Am I making a mistake going with a heavier, thicker bumper?

[trailernovice]

Need to replace the standard 4-inch-square steel tube bumper on our TT...plan to go with a replacement of thicker steel (3/16" v. the standard, original thin-wall 1/16")....the more I think about it, the more questions I have...would the heavier bumper create problems just by virtue of its weight, hanging off the end of the frame rails?
thx

[Gdetrailer]

trailernovice wrote:
Thx, gdetrailer....that's what I needed....my issue, not being a 'metal' person, was the way-out-there idea that the extra weight of a thicker bumper might in and of itself make it more prone to snapping off at the welds when the rig starts boucing at 65mph just because it weighs more that what was originally there

Just saw your other post..

Consider this, even IF you upsize the bumper to meet the twisting motion of the bike rack and bikes, you will still have potential of causing damage elsewhere from that twisting motion..

Picture your bike rack as a huge wrench, every foot from the bumper will multiply the torque of the rack and bikes. So 50 lbs of bikes can turn into hundreds of pounds or more of torque on the bumper.

What you need to do is find a way to arrest the torque.

This is not easy to do when there is no place to add a strap to the top of the rack. Some folks have resorted to drilling holes right through the back walls and bolting tie points.

Myself, instead of mounting a bike rack on the bumper again I made a rack for over my truck cover. No more bike rack issue.

I did add a big plastic utility box to the top of the bumper, to do that I added an extra two ft extension to the frame to bumper which allowed me to add an additional mounting point for the box via extra steel strut from frame to frame..

If you do not have a pickup truck, you can buy bike rack mount adapters which mount to your trailer tongue and allows you to use a standard 2x2 hitch bike rack over top of your propane tanks. I would highly recommend you do that instead of beefing up the rear bumper and retrying this again.

Just do a search for "trailer tongue bike rack" or something like that.

[time2roll]

Just repair what you have. If you want to hang stuff off the back do not use the bumper. Get a properly installed class 3 hitch.

And for the sewer hose get a 5" vinyl fence post and mount it under the RV. Many pictures if you do a search.

[pianotuna]

No one ever ended up with a failure from over building. The stronger the better.

[Lwiddis]

"Last time we went through that town I dropped off 2 pounds of 5 year old Wisconsin cheddar that he mentioned he loved when he did the job."

The next time you need a new bumper, can I do it?

[BarabooBob]

I had to have the rear bumper replaced on my Class C. I was luck to find a great machine/fabricating shop while on the road after asking for recommendations at a local breakfast diner. I did not ask the shop owner what the price was going to be because I needed it repaired no matter what the cost.
The guy reinforces the bumper mounts all the way to the original truck frame and had everything welded up perfectly square and looking great. He asked why I did not ask for an estimate and I told him that he was highly recommended by locals as being extremely skill and honest. He used 1/8" stock and it worked great.
The final price (6 years ago) for labor and materials was under $200. I gave him a $20 tip for doing it and getting me on the road in under 2 hours. His regular work is repairing and building farm machinery. Last time we went through that town I dropped off 2 pounds of 5 year old Wisconsin cheddar that he mentioned he loved when he did the job.

[trailernovice]

Thx, gdetrailer....that's what I needed....my issue, not being a 'metal' person, was the way-out-there idea that the extra weight of a thicker bumper might in and of itself make it more prone to snapping off at the welds when the rig starts boucing at 65mph just because it weighs more that what was originally there

[Gdetrailer]

Depends on what your plans are for the bumper..

Hang bikes on it? Yeah, the heavier and reinforced the better.

No plans, original 1/16" would be fine..

Myself, used 1/8" wall square tubing because it is far easier to weld on without blowing holes in it than 1/16" would be.

1/16" is approx 14 gauge sheet metal thickness and that takes a pretty light rod and low amperage with stick or a decent MIG welder.

1/8" thickness welds very nicely with stick welder..

Downside to thicker wall is the inside dimension tends to get reduced so if you are planning to store the stinky slinky in there you better verify not only the hose fits but the bayonet fittings also. Most likely will not fit the bayonet fittings in 3/16" thickness tubing..

The plastic end plugs may also need some modifications to fit a thicker walled tube.

You won't be adding all that much weight, much less than say a bicycle.. Now if you were going thicker than 1/4" then you might have some issue but as long as you have no plans to mount something to the bumper I wouldn't go too much heavier than 1/8" just to keep the unneeded weight to a min..