Add Bike Rack to Forest River 327CK?

phillyg wrote:
Has anyone added a bike rack to their FR 327CK rear bumper, and if so, how was it done? FR tells me the bumper needs to be reinforced even for a 2-bike rack. I carried up to 4 bikes on the bumper of my old Cougar and it was plenty strong so this FR must be sorely lacking.

It is a factory option starting in 2014, my factory rack looks like it bolts on to the frame.

Don't know if yours would bolt on are not.

There are only a rare few TT's and 5ers with rear bumpers capable of supporting bikes. It is more likley you did not experiance any issues with your Cougar than it was strong enough.

The easiest answer is to mount a hitch on the rear of your 5er and use a hitch mounted bike rack.

First two mods I did to my trailer was to move spare under the trailer and then had a 2" receiver hitch fabricated and attached to the frame. Carrying bikes has just been the start of our use for it.

Do not mount anything to the rear bumper unless you do some major reinforcing. I use a curt mount front hitch on my truck with a Swagman xC 2 bike carrier. Works great and I can see my bikes. I wanted to mount mine on my fiver until I stopped at my local RV store and seen a fiver parked its rear bumper and bike rack dragging behind.

Check out this post for an optional mounting system.BIKE RACK