Bike Carrier Blues

[Vince-Charlette]

My family and I soon are heading out on a 6-7 week trip in our 5th wheel. We have purchased five really great folding bikes (37.7 pounds each)and want to take them along. After hours and hours of looking at some really great bike carriers, I finally made contact with a technical rep at Allen Sports. He flatly stated that no one makes a bike carrier designed for RVs. The reason he sated is that trailers and 5th wheels don't have automobile-like suspensions. This makes them ride hard with a lot of vibration and vertical motion at the rear bumper. I already read personal testimonies of three families who lost all their bikes due to using carriers on the back of their RV. Manufacturers wouldn't return their costs due to their wrong use or overloading. (Most only hold a max of 120 lbs.)

So, does anyone with a 5th wheel or trailer know of an acceptable/legitimate way to carry bikes on their RV?

[Need-A-Vacation]

Nice DazedNConfused!

[DazedNConfused]

Need-A-Vacation wrote:
TY for the reply DazedNConfused! Still kicking this idea around. But leaning towards it.

For our tow beast the Curt would be slightly lower with only lower valance trimming, while the Draw Tite model has more ground clearance but requires a hole in the front fascia to be cut. TY for the feedback on how you chose to mount your hitch and the reasoning behind it. Our rack is a tray style fork mount, so the bikes will be lower because of it which will help.

One last question (maybe for now! Lol), do you have any issues at night with the headlights being blocked?

TY!

Sorry for the delay. Just saw this. Yeah...I suppose the bikes could block some headlight...but to be honest, I have never towed at night with the bikes on the front. Here is a pic of the bikes from eye level. They don't block either of the high beams. Looks like they block some of the passenger low beam, but not much of the driver's side low beam. Hope this helps.

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Here is a pic of what I sometimes hang off the back. Nothing to do with camping...just thought it looked cool. 🙂

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[rtazz17]

Now you just need a large bug screen on it.

[SailingOn]

See this previous message. With the bikes on the pin box, you can leave them up there out of the way till you need them. They don't clutter the inside of the trailer, or the bed of the truck.
They're up there in my sig picture.

[Need-A-Vacation]

TY for the reply DazedNConfused! Still kicking this idea around. But leaning towards it.

For our tow beast the Curt would be slightly lower with only lower valance trimming, while the Draw Tite model has more ground clearance but requires a hole in the front fascia to be cut. TY for the feedback on how you chose to mount your hitch and the reasoning behind it. Our rack is a tray style fork mount, so the bikes will be lower because of it which will help.

One last question (maybe for now! Lol), do you have any issues at night with the headlights being blocked?

TY!

[DazedNConfused]

shadows4 wrote:

DazedNConfused wrote:

Need-A-Vacation wrote:
DazedNConfused,

Have you noticed any issues with the truck running warmer with the bikes up front? Any issues when backing into campsites due to the extra front end length? Looks like 4 bikes total? I have thought going this route myself

Sorry for the delay. I have used this setup in the hot NC summer and have never had a cooling problem...nor have I noticed temps above what they normally are. There was one campground that have obstacles opposite the entrance to where I needed back in and I needed to remove the bikes. But this type of bike rack makes it VERY quick to attach or remove the bikes. Bikes were off in about 90 seconds...and the rack would quick fold up against the truck and within 2 minutes I was ready to rock. I had two choices for mounting the hitch. First was receiver below the air dam. That put the bikes lower and as you can see from the pics, they are not at all in my line of site. Second would be to flip the hitch upside down before mounting -- but you'd have to cut a hole in the air dam for the receiver to poke through. That would raise the receive about 2" or so.

So far the lower position has not caused any issues...and there hasn't been an approach angle that has caused me to fold the rack up. The hitch was cheap, pretty simple to install, and you're off to the races. My wife thought I was nuts when I told her I was adding another 5 feet to the front of my truck with the bike rack. Told her she doesn't have any voting power until she starts driving the truck/fiver. 🙂

LOL I quoted your last sentence to my wife. She says that explains your screen name. I said that maybe but I agree with him. Going to order my front hitch this week. Well that's what I told wife, we will see, maybe next week!

Heh...yeah...I like to think I'm in control. Been married long enough to know it's just an illusion. 🙂 Generally speaking, DW maintains the inside, helps the girls pack for a trip, etc. I handle the outside, maintenance, meal planning, etc. It works for us. Guess that's all that matters. 🙂

[shadows4]

DazedNConfused wrote:

Need-A-Vacation wrote:
DazedNConfused,

Have you noticed any issues with the truck running warmer with the bikes up front? Any issues when backing into campsites due to the extra front end length? Looks like 4 bikes total? I have thought going this route myself

Sorry for the delay. I have used this setup in the hot NC summer and have never had a cooling problem...nor have I noticed temps above what they normally are. There was one campground that have obstacles opposite the entrance to where I needed back in and I needed to remove the bikes. But this type of bike rack makes it VERY quick to attach or remove the bikes. Bikes were off in about 90 seconds...and the rack would quick fold up against the truck and within 2 minutes I was ready to rock. I had two choices for mounting the hitch. First was receiver below the air dam. That put the bikes lower and as you can see from the pics, they are not at all in my line of site. Second would be to flip the hitch upside down before mounting -- but you'd have to cut a hole in the air dam for the receiver to poke through. That would raise the receive about 2" or so.

So far the lower position has not caused any issues...and there hasn't been an approach angle that has caused me to fold the rack up. The hitch was cheap, pretty simple to install, and you're off to the races. My wife thought I was nuts when I told her I was adding another 5 feet to the front of my truck with the bike rack. Told her she doesn't have any voting power until she starts driving the truck/fiver. 🙂

LOL I quoted your last sentence to my wife. She says that explains your screen name. I said that maybe but I agree with him. Going to order my front hitch this week. Well that's what I told wife, we will see, maybe next week!

[rattleNsmoke]

07PSDcrew, I fabbed just about the exact thing for my '06 F350 with a Fisher MMII plow mount. It works great and keeps the bikes down lower so I'm not looking through bike frames or wheels all trip long.

[ford_truck_guy]

I had almost that same set up on my truck... I fabricated a cross beam that bolted into my Fisher plow frame also... I used a swagman 4 bike carrier that locked....

[DazedNConfused]

Need-A-Vacation wrote:
DazedNConfused,

Have you noticed any issues with the truck running warmer with the bikes up front? Any issues when backing into campsites due to the extra front end length? Looks like 4 bikes total? I have thought going this route myself

Sorry for the delay. I have used this setup in the hot NC summer and have never had a cooling problem...nor have I noticed temps above what they normally are. There was one campground that have obstacles opposite the entrance to where I needed back in and I needed to remove the bikes. But this type of bike rack makes it VERY quick to attach or remove the bikes. Bikes were off in about 90 seconds...and the rack would quick fold up against the truck and within 2 minutes I was ready to rock. I had two choices for mounting the hitch. First was receiver below the air dam. That put the bikes lower and as you can see from the pics, they are not at all in my line of site. Second would be to flip the hitch upside down before mounting -- but you'd have to cut a hole in the air dam for the receiver to poke through. That would raise the receive about 2" or so.

So far the lower position has not caused any issues...and there hasn't been an approach angle that has caused me to fold the rack up. The hitch was cheap, pretty simple to install, and you're off to the races. My wife thought I was nuts when I told her I was adding another 5 feet to the front of my truck with the bike rack. Told her she doesn't have any voting power until she starts driving the truck/fiver. 🙂

[tchase002]

I've carried two bikes, one a recumbent, the other an upright on the back of our 30' King of the Road for 10 yrs. with no mishaps. I use a bike carrier designed for an SUV,or pickup with a hitch receiver (had one welded on the 30' shortly after buying it). It's the type carrier that's made of square tubing that fits in the receiver, then curves up vertically for about 2 ft., then 2 horizontal bars with pads and tie down straps where the bike frames go. Then I tie the rear wheels to the rear ladder with some old foam rollers off an old weight bench and some small bungee cord tie downs. The carrier was the collapsible type, and I made it non-collapsible with some bolts where it pivoted. I could see it collapsing while traveling.

[07PSDCREW]

I fabricated a front hitch for my Fisher Plow frame. I have a Reese 4 bike carrier...

[tnclays]

x2 on the Yakima roof mount racks--work great on a crew cab. There is a weight limit for the cross bars, so even if you could put 5 bikes up (probably not enough lateral room) you have to watch the total weight. I carry 3 with no problems.

[Need-A-Vacation]

DazedNConfused,

Have you noticed any issues with the truck running warmer with the bikes up front? Any issues when backing into campsites due to the extra front end length? Looks like 4 bikes total? I have thought going this route myself

Vince-Charlette,

Since the bikes fold up, I would think you could easily store them inside. May be easier than trying to put them on a rack.