Motorhome ladder or towed bike rack

down home wrote:
The Grand kids may go with us and their bikes. We may even get a couple. It's has been years.
I have looked on the Internet, and don't know if I see what I want.
The ladder rack seems maybe the best as we take off for the wilds in the Edge, won't have to worry with the bikes.
Then again we may want to take them.
May buy both. :)
I want a padded rack that won't mar the ladder or the motor home of course, nor the bikes and has some mechanical way to put locks on them and ladder......and is easy to swing down or take the bikes off.
They are 20a incherss of now.
Don't want the wheels and handle bars flailing around obviously.
In the Receiver Hitch type for the Edge it has to b substantial as flimsy metal upright and tilt mechanism whipping around is not a good thins and neither are the wheels and handlebars.
What do you have on the subject?

We use a hitch hauler on the toad with attached bike wheel slots.
Makes for a little extra storage for little things picked up along the way, as well. In addition I have one of the old style bumper racks bolted on the back of that for extra bikes. Two bikes can be moved to there, leaving the whole hitch haul for other things, if required.

Yeah go with the tow bar. The ladder while strong was never engineered for the bikes weight constantly (and the jiggling around). The hitch will be way easier and more compatible with a variety of bike carriers.

When we've taken grandkids camping with bikes, we just put the bikes in the motorhome on a furniture blanket on the bed. Unless you're taking them on a long trip over several days/weeks, this is a simple cheap solution.

I have used a ladder rack before and would NOT. Do it again. Can damage the ladder. Get a hitch receiver for either the edge or as shown in a previous post one that works on the mh and still allows you to tow.

We bought the ladder bike rack from Camping World. Soon returned it.

Mile High wrote:
...I wouldn't hang any bikes on the ladder...

Same here. I put mine on a bracket attached to the tow bar.

You will hear lots of comments about folks hanging their bikes on the ladder and have done so without issue. I would not. A ladder is a ladder. A bike rack is a bike rack. Aside from risking damage to the ladder and RV, the bikes would have to get beat up and scratched up pretty badly. I do find that the folks using the ladder as a rack typically have cheaper bikes or don't care or both. We have been using a hitch mounted Swagman bike rack for years, it's easily adjustable, reliable and easy to get the bikes on and off and much cheaper than other brands like Yakima and Thule. I care about my bikes and my RV so no way I would hang anything on the ladder for travel. I also care about people behind me and don't want bikes falling off. We also use a dual hitch receiver. Bikes go on the top and tow bars go in the bottom. Easy cheesy.

I use a receiver mount the bike sit in not hang from. When we take the toad the rack goes on the toad. This is my older set up and have since replaced the toad but shows what I use for a rack. There's a dual receiver adaptor in the image. Found the rack on eBay for around $50. Probably have 30,000 miles of travel with the setup and no problems.

Well, the ladder is attached to the fiberglass of your motorhome. OK for occasionally helping you (gently) up to the roof, but that is about it. The receiver hitch is bolted to the frame, it is designed to not only support the weight, but also to withstand the shocks of towing.

A receiver mounted rack is the ONLY way to go. But, receiver racks sometimes have a lot of movement, so make sure you take that into account.

I mis phrased my requirements.
I meant the rack mounted to the ladder not the bikes on the ladder. :)