Bikes falling off rear

[klassic]

Who has had a bike fall off from the back of their rig while driving?
My buddy was following a 5vr on the hiway and noticed the little kids bike starting to bounce around, so he backed off. Just then the bike came off and bounced on the tires up higher then the rig on its first bounce... creating havoc. No one was hurt.
Took him 3 miles to finally get the attention of the driver and told him.

I have always had my bikes on a pinbox mounted bike rack...my new rig (that's on order) won't have the room for the rack on the pinbox and I'm going to have to put the bike rack in the factory mounted receiver at the back.

I guess ratchet strap the bikes to the bike rack??
Any pointers...I'm not liking the idea of not being able to see them.

[SabreCanuck]

Yep, seen it never done it because I never put them back there..

My best friend lost his approximately 35 minutes down the road from me telling him how much they were bouncing.. His response was "I got bungies holding them on".. Ummm... for those of you that use BUNGY CORDS you do know they are made of rubber and will do NOTHING to stop the bouncing, right?

At the very least, use straps that don't stretch and will tame down the bounce.

IMO, it will never happen on my trailer.

[azjeffh]

I've been using a Thule T2 in my trailer's rear receiver hitch without issue. However since it's not approved for trailer use, I run a bike lock cable through all tires and frames then secure it to the hitch.

Should I have a failure I'm hoping I'll just be dragging the bikes behind the trailer and not creating a serious road hazard.

[packnrat]

add to the support for your recever. attach to the frame a good three feet forward of the bumper mounting.
think torque on said mount. this will cut such stresses.

but on my fifth I can tow a auto trailer with my fulley loaded jeep on it.
very special custom build setup.


.

[laknox]

I had the rear bumper cut off my Komfort, and a heavier tube welded on. Put a 2" receiver on the new bumper specifically for a bike rack. Haven't used it yet, and likely won't, as the FW's up for sale. 😞 If I =did= use it, I'd certainly try it out first and have someone follow me to see how it worked. I'd thought about bungees or ratchet straps to the top rack to proved extra support and/or cushioning if needed.

Lyle

[D2Wilsn]

We have a rear bike rack also. We had a set of bikes bounce off and lost them. By the time we rounded the block, they were gone. We bought new bikes. We now use heavy duty velcro around the tires, strapped to the rack, and then using the heavy duty straps around them and they have never moved.

[RinconVTR]

Few bother to read their bike rack manual....DO NOT USE ON A TRAILER OR RV.

Very few bike rack OEM's give the OK for trailers and RV's, those that do generally state that its ok, but they will not honor any warranty.

Swagman is one such rack that allows trailer/RV use, and I own two of them. No problems so far, but none of our out of state trips include bikes on the back. They go in the camper for long distance travel.

Front hitches are a great option as well, I used one on our previous TV and had zero issues. There is speculation that these interfere with cooling and whatever...with no facts or actual issues encountered.

[flyfishing48]

I used to do " Dealer Trades" for our local Chevy dealer. on one trip I was bringing back a new Chevy 2500 HD diesel for the dealer. Driving north on I 75 I was behind a pop up with several bikes on some sort of carrier. All of a sudden there were bikes bouncing all over the interstate. I was dodging and weaving, didn't recall any strange sounds, but got off at a rest stop that was just a mile up the road. Somehow there was no damage to the new truck. Sure glad I didn't have to explain how I brought in a new truck with a bike embedded in the grill.

[Dick_B]

Search this Forum for `bike rack' to see what has already been discussed.

[1985air345]

I have three heavy Velcro straps specifically for bikes. I bought them from Amazon. I end up using the straps from the bike rack, the extra straps from Amazon, and the bike lock cable. I DON'T WANT THEM COMING OFF!

[klassic]

thedoghouse wrote:


What's different on the new fiver that makes mounting bikes on pinbox a problem?

The front cap sticks out farther over top of the pin box, which would make the rack closer to the back window of the truck.
The bike wheels will hit the window when turning

[Dennis_M_M]

We carry two bikes on a Swagman rack mounted in the receiver. The hitch bar has a threaded bolt through it instead of a pin which makes a solid mount.

Been Chicago to Tucson at least six times. One trip was Chicago,to Tucson, then to Tampa, then to upstate NY, then through Ontario back to Chicago. Never had a problem.

[thedoghouse]

klassic wrote:
Who has had a bike fall off from the back of their rig while driving?
My buddy was following a 5vr on the hiway and noticed the little kids bike starting to bounce around, so he backed off. Just then the bike came off and bounced on the tires up higher then the rig on its first bounce... creating havoc. No one was hurt.
Took him 3 miles to finally get the attention of the driver and told him.

I have always had my bikes on a pinbox mounted bike rack...my new rig (that's on order) won't have the room for the rack on the pinbox and I'm going to have to put the bike rack in the factory mounted receiver at the back.

I guess ratchet strap the bikes to the bike rack??
Any pointers...I'm not liking the idea of not being able to see them.

What's different on the new fiver that makes mounting bikes on pinbox a problem?

[Halmfamily]

diftw wrote:
Anyone using a bike rack that attached to the front of the truck?

I have Curt front mount hitch with a Swagman XC bike rack. Rock solid with no wiggling and I have my eye on them at all times. Once at the campground I can fold up the rack and leave on the truck or it takes about 1 minute to remove it completely.

No cooling issues nor visibility issues. Have never driven at night but the bikes do not block my headlights. Simple install and well worth the money.

[klassic]

I wonder if different suspension types and air ride pin boxes have any calming effect at the back