Bike Rack On Ultralite Rear Bumper

[Arn]

I constantly read posts warning against mounting a bike rack on the rear bumper. People say they've seen bumpers & bike racks laying on the side of the road. People say they've seen bikes dragging down the road because the bumper twisted. I've been a driver/passenger for over 56 years & I have never seen these things. I have camped for over 40 years and over 10 of those years I've towed an ultralite. I constantly see bike racks on the back of ultralites & I constantly talk to the owners who constantly say they've never had or seen a problem. I know, someone is going to say "Go ahead & try it bright boy & I'll be the first to laugh when you post that you lost your bikes". Well I'm going to try it. A 4" square bumper welded to a solid steel frame should be able to take the torque & bouncing of 80lbs of bikes. I have also talked to numerous dealers who say they have never had a customer say his bumper came off because of a bike rack. From this day forward I will no longer listen to the fear mongers of the world, & if you see a bumper with 2 bikes attached I sure hope they're not mine.

[Ron3rd]

rbpru wrote:
My 4" bumper is not "sheet metal", it is rather stout, as a bumper should be. It carries my spare tire on one of those bolt on uprights with no problems. My spare weights more than my bike that is for sure.

If I were to carry my bike I would secure it so it could not twist front to back, torqueing the mounting post.

If I were to carry my bike a lot, I would go to the expense of having hitch receiver welded to the frame so I could switch my bike carrier between TT and TV.

That's great then. If you measure the thickness with calipers and it's .250" (1/4" steel) or thicker, you should be good to go. The last 2 trailers I've owned, they were about .080" and quite thin. I do not even consider the thin ones bumpers, but rather dump hose carriers.

[rbpru]

My 4" bumper is not "sheet metal", it is rather stout, as a bumper should be. It carries my spare tire on one of those bolt on uprights with no problems. My spare weights more than my bike that is for sure.

If I were to carry my bike I would secure it so it could not twist front to back, torqueing the mounting post.

If I were to carry my bike a lot, I would go to the expense of having hitch receiver welded to the frame so I could switch my bike carrier between TT and TV.

[Ron3rd]

Been there, done that:

Here's the problem with the 4" tube bumpers; they're nothing more than thin sheet metal. Put your bike rack on and drive down the road and have somebody follow you and watch the flex back and forth. They can really "rock and roll". It's kinda like bending a beer can back and forth which can eventually "crack" the thin bumper. It's not the strength of the bumper, but the constant flex that can do you in.

Yes, you might get away with it forever and in fact, a buddy of mine has been doing the same thing you intend to do for about 2 years. I've seen him go down the road and rack swings in and out a lot. I've been towing for over 10 years and like you, I've never seen one fall off or seen one on the side of the road either. It's just the fact we've got a couple of very expensive bikes and don't want to take a chance. On my old trailer, a welding buddy fabricated a receiver hitch welded to the frame and used the bumper only for partial support at the end of the receiver, ie, he welded the very end of the receiver to the bottom of the bumper with L-brackets. This area eventually cracked, but nothing could go anywhere because the receiver was getting 90% of it's support from the frame.

At the end of the day, you've got to do what you feel comfortable with. If you do go your intended route, keep an eye on things and check for cracks.

BTW, I have a new Yakima fold down rack (about $350) that I'm going to incorporate into the rear end of our new trailer. This thing is HEAVY, about 45-50 lbs so I'm going to incorporate some sort of receiver attached to the frame when I get around to it.

[goducks10]

2 seasons and 10,000 miles with my DIY rack on the back of my 5'er and no issues. Just more internet hype that gets repeated over and over. I wonder how many just repeat what other people say even though they have never experienced it themselves?

Common sense is the key.

[APT]

If you put $200 worth of bikes on there, then it may not be valuable enough for you if they are lost/damaged. Don't put anything on that bumper you are willing to lose. The marginal cost to weld on a 2" receiver to the trailer frame seems worth the cost vs. risk to me.

[camperforlife]

I had one welded to the rear frame and had zero issues with the welds or the bumper.

However I did have a rack that the bikes hung from the bike's frame cross member and the bike wheels dangled. Even with all the anti sway items that came with the rack and strapping to keep the bikes apart, they really got beat up from all the bouncing.

My advice is if you go this route, get a rack that the bike wheels rest on a rail so the can be tied down firmly to eliminate the bikes from hitting each other. When I traded tarilers I bought an Arvika rack that mounts over the propane tanks and I'll never have another rear mount no matter how strong they might be.

[rockhillmanor]

westend wrote:
IMO, it's not so much of welded to the frame or not but how it's welded to the frame and the dimensions of the parts involved. Some of these ultralights have very thin bumpers and the welds are only a small filet weld to the frame. There is a very real chance of the bumper material tearing or an individual weld failing when a large amount of force is put on them.

Thanks, so people "should" be careful with TT bumpers. And do their homework before using their square RV bumper racks.

[fairfaxjim]

westend wrote:
IMO, it's not so much of welded to the frame or not but how it's welded to the frame and the dimensions of the parts involved. Some of these ultralights have very thin bumpers and the welds are only a small filet weld to the frame. There is a very real chance of the bumper material tearing or an individual weld failing when a large amount of force is put on them.

This. I had a welding shop add a piece of 4" square tubing between the back of the bumper and the back frame crossmember on either side of the bolt on hitch receiver. That adds a lot of stability to the bumper and reduces the flexing to near zero. It also adds 32" of weld to the bumper and to the trailer frame. I was not comfortable with the flexing of the bumper with the bike rack before adding reinforcement. Now I don't worry about it. It wasn't a very expensive mod for the peace of mind it gives me.

I also only carry two bikes and move the mounts in on the bike rack as close to the bumper as possible to reduce the length of the lever arm.

[westend]

IMO, it's not so much of welded to the frame or not but how it's welded to the frame and the dimensions of the parts involved. Some of these ultralights have very thin bumpers and the welds are only a small filet weld to the frame. There is a very real chance of the bumper material tearing or an individual weld failing when a large amount of force is put on them.

[rockhillmanor]

Arn wrote:
I constantly read posts warning against mounting a bike rack on the rear bumper. People say they've seen bumpers & bike racks laying on the side of the road. People say they've seen bikes dragging down the road because the bumper twisted. I've been a driver/passenger for over 56 years & I have never seen these things. I have camped for over 40 years and over 10 of those years I've towed an ultralite.

I constantly see bike racks on the back of ultralites & I constantly talk to the owners who constantly say they've never had or seen a problem. I know, someone is going to say "Go ahead & try it bright boy & I'll be the first to laugh when you post that you lost your bikes".

Well I'm going to try it. A 4" square bumper welded to a solid steel frame should be able to take the torque & bouncing of 80lbs of bikes.

I have also talked to numerous dealers who say they have never had a customer say his bumper came off because of a bike rack. From this day forward I will no longer listen to the fear mongers of the world, & if you see a bumper with 2 bikes attached I sure hope they're not mine.

X2

This is the KEY FACTOR, "welded to the frame".

I carry a huge MH tire mounted on the bumper AND I have a bike rack also mounted on the same bumper that I carry very heavy ex-pens on.......10 years and counting and have not lost either one of them! :B

I suspect the the bikes/racks in a ditch are from the owner NOT mounting the bumper rack and/or the bikes properly. And honestly I think the ones you see on the side of the road are from the ladder mounts.

That said:
When I post what I do and suggest these types of mounting racks for a square bumper I am reminded that not all RV's especially TT's and FW's have a welded to the frame square bumper.

Curious how many of you out there have bumpers that are "not" welded to the frame?

[ScottG]

Dealers told you? Well of course they're not going to say their bumpers fall off - DUH! Reminds me of the tire dealer who claimed he never saw a Carlisle tire failure.
You can do a search on here about the subject and read about people like ME, who actually had a bumper torn off that mighty solid steel frame. We tell the story in an attempt to keep others from suffering the same fate. You don't sound like the type who wants to learn from others experience though and you even sport a chip on your shoulder for it for some odd reason.

So go for it.

[dewey02]

Since you aren't looking for any advice and your mind is made up, let us know how that works out for you. And good luck!

[Francesca_Knowl]

This is why I leave a lot of stopping room between me and the vehicle ahead. You'd be surprised what kind of salvage one can find on the highways! 🙂

[downtheroad]

Sounds like a plan to me...oh, and by the way, you need a bigger tow vehicle for that trailer of yours. You are risking the safety of your family and everyone else on the road......

:):)

[powderman426]

If your seriously going to do it, I would suggest that you use a rack where the bikes are held by the wheels instead of hanging. I found out the hard way. The wife said what's that jingling sound?? I looked at the rear view camera and couldn't see the bikes. Several miles of dragging them down the road was not good for them. The stress of bouncing had broken the weld on the lower part of the rack. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.