Bike rack on a TT

IBcarguy wrote:
I'm sure this topic has been posted before but I'll try anyway. We just bought a new Viewfinder 28BHOB bunkhouse with an overall length of 31.5 feet. In my old TT, we had plenty of room inside to haul 3 bikes but with the dual slide outs in the new one, there's not much room for the grandkids bikes inside so I want to go to an outside bike rack. What's the best set up? Front or back? If I went for the back it would have to be a spare tire mount or bumper mount since I don't have a ladder to mount one. I've heard rear mount racks bounce around a lot.
Any suggestions?

Absolutely forget about mounting the bike rack on the rear bumper of your trailer.. That is an accident waiting to happen.

Go with a bike rack which sits over your propane tanks on the tongue!

You can get an Stromber Carlson adapter which adapts a 2" hitch bike rack to your trailer tongue.



HERE

Not cheap but neither is paying fines and court costs plus the potential loss of life when a rear bumper bike rack rips the bumper off..

There is another brand that I keep forgetting the name , starts with Top o Rail or something like that which is an entire bike rack, not cheap either and is a Canadian Company.. Mounts above the trailer tongue.

The nice thing about having them on the tongue is you can easily keep track of them, pretty hard to lose a bike there.. Rear bumper, easy to lose and never know it..

Gloom and doom. Thousands of folks have bike racks on the rear and travel hundreds of thousands of miles every year without incident. Stromberg Carlson even sells rear mount racks and some TT manufacturers sell them as an option.

Do a search and read thru the threads and you'll get lot's of different ideas for a rear mount carrier.

A rear bike rack "should" be secured to the frame, or a reinforced bumper. There is a lot of bounce back there which often results in broken welds, etc. The bikes themselves probably take a pretty good beating too. Not to mention the additional length and rear weight added to the trailer. I would opt for the tongue mounted variety if I had the choice. Or on the tow vehicle.

I am a big believer in tongue mounted bike racks. Bikes are always in view there is no bounce.
Here is my rack on my prior TT




Check Out.

Arvika Bike Racks

hohenwald48 wrote:
Gloom and doom. Thousands of folks have bike racks on the rear and travel hundreds of thousands of miles every year without incident. Stromberg Carlson even sells rear mount racks and some TT manufacturers sell them as an option.

Do a search and read thru the threads and you'll get lot's of different ideas for a rear mount carrier.

"Gloom and doom" until it HAPPENS TO YOU.

I HAVE "been there, done that" with a rear mounted bike rack..

I was LUCKY to have FOUND mine barely still attached when I reached the campground.. Had to scramble things around to carry the bikes home..

MY bikes will NEVER,EVER, EVER ride on a rear bumper bike rack again.

Some folks however were not so lucky and HAD had there bikes and bumper scatter on to the road.

Not EVERY bumper us built to handle the weight of a bike rack.. Some folks have been lucky, some have noticed that there is a problem and then try all kinds of "fixes" including drilling holes THOUGH the back of the trailer to mount closed eye bolts then strap the heck out of it.

But, Hey, I am sure YOU will be perfectly fine losing a few hundred dollars worth of bikes.. Just do be aware that most states WILL FINE you for improperly secured loads..

I know a truck driver who lost ONE 4x6x8 on a highway, by the time he was able to find a good place to turn around and get back to it.. TWO vehicles hit it, police were on the scene to greet him with a Citation..

Cost him a day of work to go to court for the hearing (more loss of money) and he was able to get the fine down to $350..

Had he not gone to court, the fine was $3500!

Gdetrailer wrote:

hohenwald48 wrote:
Gloom and doom. Thousands of folks have bike racks on the rear and travel hundreds of thousands of miles every year without incident. Stromberg Carlson even sells rear mount racks and some TT manufacturers sell them as an option.

Do a search and read thru the threads and you'll get lot's of different ideas for a rear mount carrier.

"Gloom and doom" until it HAPPENS TO YOU.

I HAVE "been there, done that" with a rear mounted bike rack..

I was LUCKY to have FOUND mine barely still attached when I reached the campground.. Had to scramble things around to carry the bikes home..

MY bikes will NEVER,EVER, EVER ride on a rear bumper bike rack again.

Some folks however were not so lucky and HAD had there bikes and bumper scatter on to the road.

Not EVERY bumper us built to handle the weight of a bike rack.. Some folks have been lucky, some have noticed that there is a problem and then try all kinds of "fixes" including drilling holes THOUGH the back of the trailer to mount closed eye bolts then strap the heck out of it.

But, Hey, I am sure YOU will be perfectly fine losing a few hundred dollars worth of bikes.. Just do be aware that most states WILL FINE you for improperly secured loads..

I know a truck driver who lost ONE 4x6x8 on a highway, by the time he was able to find a good place to turn around and get back to it.. TWO vehicles hit it, police were on the scene to greet him with a Citation..

Cost him a day of work to go to court for the hearing (more loss of money) and he was able to get the fine down to $350..

Had he not gone to court, the fine was $3500!

Good post! Thanks for telling it like is. Couldn't agree more. My bikes are cheap ones but they still cost around $500.00 each. I would be sick if they fell off. I wrap them up and stuff them inside the living room when on the road.

B.O.

We have a 23 foot fun finder. It has a steel heavy duty bumper. I put a bolt on hitch on it and then my tandem bike rack. Just finished a 2 month 3,000 mile trip with it and its perfect back there. I do have the front wheel stick out 3 inches where I can see it in the mirror, and it doesn't move any. When we first started I checked it at every stop and its perfect. Not saying all bumpers can do this but ours did it well.

cheap 500.00
I was looking at WalMart. 149.00 now that's cheap

We had a 23 Ft Coachman and had a rear 2" receiver fabricated to the frame on the rear. We then just used a standard 2" receiver bike rack. Worked great and never worried about losing them.

There are some clamp on models that clamp to the frame... not the bumper.

Thanks for the input...my new trailer has about a 4" square bumper that is welded to the frame. It all looks like heavy duty steel to me. I think it would take a lot more than a few bikes and a rack to tear it off the back of the trailer. So if I do it in the back, I don't know whether a bolt on 2" receiver would be okay or if I need a full brace receiver that is bolted to each frame rail of the trailer. Anybody mount a bike rack to the front of their VT?