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Old 04-25-2013, 12:36 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 4Gcampers View Post
I'm confused here. I have been using a Reese four bike hitch rack, the was previously used on our SUV. It lowers to allow a rear hatch to be opened. Also, is has a long draw bar with a ball at the end to tow up to 2500 lbs. How can all these mfgs. claim that the products can not be used on RV's? The class 3 hitch on the Sunseeker is 5k/ 500lb tongue weight rated. I have a hard time believing that the bike rack or the hitch could be damaged by a bike rack, when the hitch is rated to pull a toad. And to say the extra length of an RV has something to do with it? Makes no sense, but I'm not an engineer. Maybe they are referring to people who are trying to mount a rack to the rear bumper of a MH or TT. We all know most of those bumpers are to light to mount weight to.
also not an engineer, but from what I understand (from FRF) it's not the integrity of the hitch itself, it's the bounce of the vehicle. Apparently our Class C's ride like a school bus in the rear b/c it's farther away from the wheels than on an SUV.

So a quick bump in an SUV won't jiggle the bikes or break the folding arm on the bike rack. But the same bump in a Class C (or any RV) has a lot more bounce at the bike rack - causing caution statements about the folding bike rake and/or catastrophic results of bikes poking holes in the rear or marring up the finish.
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Old 04-25-2013, 01:12 PM   #22
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On the fold down models replace the pullout pin with a bolt and nylon locknut. Makes the rack secure no shaking at all.
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Old 04-25-2013, 02:47 PM   #23
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Interesting. I have the Reese model 63125. It's a 4 bike fold down. The online manual says not use behind TT or 5er because it also has a tow hitch. Guess people might triple tow. But it also says later that vehicles with "stiff" suspension should be avoided. Last I checked my 2900 is pretty stiff. And it says the weight limit is 100 lbs. 4 bikes is easily 120. Perplexed.
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Old 05-01-2013, 02:05 PM   #24
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Anybody use roof mounted bike racks (for the toad)? We actually have 6 bikes and a 5 hitch mount rack for our van when we are at home. We are not going drive a 32 ft RV and tow a van and then add that rack...that would be crazy! But we would like to take the kids bikes (4) on a x-country trip. I'm considering 2 on top of the toad (Odyssey) and 2 inside it?
Ideas?
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Old 05-09-2013, 10:02 AM   #25
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I have a 3010DS. We purchased a Reese two bike carrier from Walmart and they also have a four bike carrier. The carrier is easy to assemble and fits into the receiver hitch on the back of the motorhome. I found it easy to mount the bikes on the carrier and they stayed very secure on our recent trip from Pennsylvannia to Orlando. The only thing I had to do extra was to add shims above and below the bike carrier adapter for the receiver hitch to keep the carrier from moving up and down. So far I am very satisfied with the carrier.


Get the Reese Carry Power SportWing Hitch Mount Bike Carrier at an always low price from Walmart.com. Save money. Live better.
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Old 05-12-2013, 07:17 PM   #26
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I use the Lund with rail and bike attachment. Has worked well carrying three bikes.
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Old 05-12-2013, 10:07 PM   #27
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We have the Camping world set up on the rear ladder for 2 bikes. They're easy to fit and on sale right now.
It worked Ok on our TT for 3 years, so took it off and mounted on the MH. Apparently I didn't load it right the last time and scratched up the rear cap so next time I'll be more careful loading. Wife was following and said the bikes were stable on the rack.
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Old 05-12-2013, 10:21 PM   #28
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Quote:
Originally Posted by paulmlac View Post
Sorry in advance for the long post. I have a lot of info to share on this topic. I spent more time than I probably should have last fall researching bike racks!

I got a Swagman XP 4 Standard (model number 64940). It's not sexy but real sturdy.

Here are some of the things I learned:

- Yakima, Thule, or Saris were all ruled out based on the text below that I copied / pasted from their respective websites at the time:

Yakima: "hitch racks not for use on rvs, motor homes or trailers".

Thule: "Thule does not test the hitch carriers on motorhomes as the length of the vehicle puts extra stress on the drawbar which will cause the rack to fail. We suggest that you check with your local rv dealer for alternatives."

Saris: "we do not recommend the use of the Saris rack products on RVs, campers or trailers, and doing so will void the warranty

(I know folks use each of these brands on RV's without any problems. I simply copied / pasted what their websites said.)

- The only website that I found any supportive text toward using on RV's was on the Swagman website. They said the following at the time:
"Recommended for the back of RV's"
(note that it was just for certain products - see the next point)

- Furthermore, the ONLY Swagman products that were OK at the time for RV's are single arm hitch racks that are stationary (i.e., they do not tilt down to get into an SUV hatch, etc).

- Kind of made sense as I thought about it. The more pieces attached together the greater the chance for additional stress on the system. This system really only has two components. Kind of a less is more type of thing.

- So while I ideally wanted something with some more stuff (two arms to better support the bikes, tilt down feature, or a platform system, etc) this choice really looked to be the only one called out as acceptable for RV's.

Hopefully this is useful to others.
The swagmans are great
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