Roof Rack vs. Welded 2" receiver on back of 5er

Why not a front receiver hitch for your truck.. You can get one for under $200.

I like the roof rack. Stuff onnback of 5ver bounces alot and you cant monitor. Front ofntruck adds another almost 3ft

The avg bike carrier will not live long on the back of a trailer. I know, I killed two of them.
The exception is the original Swagman rack. I've had it on trailers for more than ten years now and it's still good as new.
If you decide to use the receiver on the back, I highly recommend Swagman.

Or fabricate brackets to put a receiver hitch on the pin box.

See Rhagfo's.

Bikes mounted on the pin box can be high enough to stay away from casual mischief; the pin box is very stable compared to the back of the trailer; and bikes there do not add to the length of the rig.

Thanks for all the advice. I like the kingpin idea. I realized that crossbars are expensive and I'm not tall enough to get a good grip on the bike. I agree with the uncomfortableness of not seeing the bikes in the back.

Where can I find someone who will do the kingpin receiver?

Jason

JKwock wrote:
Thanks for all the advice. I like the kingpin idea. I realized that crossbars are expensive and I'm not tall enough to get a good grip on the bike. I agree with the uncomfortableness of not seeing the bikes in the back.

Where can I find someone who will do the kingpin receiver?

Jason

At least if the bike bounces off the back of the trailer it is someone else that runs over it instead of you.

Here a couple pics of my home made rack and hitch:

The pin box is a great option unless you need to mount/demount the bikes while hooked up (still not much worse than on the roof).

Any welder should be able to knock up a receiver mounted on the pin box...then any of the standard receiver mounted bike racks would work fine.

Do a search on here for pin box bike racks... couple of people have posted pics of theirs. I have one mounted on my fiver... two pcs of angle iron, a 6" receiver and a welder.. I have a rack that tilts down so that a cargo door could be raised... makes it easier to lift bikes up.

4x4ord wrote:


At least if the bike bounces off the back of the trailer it is someone else that runs over it instead of you.

Nice!

I have run a cargo rack on both the front of my truck and the rear of my 5th wheel with my honda eu3000 and other gear on it for many many thousands of miles with zero problems. If I had more gear I would run a cargo rack on the front of the truck and the rear of 5th wheel without hesitation. It is very handy and can quickly be installed in the receiver hitch or removed entirely in a matter of seconds. My front receiver hitch and I have had two both cost 125 or less from Curt.