Bike rack on Motorhome ladder

[Timothy2001]

Considering purchasing a bike rack that attaches to the rear ladder on the motorhome.

Anyone have experiences with these good and/or bad? It's two adult bikes and my concern is that the bikes bounce up and down and the ladder separates from the coach and that would not be fun.

Hitch will be utilized so that's out.

[magicbus]

Your MH is a 2018 and new, your ladder mounts never had a chance to rust. M.

i think if you had read my entire post you would see that my 2018 uses a receiver hitch. I carried bikes on a ladder on my Country Coach which was 5 years old when I bought it and then put on 30k miles.

I do agree that storing them inside is best. On our boat we had folding bikes we stored in the laz.

Dave

[Gjac]

magicbus wrote:

Gjac wrote:
A static load of stepping on the ladder is much different than a dynamic load of two bikes bouncing up and down over hundreds of miles of travel.

Quite amazing therefore that I carried two bikes over 30K miles on my ladder. The bigger concern was lifting the bikes to the the rack when it is mounted high enough for the bikes to clear the bumper. Since we downsized and don't need to tow a vehicle I switched to a Yakima FullSwing receiver rack so I have easy access to the rear doors of our coach.

Dave

Your MH is a 2018 and new, your ladder mounts never had a chance to rust. Mine was 20 years old when I had to replace my mounts. They were just star inserts and mostly rusted away. My friend has the same year MH as I, a Newmar Dutch Star and never had to replace his yet maybe they were sealed better against water intrusion. His also had 6 mounts mine only 4. It is not the static weight of the bike but the G force when hitting pot holes that may be 10-15 times that load. That is why I think it safer to store them in the basement storage and to keep them out of the rain.

[jplante4]

magicbus wrote:
Quite amazing therefore that I carried two bikes over 30K miles on my ladder. Dave

>20,000 on mine. A single bike on the swing arm type carrier. If a 20 pound bike is damaging the rig where the ladder mounts that's a problem with the rig.

[magicbus]

Gjac wrote:
A static load of stepping on the ladder is much different than a dynamic load of two bikes bouncing up and down over hundreds of miles of travel.

Quite amazing therefore that I carried two bikes over 30K miles on my ladder. The bigger concern was lifting the bikes to the the rack when it is mounted high enough for the bikes to clear the bumper. Since we downsized and don't need to tow a vehicle I switched to a Yakima FullSwing receiver rack so I have easy access to the rear doors of our coach.

Dave

[Gjac]

Your profile shows you have a large DP, I would store them in your pass tru basement storage areas. I store two bikes this way by removing the front wheel and seat. If my GS comes with us the third bike goes in the truck of the tow car. If you ever had to replace the ladder attach points you will see why hanging the bikes off the ladder is not a good idea because these attach points rust over time and get loose. A static load of stepping on the ladder is much different than a dynamic load of two bikes bouncing up and down over hundreds of miles of travel.

[tommy_g]

way2roll wrote:

Timothy2001 wrote:
GVW of the car is 5000 and the trailer empty is 2210 so it’s a load. I have pulled a toad before but new to trailering. Hitch is rated at 10k lbs.

this one has a 10,000 lb capacity. I am sure there are others.

receiver

That's the one I use and the 4" drop is perfect for my Accord.

[way2roll]

Timothy2001 wrote:
GVW of the car is 5000 and the trailer empty is 2210 so it’s a load. I have pulled a toad before but new to trailering. Hitch is rated at 10k lbs.

this one has a 10,000 lb capacity. I am sure there are others.

receiver

[Timothy2001]

GVW of the car is 5000 and the trailer empty is 2210 so it’s a load. I have pulled a toad before but new to trailering. Hitch is rated at 10k lbs.

[way2roll]

Timothy2001 wrote:

way2roll wrote:
People do it, I wouldn't. As a cyclist my bikes can be fairly expensive. I would think they would end up scratched up, not to mention the wear and tear and possible separation of the ladder from the MH.

You mention your receiver is in use, but we tow a car and use a dual hitch receiver with a hitch mounted swagman bike rack.

Been using this setup for years with no issues.

dual hitch receiver.

Thanks for all,of the input and I have ruled out the ladder rack.

That dual receiver has a capacity of 4000 lbs, your toad or trailer must be lighter?

You can get a beefier one - that was just an example. I think the one I use to tow our CRV is 5000. ( I can't tow more than that anyway).

[dodge_guy]

Timothy2001 wrote:

way2roll wrote:
People do it, I wouldn't. As a cyclist my bikes can be fairly expensive. I would think they would end up scratched up, not to mention the wear and tear and possible separation of the ladder from the MH.

You mention your receiver is in use, but we tow a car and use a dual hitch receiver with a hitch mounted swagman bike rack.

Been using this setup for years with no issues.

dual hitch receiver.

Thanks for all,of the input and I have ruled out the ladder rack.

That dual receiver has a capacity of 4000 lbs, your toad or trailer must be lighter?

What are you towing?

[Timothy2001]

way2roll wrote:
People do it, I wouldn't. As a cyclist my bikes can be fairly expensive. I would think they would end up scratched up, not to mention the wear and tear and possible separation of the ladder from the MH.

You mention your receiver is in use, but we tow a car and use a dual hitch receiver with a hitch mounted swagman bike rack.

Been using this setup for years with no issues.

dual hitch receiver.

Thanks for all,of the input and I have ruled out the ladder rack.

That dual receiver has a capacity of 4000 lbs, your toad or trailer must be lighter?

[dodge_guy]

CA Traveler wrote:
Get the Swagman with a 2" female tube that fits over a 2" receiver. You may/may not need a slightly longer receiver.

Yep, I forgot about those. They work well also.

[CA_Traveler]

Get the Swagman with a 2" female tube that fits over a 2" receiver. You may/may not need a slightly longer receiver.

[RobWNY]

I have this model Bike Rack It works but barely. The rack tubes need to be about 3 inches longer. I can't get both adult bike frames into the mounting cradles because they're too close together so I have to wrap a rag around the tubes. I also can't use the cradle tie downs so I have to use bungee cords. Although the bikes seem rock solid back there they do rub against each other and I've lost paint on my $700 bike. My ladder is plenty strong enough and I'm sure yours is too but I now take the front wheel and pedals off and keep our bikes inside when traveling.