Carrying bikes with a 5er

[RnTBnB]

I'm looking for suggestions for how to carry 2 adult bicycles with our 5er. What has worked for you? Pictures will help, please.

[PFitt]

Built rear hitch, then made kayak racks then plug in bike rack.Works Great

[owenssailor]

JesLookin wrote:

n7bsn wrote:
I have a front hitch on the truck and they go there

Us also

We do the same when towing our TT. We use a Swagman rack. Has worked great for thousands of miles.

[Winged_One]

I am lazy, so I got one of these:

Swagman

It is literally a 2 minute job to put on or take off the bikes. Slick.

Tried one of the cheap ladder racks. Hard to tie down and keep from moving.

[nremtp143]

Here is the way we carry ours.



Do a search on this forum and the DIY forum and you can get several different ideas.

Monty

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

I just bought a 2" to 1-1/4" hitch-opening reducer made of steel, because the plastic spacer on my Bell bike rack was wearing and allowing WAY too much slop in the rack. But I'm still going to tie a rope from the bike rack to the spare tire just to stabilize things a bit at the back of the 5er.

I WISH I had that Swagman platform rack!

[Specularius]

A pin box receiver is the way to go. The bikes do not move at all and stay clean.

[shadoow]

wski wrote:
The DW and I stored ours inside the fiver and never had any problems.

x2. We tried a bike rack mounted to the front of the truck but didn't care for it.

[Veebyes]

Inside storage here. Folding bikes. In the trailer if open & ready to use. Folded & inside the truck if there are no intentions to use them for awhile.

[n7bsn]

browntljm wrote:
Does anyone use a ladder bike rack, or is that too much weight on the ladder?

Usually not too much weight, it's the weight bouncing that often ends up tearing the ladder off the rig

[browntljm]

Does anyone use a ladder bike rack, or is that too much weight on the ladder?

[Poppy_s_5th_Whe]

[wski]

The DW and I stored ours inside the fiver and never had any problems.

[tvman44]

On a front mount hitch in front of the truck.

[BB_TX]

RnTBnB wrote:
........

BB_TX, I would assume you load the bikes before hitching, correct? What sort of bike rack do you have? How does your "receiver" attach to the pin box? I have a Reese 5th Airborne pin box, and I'm not sure I would be able to mount anything on it.

Thank you both for your replies.

Having a Ford tailgate step makes my loading easy. I just back the truck to within a couple feet of the mount, lift the bikes into the bed, step up into the bed, and set the bikes on the rack. It is a Thule 4 bike rack.

I also have a 5th Airborne pin box. Did not want to drill into it so designed the mount with side rails (2"x2" angle) with holes that matched up the the pin box bolts. Just pulled 3 bolts each side, set the mount in place, and replaced the bolts. It does not touch the top of the pin box. Here is a picture that shows it a little better. Receiver was about $20 at Harbor Freight.

[lillyputz]

2-MTnesters wrote:
We have the Swagman Hitch mounted 2 bike carrier on the back of the FW. Have had it for several years and very pleased with it.

X2

Lillyputz