My very own 'broken bumper' story...why didn't I listen?
First things first....I'm not posting this to antagonize the 'haters' but in hopes of bringing further light to the issue
Despite the warnings all over this forum, I mounted a bike rack to the trailer 4"x4" square tube bumper...it's the cheap 'two bicycle' rack that surrounds the spare tire...I've used this bike rack since 2010, on four different trailers, with no problems...
I convinced myself that the real issue wasn't the weight itself, but the torqueing action of the bikes levering up and down independently of the movement of the trailer...to alleviate this, I web-strapped the upper bar of the bike rack to the trailer itself...figured I had it licked
You see where this story is going....
Rolling along the interstate last Sunday, I get startled people passing mean who are all pointing at me and mouthing the word 'BIKES'...so I pull over...
What do I see? (drum roll please).....
The bumper has failed...however, not in the usual 'the welds snapped' way...instead, the metal of the bumper peeled open from the inside top at each side of each frame rail to about 2 inches down the back side...the bumper was still on the trailer, but now (because the back side tore open) at an angle where the bikes were on the ground...
The whole bumper could have snapped off, sending bikes and steel tumbling down the highway...wreaking who knows how much carnage behind me for anyone who ran it over
Clearly, the immediate cause was the bike rack....upon looking, however, the bumper was rusting from the inside out--undoubtedly from storing a wet, nasty sewer hose in it...weakened structure could have been partially to blame
Takeways
1.) Despite my own inflated sense of smarts, turns out I DON'T know everything
2.) Should have heeded warnings of those with more knowledge and experience
3.) Even if convenient, better to find an alternative to the bumper for sewer-hose storage
4.) Just because you've got away with a dangerous practice for a long time doesn't mean it won't come up and bite at some point
Despite the warnings all over this forum, I mounted a bike rack to the trailer 4"x4" square tube bumper...it's the cheap 'two bicycle' rack that surrounds the spare tire...I've used this bike rack since 2010, on four different trailers, with no problems...
I convinced myself that the real issue wasn't the weight itself, but the torqueing action of the bikes levering up and down independently of the movement of the trailer...to alleviate this, I web-strapped the upper bar of the bike rack to the trailer itself...figured I had it licked
You see where this story is going....
Rolling along the interstate last Sunday, I get startled people passing mean who are all pointing at me and mouthing the word 'BIKES'...so I pull over...
What do I see? (drum roll please).....
The bumper has failed...however, not in the usual 'the welds snapped' way...instead, the metal of the bumper peeled open from the inside top at each side of each frame rail to about 2 inches down the back side...the bumper was still on the trailer, but now (because the back side tore open) at an angle where the bikes were on the ground...
The whole bumper could have snapped off, sending bikes and steel tumbling down the highway...wreaking who knows how much carnage behind me for anyone who ran it over
Clearly, the immediate cause was the bike rack....upon looking, however, the bumper was rusting from the inside out--undoubtedly from storing a wet, nasty sewer hose in it...weakened structure could have been partially to blame
Takeways
1.) Despite my own inflated sense of smarts, turns out I DON'T know everything
2.) Should have heeded warnings of those with more knowledge and experience
3.) Even if convenient, better to find an alternative to the bumper for sewer-hose storage
4.) Just because you've got away with a dangerous practice for a long time doesn't mean it won't come up and bite at some point
