Ladder-mounted bike rack :@

Friends that we camp with extensively use one and have thousands of miles on it. We keep checking the screws in the ladder and the rack and find no signs of ware. He secures two adult bikes on it and sometimes a third child's bike. He also uses extra ratchet straps to hold the bikes solid to the rack AND ladder to prevent any bouncing. Three years now and still going strong... Just keep the bikes from bouncing!

Worked great on a previous trailer...down side is that the bikes got filthy hanging on the back of our rig.

We now carry our bikes in the bed of the truck under the protection of a cap..

memgrove wrote:
Friends that we camp with extensively use one and have thousands of miles on it. We keep checking the screws in the ladder and the rack and find no signs of ware. He secures two adult bikes on it and sometimes a third child's bike. He also uses extra ratchet straps to hold the bikes solid to the rack AND ladder to prevent any bouncing. Three years now and still going strong... Just keep the bikes from bouncing!

X2

There are many posts here warning that the back of your trailer will fall off (ok, that's an exaggeration), or the bikes will, or the ladder will. I very often speak to people who have them in the campground, and all of them have said they have no problems with it. Fwiw.

Thanks so far, guys. I fully intended to strap the bikes (only 2) to the rack and the ladder. Only makes sense as it is the dynamic loads that are the problem, especially given that it is as far behind the fulcrum (axle) as one can get. When I am done strapping there should be no movement. I am more concerned with the fixity of the loaded ladder to the RV itself. I have also posed this question on the Flagstaff forum to encourage responses which might allay my concerns with respect to newer Flagstaff RV ladders.

Glad I have a strong bumper re-enforced by me to carry the bikes rightly.. After reading this almost makes me want a ladder on the back:B

Pain in the a-------

We bought a ladder bike rack and returned it as the bikes hung too far over the side because of the placement of our ladder.

I have one and used it for a number of years to carry two bikes back and forth from Michigan to Florida. I had a bike bag to cover the bikes while transporting them back there. Never had a single problem with the bikes or the rack.

Don't use it for that purpose any more but now use it to carry the blue tote if necessary. I also use it to store my spare hose for truck and trailer washing and hang my 6 foot ladder on it while at a campground for the winter. It just makes a handy storage device even if not used for bicycles.:)
Barney

Barney, I too like the idea of carrying other items using the rack. Moving the Thetford grey tote I have is a great option to reduce congestion in my covered truck bed.

The responses in the Flagstaff forum are somewhat "cooler" than those here. Still, no one actually has related a ladder failure first hand. Don't know what these ladders are rated for but assuming a 250# person with some margin for dynamic loading as the ladder is used for access to the roof! it should be able to bear 50 - 60# of bicycles of load that is flatter to the ladder thereby loading it more in shear as opposed to pullout loading on the rear wall.