Bike rack options

[erdvm1]

I have a kodiak 172E 2014
I am looking for options to carry bikes in the bike of the trailer
Here is a link that has pictures that shows the bumper and the spare tire.

What options will work without potentially damaging the trailer
I've seen some after market 2 inch receivers that bolt onto bumpers but warned "do not use on travel trailer"

I've also seen bike racks that drape over the spare but am uncertain how strong the attachment of this small HTT spare is.

Advice and or pics are always appreciated.

[epeters]

Yep, with dry wood, it's not very heavy. Most of the time there is little wood or other stuff, just bikes.

[PAThwacker]

epeters wrote:
While not on the back of the trailer (for reasons already stated), I wanted my truck's bed free for wood or other stuff and I didn't want to invest a lot in a rack so I built mine.

See this part of the Mods thread

Ever weigh that truck with all the stuff in the bed?

[PAThwacker]

The roof of the tow vehicle. I was originally a stickler for the front hitch but my wife refuses to travel like that. We lost $3K worth of bikes in 2012 on a front hitch collision.

[epeters]

While not on the back of the trailer (for reasons already stated), I wanted my truck's bed free for wood or other stuff and I didn't want to invest a lot in a rack so I built mine.

See this part of the Mods thread

[f150camper]

I am putting 4 bikes over my truck bed. Don't have a better picture, but see below.
The advantage is that I still can use my truck bed under the tonneau for whatever else we carry.

[knowles24]

(Accidentally double posted.)

[knowles24]

PeteK-Hou wrote:

knowles24 wrote:
Here's my custom version of a bicycle rack mounted to the front tongue of a travel trailer.
My friend and I are interested in possibly building these on a custom order basis one day in the future.

Very nice bike rack, but it wouldn't work on a hybrid since you would need to remove it in order to fold down the front bunk. Great work though and there could be some $$ to be made.

-pete

Thanks! I was talking with a buddy of mine that has a hybrid camper. We are probably going to build him a shorter A-frame with a taller bike rack. He is going to have to remove the bike rack when they get to the camp site, so his will just have a pin in the coupler/receiver on top of the custom A-frame instead of bolts.

[PeteK-Hou]

knowles24 wrote:
Here's my custom version of a bicycle rack mounted to the front tongue of a travel trailer.
My friend and I are interested in possibly building these on a custom order basis one day in the future.

Very nice bike rack, but it wouldn't work on a hybrid since you would need to remove it in order to fold down the front bunk. Great work though and there could be some $$ to be made.

-pete

[knowles24]

Here's my custom version of a bicycle rack mounted to the front tongue of a travel trailer. I have built 2 units so far- one for my camper and one for someone who saw mine and wanted one. They are overbuilt and mine holds 4 bikes easily. Clears the bed of the truck in the worst possible turning scenario. An SUV would need to have the clearance checked to be sure of clearance during a sharp turn. There are many different shapes and sizes of campers and vehicles, but I think it would clear the majority of both with no problems. The bikes don't budge at all during traveling.

It took me many many hours to design and build these, but the ease of loading (compared to rear ladder bike rack) and the peace of mind I have (compared to the bumper mounted bike rack) made it well worth the time, money, and effort!

My friend and I are interested in possibly building these on a custom order basis one day in the future.


Here's the first unit with a universal 2" receiver and bike rack:






Here's the second unit with a permanent bike rack:

[PAThwacker]

carrying 4 mt bikes is easy:

$200 front hitch/swagman 3 bike (really 2 mt. bike)

$500 to $600 thule roof rack, 2 bigmouth bike racks.
use them 98% of time when not camping and zero expensive mods to a camper you may not own two years later. I am 8 years on thule 450 feet, 25 years on bars, 25 years stand up bike tray, and have thule racks on all three of our vehicles. They are used for canoe portage, roof pod (25 gallon gray tank/matt), bike portage, ladders, and oversized loads.

All vehicles sharing thule components and capabilities.

[bikendan]

erdvm1 wrote:

this rack won't work on an Equal-i-zer WDH, i tried it.
don't know about other WDH's.

Regarding the equalizer WDH. Can you explain why it didnt work? Thats the WDH I have.
Thanks Much

this rack can't clamp on to the Equal-i-zer's "stinger" that goes into the receiver. there is a welded brace plate under it, that prevents this rack from attaching.

i also found this rack somewhat flimsy for my bikes, especially at the clamp area.

[erdvm1]

this rack won't work on an Equal-i-zer WDH, i tried it.
don't know about other WDH's.

Regarding the equalizer WDH. Can you explain why it didnt work? Thats the WDH I have.
Thanks Much

[bikendan]

PeteK-Hou wrote:
You didn't specify how many bikes you want to carry, but I just purchased This bike rack. I've used it one time, and it works as advertised. It's a bit cumbersome getting the bikes on the rack with the trailer hitched up. You can't mount the bikes before hitching up the trailer because they get in the way of the tongue crank, but I'm switching to an electric jack so that should not be a problem after that.

this rack won't work on an Equal-i-zer WDH, i tried it.
don't know about other WDH's.

[PeteK-Hou]

You didn't specify how many bikes you want to carry, but I just purchased This bike rack. I've used it one time, and it works as advertised. It's a bit cumbersome getting the bikes on the rack with the trailer hitched up. You can't mount the bikes before hitching up the trailer because they get in the way of the tongue crank, but I'm switching to an electric jack so that should not be a problem after that.