need your info on bike rack

FWIW I have a Stromberg on my 2015 Fleetwood Storm and took my Motiv (a fairly heavy bike) on a 2100 mile trip a few weeks ago and didn't have a lick of a problem. I did, however, add a couple extra bungy cords to stop the handlebars from smacking the back of RV which helped.

ChopperBill wrote:
I take the front wheel off,with fast disconnects, and put in the back of the pick up.

"it will be mounted to a 5er ladder."

I take the front wheel off,with fast disconnects, and put in the back of the pick up.

CWSwine, it isn't the difference between the 133 pounds and the 76 pounds that has any real bearing on the bumper but the stress that the bicycles will have on both the thin guage metal of your bumper and the welds as the weight of both the rack and bikes bounce up, down, left, and right. The spare tire and its mount, and the grill rack do not extend out past the bumper nearly as far as the bikes and do not bounce like the bikes.

I removed my spare tire and spare tire holder and BBQ grill and grill swing arm mount that came from the factory that weight 133 lbs and installed a bike rack/bikes the weighted 76 lbs.

I put a curt front hitch on my truck, 12 bolts and a swagman 3 bike, original model I think. I had maybe $300 into it. Barely see the bikes.

Rich,

Try to find at least 2-3 welding shops local and take the 5ver over for an estimate. It truly is the best and safest way to transport bike, unless they are inside the 5ver or on a pin box mounted bike rack.

If you don't mind me asking, how much were your bikes? Now call a dealer/ weld shop to ask how much to repair a 4" rv bumper. Add in the cost of the bike rack, and I am sure the replacement cost exceeds the cost for a custom hitch.

Don't take my post the wrong way, just trying to help! Good friends of ours bought a new to them tt, and I think it was on the way of their second trip another vehicle got them to pull over. Yes, the bumper broke, and had dragged the bikes, and they even lost one bike.

Our tt we just sold came with a bumper mounted receiver. There had been a repair made to the bumper due to it starting to tear. We never did use it so not sure if the tabs welded to the top of the bumper and I-beam frame would have been enough.

I was seriously looking at buying a front mount receiver for the truck, but our new tt has a factory frame mounted hitch we are hoping shows up in time for our next trip.

Good luck!

Thanks again for all your input, but now I'm scared to try the bumper mount rack. Any good stories out there about carrying bikes for years with no problems with either of these racks previously mentioned? I know what you have said, the best way is the receiver rack, and I agree. But isn't there anyone out there with a bumper rack that has worked well for them? Lets hear from the other side, if there are any.

I graduated from a four year apprentice program as a welder at the former Philadelphia Naval Shipyard back in 1984 and then became a pipe welder at PNSY. I write this not to toot my own horn but to humbly say that I have not seen one bumper on any RV that l would put any trust or faith in attaching anything to it. Every bumper I have seen has not been welded but more or less just had some molten metal thrown on it which was called a weld. Please to the OP, reconsider and do not bolt a bike rack to the bumper, the cars behind you do not need your bicycles bouncing onto their windshield.

Thanks for your info, sort of the way I feel, a little unsure. Am now thinking of the bumper mount carrier with the u bolts, looks better to me. Like I said in the original post, I'd like the receiver type but hard to justify the cost with such little use it will get. By the way I checked and my bumper is welded to the frame. thanks again.