Rear bike rack setup.....

Lantley wrote:

JJBIRISH wrote:
dodge guy, I am glad it is yours… that is a lot of strain on a wall not meant for carrying a load… I know you have had that setup for a while… it could be ok or just blind luck… you should try the lottery…

Dodge Guy,
JJ is our anti rear cargo police not to be confused with the weight police.
He never liked my rear genset platform that I had professionally welded on my prior TT.

lantly , I will take that as a compliment even though it isn’t a fare characterization IMHO…

it is true I am not an advocate of many of the rear loading schemes people have come up with and by virtue of have a camping friend that made good money repairing mistakes made by both the mfg. and self-inflicted wounds by the owners to many trailer frames… I have tried to present the side no one wants to hear on these issues…
how what I say is used is of no concern to me, most people asking have already made up their mind and are only looking for affirmation anyway… but for those truly seeking information, they should hear all sides and then decide for themselves…

I do not believe the most common answer given here ( sure I did it with no problems) is neither informative or helpful with the many variables that exist…

Now to your gen box… I didn’t remember being critical about your trailer, and I usually do remember, but my mind is ageing to…
but it seems like my concerns were the same as yours, and were in line with the problems it presented, and no I don’t agree with mounting over 400 pounds on the back of any TT…
nor would I agree with overloading one end and compensating by overloading the other… this is especially troubling because it adds stress to the entire chassis and more so to the tongue that now has the see-saw spring board effect to handle… that is not spreading the load to achieve balance…
so yes you did it and did a good job with what you did, and no I still don’t like it and would never advocate it, and that is something you never did… as a matter of fact to your credit you cautioned against it, and there we did agree…

here is what I said about your rack addition…

looks good even though I am one that don't agree with this...

it looks like you run your bumper mounts are about 18" up the frame rails... that is enough to hold the 400# no problem... my main concern is and always has been closer to the axles, and hope it is a non-issue for you... my other concern is shifting weight farther away from the axles... this changes the handling geometry of the unit... this is true even if not adding weight but moving it to the extreme ends...

the example I like to use is to hold a broom stick in the center and hang a one pound weight near both sides of your hand and rotate back and forth... its easy... now move the two weights to the ends of the stick and feel how hard it is to rotate and change directions... it wouldn't make much difference if the stick was 30' long as long as the weight is near the grip point, but if you moved the weights 15' out you would have almost no control...

I wish you all the luck and success with your trailer... pay special attention to the slide operation... if it just sounds different I would do more checking and do visual inspections of the frame rails at or near the rear and front spring hanger areas often...