Rear bike rack setup.....

Here is my setup. my bumper is a continuous welded bumper, but I still wouldn`t trust that alone so I have ratchet straps criss-crossed to support the weight of the bikes. I put to stainless eyebolts through the rear wall and bunk studs, plenty strong. and I have a ratchet strap that goes from the rear most cross beam, under the bumper, up over the bike rack tongue, then back under the bumper to the cross beam. I also installed a setbolt to take any vertical movement out of the rack. this setup is solid as a rock. doesn`t move at all going down the road or over dips. this is where the damage comes from, the extreme bouncing. this setup has at least a few thousand miles with 4 bikes (now it has 3 adult and one kids bike) on it with no issues and no signs of failure.

Not in this picture is a setbolt I installed to take out any vertical movement and the ratchet strap that goes around the bumper.


And here are the ratchet straps and eyebolts.