Bumper strength

Moose0721 wrote:
I understand the shaking part where the bikes will want to bounce up and down, but what if both bikes are very light? Like 50lbs each? I'm sure the weight of the bikes comes into play. I have seen the safety struts and they look very well designed. I'm considering bolting on some 1/4" steel brackets from my frame to my bumper to hold the minimal weight.

You keep calling this "minimal weight", in your other thread as well, but because it's bouncing it's certainly not "minimal". Most are telling you what a poor idea it is to hang anything off the far rear of your camper, especially a short hybrid trailer like yours. Years ago when I hauled 3 bikes using a hitch mounted Swagman bike rack on the rear of our Explorer the only way I could stop those bikes from wagging all over the place was to strap them down tightly with nylon web straps but that's not a practical solution on the rear of a trailer where there's nothing to latch the ends of those straps to ... and even if you could that won't solve the problem of excessively unloading trailer tongue weight. It's just an all around bad idea. :(

I understand the shaking part where the bikes will want to bounce up and down, but what if both bikes are very light? Like 50lbs each? I'm sure the weight of the bikes comes into play. I have seen the safety struts and they look very well designed. I'm considering bolting on some 1/4" steel brackets from my frame to my bumper to hold the minimal weight.

Not all bumpers are created equal. Some are designed to carry spare tires or BBQ's on the bumper from the factory. Like mine which has extra metal welded to the bumper where it's welded to the frame.

Some bumper failures are cause by rust from years of storing the wet slinky inside the bumper.

Even so, when I saw the add for the bumper struts and decided to make my own.




The struts prevents the bumper from twisting.

I would install a anti rattle device. This will stop the receiver from moving and prevent the bike rack from moving back and fourth.

This one is made by Hitch Rider and works great.

I'll add some to try and help. Hauling bikes can be a challenge. Everyone has a different kind of tow vehicle and a different number of bikes. In my case, I have gone through 3 different bike mounting options across 2 tow vehicles, and 2 TT's.

The first, a reinforced rear bumper mount with a top hanger bike rack. Nope never do that again. The top hanging bike rack creates too much lever effect when the trailer bounces. Regardless of top hanging rack or tire holding rack, the bikes in the back take a beating with the bouncing of the road. In my case I had 20% loaded TW and the weight reduction was not the issue.

Next, put a Swagemen rack on the front of the K2500 Suburban. Solved the rear bumper issues but created new ones. I had to modify the rack to get 2 adult bikes to have the tires below the headlights. If any of the tire is in the head light beam, it's bad news. There is also DOT lighting laws to be concerned about if your mount blocks a directional signal. You also get increased tranny heat with 2 adult bikes. It was tolerable but was there. A friend had 4 bikes on his 2500 Burb and had to stop one summer trip and deal moving the bikes as he overheated the tranny. We sold the Burb and bought the F350 with the next current camper.

Did not want to repeat the issues of the rear bumper on the TT nor the front of the truck. And our truck bed was already full of gear. Some have made a custom bike rack that goes on the bed rails behind the cab. In my case, my tono cover would not allow this. So now what?

I have the TT A frame capacity and the truck can handle the added tongue weight so I went with a front TT mount. See pic. This so far is the best solution for us. The bikes ride nice and gentle and it eliminates all the issues with back of the TT or front of the truck.

While I made my frame, Top Rails in Canada or who ever they sold out to does make theses racks. I used my prior Swageman rack and made a mount for it. I can if wanted, take it off the trailer and put it in the truck receiver for a day biking trip away from the camper.

And yes, I can open the LP tank cover to turn on and off the gas with the rack on.





The rack removed


If you want to see more pics of the build, see here Front TT bike rack build

Hope this helps

John

The Safety Struts are not the end-all, be-all solution. These OEM bumpers are just too thin. I installed the Safety Struts on the back of my 5er, and with only two bikes and one trip, the bumper still twisted like a Twizzler. The welds were "fine" but the bumper itself would have crumpled in short order. Uninstalled and returned the Safety Struts.

Paid a local welding ship to gusset and install a 3/16" thick bumper. Problem solved. Traveled thousands of miles, with up to 3 bikes hanging off the rear - no issues.

I used to own a 1973 Terry 23' TT, and I occasionally used a bumper mounted bike rack--to carry a 250 lb. dirt bike. The bumper held up fine, but tongue weight was severely reduced. I had to make sure to load plenty of cargo in front of the axles or the thing would sway like crazy.

If the question is, can a spare tire mount or bumper fatigue or loosen up and fall off the TV. Of course it can and some do. Most do not.

I have also see a wheel come off of a moving car. That was scary because it passed in front of our vehicle.

If you worry about it do not do it. My concern with mounting a bike or two is the vibration and twisting torque while the bikes move down the road. I worry about that so I haul my bikes in the truck bed.

I also do not like the crud that builds up on the back of the TT.

I an currently contemplating a front hitch receiver.

FLHTCI wrote:
Thanks for all the great information. I think I'll get a front receiver for my truck and mount the bike rack.


Thanks again

I you do I suggest a bike rack like the Swagman that has the bikes sitting on their tires. We find that works well. Previously had a front rack where the bikes were hung from the frames. They swung around a lot in the wind. Also the wheel of the ladies bike was close to the ground.

Thanks for all the great information. I think I'll get a front receiver for my truck and mount the bike rack.


Thanks again

rbpru wrote:
Look at how many TTs you see with spare tires hung on them?

Some, but not all ... and look at what happened to Huntindog's spare. :E Our Coachmen Freedom Express had the spare tire factory mounted below the A-frame with a ratchet assembly to lower the tire to the ground when needed. I removed all that junk and instead store the spare in the front pass through storage compartment where it's entirely out of the weather. Our previous KZ Spree came with the spare mounted to the bumper but the first thing I did when I got the trailer home was to also move that spare to the front pass through storage compartment. No way I want anything hanging off that rear bumper.