Bike rack on bumper?
I have a feeling I already know the answer to my question, but... Adding a bike rack to my bumper would be a bad idea, wouldn't it? I think it's the typical "store your hose in here" and have the spar...
Forum Discussion
camp-n-family wrote:
From experience I would never recommend it. ... We bought one of those bolt on hitches and away we went. There was a lot of play in the receiver and the bikes bounced around a lot. In short time I noticed a couple of cracks in the welds between the bumper and frame. I had a welder beef things up with some brackets and gussets. Before long they too were cracking and the steel bumper was tearing.
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I think one reason why I was successful on 2 different travel trailers was because I made sure there was no wiggle from the bicycles. I bungied everything very tight from both wheels downward and it had no wiggle. That was my very first observation when sliding in my bicycle carrier into the bumper mounted receiver. So I made sure the bicycles could not wiggle.
The same is true with that cargo carrier I carry on my current camper. The carrier had so much wiggle, almost a foot up on down on both ends, I could see that literally ripping out the factory installed hitch over time. So I added some extra creativity to prevent the carrier from rocking back and forth. Actually, there is absolutely no rocking. But in the event of excessive stress for some reason, I used 2x4 supports that rest on the top of the bumper to keep the thing from rocking. In 5 years, the factory install receiver has worked with no problems at all. The factory installed hitch did have a weight rating and my wooden contraption for the tricycle, plus the weight of the cargo carrier, plus the weight of the tricycle, still does not come close to exceeding the recommended weight limit on the posted sticker on the bumper.
Maybe that's the secret to some that are successful and why some are failures? Keep the bicycle carrier from rocking back and forth. It's like taking a metal wire and bending it back and forth. Do it enough and it will break. Never bend it, and the tensel strength can be quite amazing.
I still do not recommend using a bicycle carrier on the bumper of an RV though ... unless the bumper has been reinforced, either factory or after market, even though I had no issues with my first 2 trailers. (and absolutely none with my 3rd).
