder often, the bikes weigh less than 50 lbs, once I know they arent bouncing up and down creating a "shock-load" I am fairly confident the set-up is fine.

I have been carrying two bikes on my ladder for over 8,000 miles with no issue. As a previous posted pointed out tie it where it will not move. I use zip strips at every location I can. I also tie the wheels and pedals where they will not move.