Bike rack on bumper?

Put a bike rack on my 4" bumper to carry some very light weight bikes. With all the bouncing that goes on back there, I soon found cracks in the welds. Definitely look into beefing it up.

Find a welder in your area and they can fix you up for not a lot of $$$. Simply welding a small piece of metal on top and below the frame extension and over/under the bumper tube would probably have prevented the failure in the picture.

I recommend a hitch receiver tube in the center, but it needs to extend under the trailer and connect to the rest of the frame so that it has less "twist" on the bumper.

mike-s wrote:

LOL, those same pictures get posted any time someone mentions bike racks and bumpers here, and at every other forum on the net. The fact is plenty of people haul bikes on trailer bumpers without issue. Sure, some RV manufacturers do a less than stellar job of bumper mounting and you can have an issue with anything, but hundreds of thousands of people attach bike racks to RV bumpers using some common sense and evaluation of how the bumper is mounted. Most owners never give it a second thought nor do they ever visit one of these online rags.

I've hauled a 2'X6' steel platform, using a bolt on Curt receiver bracket, on 3 different trailers. One I felt needed additional reinforcement at the attachment points, the other two I clamped on the receiver bracket and forgot about it. I also do not haul bikes on that platform but two RTIC 65 coolers that weigh 37 lbs each empty, and hold 70 lbs of ice.

People on these forums never cease to amaze me as soon as bumpers are mentioned, and the vast majority who comment and post those same pictures have never attached a bike rack or anything else to an RV bumper.

Son in law used the Safety Struts on his rear bumper and hauls 4 bikes and a spare for a long time with no problems.

Google Mount-N-Lock. Did this to our travel trailer and Worked like it was made to be there. We bought the hitch and the frame supports. About $100.00

I'd like to have 3 bikes back there if possible. That may change things a bit. :) I may talk to a welder friend and see if we can add some reinforcement just in case.

Jim, apparently your RV manufacturer said “yes.” How does that apply to OP’s RV bumper?

I wouldn't have any qualms about adding something to hold a bicycle to that rectangular sewer hose bumper. Mine was really strong on my last RV. I backed up into cement barriers a couple times with no damage. One time I backed into a post and bent the bumper around 2" towards the back of the RV. A few months later, had a friend strap it with a nylon strap, attach the strap to his car and pulled the ripple right out of it. And all that time, I used it to stand on to reach the ladder, or work on the back of the RV.

Here's what I use now, I like the style where the bike hangs from the arms. I'm pretty sure any welding shop would be able to come up with a way to mount it to your bumper: Curt Bike Rack

Why are you checking with us first? Validation for what you want to do? Why not determine what your RV manufacturer says first? Winnebago says NO additional weight on the rear bumper on my 2101DS TT. So if you do mount a bike rack and your manufacturer said NO you’ll be standing there all alone with your lawyer...deserted by the RV manufacturer, and I’ll have a judgment exceeding your insurance coverage...you’ll be crying not even having your bicycle.