Rockwood and rear bike rack

[FloridaPhil]

I am glad you didn't use the bumper! The rack and the bumper would have been bouncing behind you down the highway in 30 minutes!

[THESCUBADOC]

ur right,,,the one that they replaced it with is behemoth secured with Gussets, only draw back is no place for the POOPIE hose

[Lloydg]

How about some pictures?

[THESCUBADOC]

will try to get them posted after the new year,,,headed out early in the morning,,,,
did someone say CAMPING

[awellis3]

Originally Posted by herk7769

The frame of a given length is made to carry the structure above it at its maximum gross rated weight for its life expectancy.

Anytime you change the moment arm (weight/load distance from the center of gravity) of the frame, you decrease the life expectancy of the frame.

Locating a load (like a bike rack) beyond the planned distance from the wheels, will cause flex beyond the design limit of the frame. The composite walls of the Ultra-Lite and Lite campers have only enough stiffness built in to be structurally sound at the rated load and with that amount of frame flex.

Sidewall cracks at wall penetrations (like slides) is inevitable when the frame flexes beyond its planned amount.

If what Herk says is true, (and since it bears the stamp of logic ...)no amount of fabricating, welding, stregthening, etc. will alter the fact that more weight is being added to the frame at a point that is farthest from the suspension (increase of moment arm). His point is that the frame itself isn't designed to carry that load, and all the extra flex the load will induce has a minute but accumulative effect on the trailer's overall structure.
I believe I will continue to carry my bikes in my truck bed.

Teach

[Engauge]

Originally Posted by awellis3

If what Herk says is true, (and since it bears the stamp of logic ...)no amount of fabricating, welding, stregthening, etc. will alter the fact that more weight is being added to the frame at a point that is farthest from the suspension (increase of moment arm). His point is that the frame itself isn't designed to carry that load, and all the extra flex the load will induce has a minute but accumulative effect on the trailer's overall structure.
I believe I will continue to carry my bikes in my truck bed.

Teach

I agree with the statements about the increase of moment arm causing stress on the frame. Put two adults in the fold out bed at the rear of a hybrid. The weight of the adults would be more than two bikes and the distance from the suspension would be greater than any bike rack would be. These combined forces must have been calculated into the frame design. The bike rack would generate more bounce but with less weight and a shorter distance from the suspension. Realistically is a properly mounted and secured bike rack going to increase the load characteristics to the frame that much more?

[THESCUBADOC]

seems to me, that bike racks for ladders which are commonly sold all over especially at camping world, would have the same logical effect,,,,, also seems to me that if damage happened, and it was under warrant an if Forest River did not honor it for that reason someone would have a great law suit with camping world ...Just sayin
I'm no engineer or anyhing like that just average Joe consumer but it seems like I'd have some good grounds here

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by THESCUBADOC

seems to me, that bike racks for ladders which are commonly sold all over especially at camping world, would have the same logical effect,,,,, also seems to me that if damage happened, and it was under warrant an if Forest River did not honor it for that reason someone would have a great law suit with camping world ...Just sayin
I'm no engineer or anyhing like that just average Joe consumer but it seems like I'd have some good grounds here

I can safely say that when my buddy drug his bikes + spare tire down the road due to a clamp-on-the-bumper bike rack that twisted the bumper, no warranty came to his rescue nor did he pursue any recourse against the seller of the product. It was coin out of his pocket to have the welds fixed, bikes repaired and spare tire fixed up.

[B and B]

I went the opposite way with out bikes. Bought a Thule rack and put them on top of the King Ranch. This does cause some wind noise when doing over 65 mph but we are towing a 5th wheel and should be doing the speed limit so no issue here.

Brian

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by Engauge

I agree with the statements about the increase of moment arm causing stress on the frame. Put two adults in the fold out bed at the rear of a hybrid. The weight of the adults would be more than two bikes and the distance from the suspension would be greater than any bike rack would be. These combined forces must have been calculated into the frame design. The bike rack would generate more bounce but with less weight and a shorter distance from the suspension. Realistically is a properly mounted and secured bike rack going to increase the load characteristics to the frame that much more?

Not to beat a "dead horse" (IMO), but there is a large difference between a static load and a dynamic one.

Taking a fully loaded camper set up on a site and then put 4 adults in it causes much less cumulative damage than that same weight increase in payload bouncing down the road for hours on end.

Or to use your example two adults on the fold out bed sleeping and the same two doing jumping jacks on it.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by herk7769

Or to use your example two adults on the fold out bed sleeping and the same two doing "jumping jacks" on it.

"jumping jacks" is that what the cool kids are calling it these days?

[JaDa]

The dealer welded a bike receiver to my 2604ws prior to my taking ownership. I started having all sorts of issues with the camper. It was shipped back to factory and they let me know the warranty was void. I had to agree to have the hitch cut off before they reinstated the warranty. I also had issues with the back door not closing properly when I was carrying bikes. It was periodically rubbing on the frame. Since I had the bike receiver taken off I have not had those issues. Bottom line....the factory builds the camper and if they say it is not designed for bike carrier then it is not designed for bike carrier. I now put my bikes in the camper with no problem. I will never again alow for a bike receiver to be installed on any ultra-lite camper that I own.

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by JaDa

The dealer welded a bike receiver to my 2604ws prior to my taking ownership. I started having all sorts of issues with the camper. It was shipped back to factory and they let me know the warranty was void. I had to agree to have the hitch cut off before they reinstated the warranty. I also had issues with the back door not closing properly when I was carrying bikes. It was periodically rubbing on the frame. Since I had the bike receiver taken off I have not had those issues. Bottom line....the factory builds the camper and if they say it is not designed for bike carrier then it is not designed for bike carrier. I now put my bikes in the camper with no problem. I will never again alow for a bike receiver to be installed on any ultra-lite camper that I own.

They welded it to the frame or bumper ?

TURBS

golf cart safety instructor.

[JaDa]

The bike receiver was welded to the frame. The dealer did a very perfessional install and I was very pleased. Unfortunately Forest Rivers wasn't pleased with the dealer. The dealer paid to have the receiver hitch cut off and the dealer refunded my money. I had ordered the camper and requested the hitch not knowing it was illegal. The dealer should have caught it. I didn't explain why the camper was returned to the factory. I just bought the camper and the first week we had the following issues: The bottom of the super slide was rubbing the frame, the micro-wave was making a noise, the stove fan quit working, the shower fixture was leaking inside the wall, the rear grap handle was loose from the frame, the shower gasket had torn off the bottom of the shower door, part of the rear screen door gasket was missing and the awning was streched and tubing sagging. They also had to replace the slide topper awing for the same problem. Now you know the rest of the story. Since we have gotten the camper back we are extremely please with all the work that was performed. But I can tell you I have had a lot of stressful moments and very disappointed with the workmanship.

[albuilder]

Well here's what I hall with mine. 10,000 miles no problem.

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by albuilder

Well here's what I hall with mine. 10,000 miles no problem.

Seeing as how you do not tell us what kind of trailer you have or what your rack looks like, we cannot comment.

[ronb707]

Originally Posted by albuilder

Well here's what I hall with mine. 10,000 miles no problem.

Could you fill us in on some of the details of your success? Like, kind of trailer, type of bike rack, how is it attached to the trailer, etc. Pics would even help. This information will help me and others when we get ready to put one on.

[albuilder]

It won't let me post a picture.

[albuilder]

Try this.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps8ab2463e.jpg

[B and B]

Al,

Are using a slider hitch here?

B