Bike rack on bumper?

drsteve wrote:
I bought a new Jayco in 2003, and had the dealer install a bike rack on the rear bumper. I hauled 4 bikes on it for years, all over the place, on all sorts of roads. Never had an issue. No spare tire though, just the bikes.

Would I recommend it? Not without looking at the bumper first.

Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't..

Sort of like the movie line.. "Do you feel lucky?"

In reality, some RVs are manufactured with HEAVY DUTY square tubing for a bumper (1/8" wall)..

The heavy duty square tubing will most likely survive bike racks but I wouldn't consider it since I feel very lucky that I found mine coming apart before the bikes hit the ground.

MOST however are manufactured with LIGHT WEIGHT SHEET METAL which is 14 ga and is HALF the wall thickness or about 1/16". The sheet metal just rips away from the welds since the weld and frame is stronger than 14 ga steel.

Just remember though, as the owner/driver of the vehicle, in all states YOU are ultimately responsible for ANY lost items that may fall onto the road. IF you are caught, it WILL be written up for an "unsecured" or "improperly secured load" and FINES will be assessed.

My BIL used to drive truck (CDL), lost one piece of 4x4 cribbing onto the road. He saw the 4x4 hit the road, by the time he was able to turn around and backtrack the police was already there writing up a ticket.. Another driver had gotten his license plate and reported it..

Cost him nearly $1600 in fines, court costs, travel costs plus had to take a unpaid day to got to the Magistrate..

Even though you are not working as a trucker, YOU ARE NOT EXEMPT FROM THE RULES..

I bought a new Jayco in 2003, and had the dealer install a bike rack on the rear bumper. I hauled 4 bikes on it for years, all over the place, on all sorts of roads. Never had an issue. No spare tire though, just the bikes.

Would I recommend it? Not without looking at the bumper first.

dodge guy wrote:
I wouldnt say its rednecky, rather well thought out. Like I stated its been on the trailer for 10 years no issues. And I have a rear view camera that lets me watch the bikes as well as the road. You can't just drill through the walls without knowing where things are. I do things once. The right way!

Hmm.. OK, don't like "rednecky", then perhaps

Frankensteinish?

Honestly, if I was in the used RV market and saw a trailer with big bolts sticking out of the walls that were never supposed to be there and were never part of the factory build I would be RUNNING as fast as I could away from that trailer.

While I applaud your creativity in trying to find a solution, I don't think it is one for everyone. Requires really finding a "stud" in that wall that is wide enough to accommodate the diameter of said bolt.. RV walls are made with 1x2s and actual size is 3/4 x 1 1/2 IF you are lucky..

That means a 1/4" inch bolt would give you only 1/4" on each side IF you were able to 100% accurately hit that stud in the direct middle AND the stud was straight and plumb AND you also drill it square and plumb..

A long shot at best..

Then you would have to use additional bracing on the inside of the wall like a small steel plate or a huge washer to spread out some of the force.. Failure to do that will result in snapping the wall stud like a twig when you hit a hard bump in the road or tighten the straps too tight (I HAVE hit bumps hard enough to RIP the bathroom mirror right off the wall in the rear of my trailer).

Personally, unless you are well versed with RV structures and or an structural engineer, folks REALLY should consider the non DIY approach rather than your DIY Eye bolt approach and buy the tongue mounted rack or hitch adapter..

It WILL be money well worth spent and you will not harm your trailer or other motorists!

dodge guy wrote:
I carry 4 bikes on the back of my trailer. However I took all the slop
Out of the hitch and carrier. And I have ratchet straps tht cross cross to the back wall of the trailer. The eye bolts go through the wall studs and the horizontal bunk studs. Been doing it this way since 07 with no issues. I also made sure to keep tongue weight in check. If you don’t do anything other than just put the bikes in the rear then you will have problems like this in the photos.

I did the same thing ..quick and easy and for 5 years ,never had a wiggle on the rack .Eyebolts are easy to installwith proper sealant ..they go into the meat of the corner. Have had many compliments...

IAMICHABOD wrote:
One of the things that have been mentioned is the rocking and the damage it can do when the bike carrier or cargo carrier is mounted in a RECEIVER .
You need a good anti rattle device so you don't get so much play in the receiver.

I have tried almost every Anti Rattle device on the market, most have been no good or so complicated and cumbersome that they are useless. Including the Roadmaster type,totally useless.
Until I found the one at Hitch Rider.

Their Hitch Vice is the best and easiest one I have come across and it really works.

Nice, think I'll get that for my front hitch bike carrier, see if it removes some of the bounce when on rougher roads.

mike-s wrote:

Those aren't even the same camper in the two pictures. Is it your bumper? Is it your failure? If not stop posting this BS.

One of the things that have been mentioned is the rocking and the damage it can do when the bike carrier or cargo carrier is mounted in a RECEIVER .
You need a good anti rattle device so you don't get so much play in the receiver.

I have tried almost every Anti Rattle device on the market, most have been no good or so complicated and cumbersome that they are useless. Including the Roadmaster type,totally useless.
Until I found the one at Hitch Rider.

Their Hitch Vice is the best and easiest one I have come across and it really works.

camp-n-family wrote:
From experience I would never recommend it. ... We bought one of those bolt on hitches and away we went. There was a lot of play in the receiver and the bikes bounced around a lot. In short time I noticed a couple of cracks in the welds between the bumper and frame. I had a welder beef things up with some brackets and gussets. Before long they too were cracking and the steel bumper was tearing.

...

I think one reason why I was successful on 2 different travel trailers was because I made sure there was no wiggle from the bicycles. I bungied everything very tight from both wheels downward and it had no wiggle. That was my very first observation when sliding in my bicycle carrier into the bumper mounted receiver. So I made sure the bicycles could not wiggle.

The same is true with that cargo carrier I carry on my current camper. The carrier had so much wiggle, almost a foot up on down on both ends, I could see that literally ripping out the factory installed hitch over time. So I added some extra creativity to prevent the carrier from rocking back and forth. Actually, there is absolutely no rocking. But in the event of excessive stress for some reason, I used 2x4 supports that rest on the top of the bumper to keep the thing from rocking. In 5 years, the factory install receiver has worked with no problems at all. The factory installed hitch did have a weight rating and my wooden contraption for the tricycle, plus the weight of the cargo carrier, plus the weight of the tricycle, still does not come close to exceeding the recommended weight limit on the posted sticker on the bumper.

Maybe that's the secret to some that are successful and why some are failures? Keep the bicycle carrier from rocking back and forth. It's like taking a metal wire and bending it back and forth. Do it enough and it will break. Never bend it, and the tensel strength can be quite amazing.

I still do not recommend using a bicycle carrier on the bumper of an RV though ... unless the bumper has been reinforced, either factory or after market, even though I had no issues with my first 2 trailers. (and absolutely none with my 3rd).

mike-s wrote:

Ralph Cramden 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,

You're laughing at other people's misfortune? You're an ass.

Lots of people get away with lots of dangerous/unsafe practices, until they don't.

Neither of the photos show any issue with bumper mounting or manufacturing. It's clear that the welds held and the thin wall bumper metal was simply torn away due to the load. It can be done, but requires more than just a bolt on receiver - something other than the bumper needs to take the torsion.

Thank you......

Not laughing at others misfortune but laughing at your post of pictures pulled from the net in an attempt to prove your point, that get put up in almost every one of these threads here and elsewhere, the same exact pictures, ROFLMAO.

What do you suppose the two additional pieces of tube and two pieces of 3" round that are attached to the bumper in the first picture are there for? Do you think that maybe someone had something attached to that bumper just slightly heavier than a couple of mountain bikes?

And in the second picture, which appears to be a lightweight retro style trailer, have you noticed the 14 gauge 4x4 bumper was simply butt welded to the frame extension? I would certainly think that would be the result in that scenario. A couple of gussets could of been added to that setup that would of held all day long with a bike rack.

The fact is they are all attached differently and you need to make the evaluation yourself. That requires a little knowledge, some experience with fabrication and welding, and a little common sense which a lot of people who respond to these bumper threads have none of. These threads that end up with blanket statements that it can not be done are hilarious. The bumper police, a sub division of the weight police.

But thank you, I'll wear my I'm an ass badge proudly while I am strapping down my 200 lbs of coolers to my cargo platform, which is attached to my bumper.

I wouldnt say its rednecky, rather well thought out. Like I stated its been on the trailer for 10 years no issues. And I have a rear view camera that lets me watch the bikes as well as the road. You can't just drill through the walls without knowing where things are. I do things once. The right way!