Receiver Bike Racks

[docsouce]

I'm looking for advise on which receiver bicycle rack to buy. I have a 2020 Jayco 26XD Class C. It will be for 2 bikes. I searched and found a "CURT 18085 Tray style" which looked good but had some not so good reviews. So I figured the best info I can get is here with people that use them as I would. I would rather not use a ladder mounted type.

[blaczero]

For any bike rack on the back of an RV (read: long distance from last axle to the receiver). Spend the 5 bucks at home depot on a ratchet strap and run it from one side of the bumper, loop around the top of the bike rack and secure to the other side of the bumper.

This will reduce the bounce and torque on the 90 degree angle weld of the bike rack.

Keep in mind, you still need to verify your 2" receiver is not just welded to said bumper and will rust and/or rip off. Ideally your rear hitch receiver will be secured to the frame in some way. If it's not, buy a rear hitch that mounts to the frame itself, not just the bumper.

The amount of swing/torque on that bike rack cannot be overstated; let your $5 ratchet strap rip/fray and replace it, instead of losing your bikes on the road.

Last note: if your bumper is not treated inside and you use it for stinky slinky storage, you're creating rust in there. (Note: no bumpers are treated on the inside.)

[sjohnson722]

Myself, (based on the recommendations here) got a 2" bolt-on receiver from Amazon, and ordered the Swagman bike rack, also through Amazon.

Mounted up nicely. Moved the spare tire to the right on the trailer bumper (keeping that tail light clear and most of the license plate) and had to offset the hitch/rack to the left so it would fully open. The one tire slot on the rack is JUST inside that side of the trailer so that the other end will easily drop flat and not hit the spare.

Gonna try it out in two weeks 🙂 🙂 🙂

[dodge_guy]

harley4275 wrote:
Cant get a pic up but add an eyescrew into the corner of the trailer on each side and use a rachet strap around the bikes to stop wobble/ bounce. Works great. And can't hurt..

I did the same thing with my old 4 place hanging frame style bike rack. Between that and a clamp to tak out the slop in the receiver it hauled 4 bikes in the back of my TT all over with no movement.

[harley4275]

Cant get a pic up but add an eyescrew into the corner of the trailer on each side and use a rachet strap around the bikes to stop wobble/ bounce. Works great. And can't hurt..

[way2roll]

docsouce wrote:
Update on this post: I want to thank all those that took the time to respond to this post. I just bought a Swagman Dispatch. It looks like the best fit for my needs. We are leaving in early June and heading west. Going to poke around New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming for 3 or 4 months then head back east. This rack looks like it will be up for the trip.

Thanks for following up. Have a great trip.

[docsouce]

Update on this post: I want to thank all those that took the time to respond to this post. I just bought a Swagman Dispatch. It looks like the best fit for my needs. We are leaving in early June and heading west. Going to poke around New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming for 3 or 4 months then head back east. This rack looks like it will be up for the trip.

[2012Coleman]

I bought the Yakima LongHaul which is designed, built, and thoroughly tested to stand up to the long miles and rigorous demands of RV and travel-trailer use. Lots of YouTube videos that demonstrate this. Kind of expensive - but really worth it. The rack doesn't move, the bikes don't move, the rack has a built in security cable, and folds down when not in use.

[willald]

blaczero wrote:

Geodude wrote:
I just picked up a Swagman Current last week. Good for road, mountain, fat and ebikes up to 60 lbs per bike. Rock solid, the thing is a beast. It's mostly for use on our CUV but we figure we can use it on the truck when not towing or on the back of the trailer the odd time we can't get the bikes in the rear bay. We had to have the tilt feature because it'll be used on the CUV mostly, and we need to get into the back while the bikes are on.

The rack folds up and can stay on the vehicle when not in use, if you like. Swagman doesn't have a rack that is "RV Approved" AND tilts but from the manual, the Current is not RV approved due to the weakness of RV bumpers. In my case we have a frame-mounted hitch with a 3500 pound tow rating and a 350 tongue weight capacity so it's a big non-issue.

We've been using Thule roof racks up until now, most recently Uprides, but lifting bikes onto the roof is getting old and we want to use our sunroof without wind noise. Oh, and not have to worry about driving into garages while the bikes are on.

Thanks for the replies. To be clear, the bike rack itself failed, not the bumper and hitch.

Right now I tow with a f350 so don't have the option of a roof rack, might look into something that goes on my hard Undercover bed cover. Maybe break down and put them in the bed and lose all that space.

Gotcha.

If we ever go back to a towable RV and a pickup, the bikes would definitely be going in the bed. You'd still have a lot of usable space in the bed, even with a couple bikes back there.

[blaczero]

Geodude wrote:
I just picked up a Swagman Current last week. Good for road, mountain, fat and ebikes up to 60 lbs per bike. Rock solid, the thing is a beast. It's mostly for use on our CUV but we figure we can use it on the truck when not towing or on the back of the trailer the odd time we can't get the bikes in the rear bay. We had to have the tilt feature because it'll be used on the CUV mostly, and we need to get into the back while the bikes are on.

The rack folds up and can stay on the vehicle when not in use, if you like. Swagman doesn't have a rack that is "RV Approved" AND tilts but from the manual, the Current is not RV approved due to the weakness of RV bumpers. In my case we have a frame-mounted hitch with a 3500 pound tow rating and a 350 tongue weight capacity so it's a big non-issue.

We've been using Thule roof racks up until now, most recently Uprides, but lifting bikes onto the roof is getting old and we want to use our sunroof without wind noise. Oh, and not have to worry about driving into garages while the bikes are on.

Thanks for the replies. To be clear, the bike rack itself failed, not the bumper and hitch.

Right now I tow with a f350 so don't have the option of a roof rack, might look into something that goes on my hard Undercover bed cover. Maybe break down and put them in the bed and lose all that space.

[Community Alumni]

I just picked up a Swagman Current last week. Good for road, mountain, fat and ebikes up to 60 lbs per bike. Rock solid, the thing is a beast. It's mostly for use on our CUV but we figure we can use it on the truck when not towing or on the back of the trailer the odd time we can't get the bikes in the rear bay. We had to have the tilt feature because it'll be used on the CUV mostly, and we need to get into the back while the bikes are on.

The rack folds up and can stay on the vehicle when not in use, if you like. Swagman doesn't have a rack that is "RV Approved" AND tilts but from the manual, the Current is not RV approved due to the weakness of RV bumpers. In my case we have a frame-mounted hitch with a 3500 pound tow rating and a 350 tongue weight capacity so it's a big non-issue.

We've been using Thule roof racks up until now, most recently Uprides, but lifting bikes onto the roof is getting old and we want to use our sunroof without wind noise. Oh, and not have to worry about driving into garages while the bikes are on.

[wintersun]

It depends on the weight of the bikes that you want to mount on the rack. A couple of road bikes will weigh 40-50 lbs in total but a couple of mountain bikes will weigh close to 75 lbs and the weight of two electric bikes can be as much as 150 lbs that the rack needs to be able to support.
The Hollywood rack is the best for both standard and e-bikes but they are sold out until April 2021.

[magicbus]

Just don't do what my BIL did... forget they are up there and drive into the garage. It was not pretty. :S :B

Dave

[willald]

blaczero wrote:
…..
I have(had) a 5 bike Thule rack that catastrophically failed on my trip to FL. Bikes dragging on the highway behind the RV, fun.

I am currently looking for a rack that is not a rear hitch rack. Don't trust them

Totally understand how you feel there. I had a hitch mounted rack fail on me, also, when going over a large bump several years ago. Did a bunch of damage to the trunk lid on the car it was attached to. Was carrying 4 bikes at the time. I realized afterward that (4 bikes) was just too much for that hitch mounted rack, even though the Thule (hitch mounted) rack was supposedly designed for up to 5.

Now, I wouldn't trust any hitch mounted rack, if I had to carry more than 2 bikes. After the Thule rack failed, I went to Yakima roof mounted racks. Soooo much nicer - Bikes sit on top of the car we tow behind the RV, are held in place by their front wheel, and do not touch each other. Easy to mount them up there and get them down, and they are out of the way, no longer blocking access to the back of the car like old rack did.

Yes, roof mounted racks are a bit more expensive and can be a little more work to set up initially. However, you can save a ton of $$ by getting them used, off of Craigslist or ebay. I saved several hundred by going that way.

I highly recommend you look into roof racks, if such will work for you.

[gotsmart]

I have the Swagman Semi 2.0 Hitch Bike Rack on my Class C.


I used to have a Thule fork-lock tray rack. It is a good rack but I got tired of remounting the front tire and realigning it with the front brake every time I wanted to ride it.