bike rack

[Willybgh]

Pictures sent.

For anyone else that might be interested in the bike rack on the front of the trailer mounted to the tongue. I used 1" square tubing for the frame and went to Princess Auto for the receiver ($5.00 on sale) and welded that onto the tubing frame to receve the bike rack.


Chris

[rthrbelsewhere]

Interesting, your battery was behind the propane tanks. Mine is the opposite....but I do like the bike rack on the hybrid, especially since it doesn't interfere with the front bunk. Very nice work!

joe

[M109Rrider]

Somewhere I seen a pic of a bike rack mounted to the front of a 5'er. It attached to the pin box. Was that on this site?

[prof_fate]

This is our trailer with a factory option of a rear carrier - no problem putting bikes on this or lots of other stuff, and it has a reciever looking deal on it for what I suppose would be a receiver type bike rack.
Saw several trailers on the lot with this option.

[Herk7769]

If you look under it; the frame part of the hitch goes almost all the way to the rear wheels to stiffen the ultra-light metal of the subfloor and frame. The aftermarket one from Curt has a short, about a foot, piece that is either bolted or welded to the frame. The factory one was about 4 feet long, if I recall correctly, and welded it's length to the existing frame.

[Smokyroo]

Seems to me the demand for such an application would be surely noticed by companies like FR and others and they would just beef up the bumper specifically to carry a load of 4 to 6 bikes.

I like the rack on the tongue and will into this idea when we get our hybrid in March. I must admit though, our road bikes are carried inside the trailer if to prevent theft and keep them out of the elements for no other reasons alone besides not having a bike rack. My Tundra has this rail system factory installed and I purchased 3 Yakama bike mounts designed for it and it is secured. We usually keep our mountain bikes on those.

My fear of putting bikes on the front of the vehicle is a collision. If your bikes are not real expensive i guess it is no worries.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by Smokyroo

My fear of putting bikes on the front of the vehicle is a collision. If your bikes are not real expensive i guess it is no worries.

If you hit something with the front of your truck, the cost of the bikes will be the least of your worries.

As to a stronger rear bumper mount; FR are you listening? How about an "approved" solution for those of us who want to add a generator back there?

[rockwood06]

Originally Posted by Smokyroo

Seems to me the demand for such an application would be surely noticed by companies like FR and others and they would just beef up the bumper specifically to carry a load of 4 to 6 bikes.

I like the rack on the tongue and will into this idea when we get our hybrid in March. I must admit though, our road bikes are carried inside the trailer if to prevent theft and keep them out of the elements for no other reasons alone besides not having a bike rack. My Tundra has this rail system factory installed and I purchased 3 Yakama bike mounts designed for it and it is secured. We usually keep our mountain bikes on those.

My fear of putting bikes on the front of the vehicle is a collision. If your bikes are not real expensive i guess it is no worries.

The bikes on the front would not be my concern no matter how much they cost in the event of a front end collision, i would have bigger worries if i slam into someone with a camper attached to the truck, my first concern would be the people i hit and my family and the second thing is how soon i would loose everything i worked for, the bikes would have no value.

If i had bikes on the front of the truck the only thing that would concern me is if for some reason the bikes and or rack came off of the front of the truck and i ran over them at high speed then this could cause me to loose control and cause a real problem on the road for all around me.

[Smokyroo]

Rockwood06, My middle child nearly died at birth when he had meningitis and it has left him severely disabled. Last summer my wife and three kids were coming home from Florida. She had to stay 2 weeks longer than planned as her dad suffered a stroke. I returned home to our busineses. She was towing our ultralight TT and a semi-truck came blowing by her at like Mach 2.2 and she lost control of the vehicle. She slammed into the guard rail bounced off jack knifed the rig and went across 3 lanes of traffic. Our TT was totaled. I thank God nobody was injured inside the SUV or anyone else on the road. A second here or there and I could have lost my entire family. Given my concerns for my bikes perhaps it might seem like stuff is more important than life...I apologize if it comes off that way. Whether we are on the road or on the water or in the woods, my crew comes first.

How do I write this without coming off arrogant or snobby? Some folks have motor cycles, some have boats, some have other stuff. I enjoy biking, alot and I invest in my liefe sport like others invest in their hobbies and interests. My carbon fiber road bike is worth around $4,200 and my mountain bike costs me about $2,500. My wife's bikes while not as expensive, they are expensive. While my truck and so forth are bigger worries, a collision, even a minor one for me is not worth the risks for me to put my bikes there. Ya'll can do what ever you see fit, it is your rig, your stuff. I am just say'n...to each his own .



I need a toy hauler that is not a "toy hauler" in the traditional sense because of all the bikes and the few kayaks we bring camping. Having a solid bumper to mount bikes and roof that could be used to put yack racks would be awesome......

One trip to the Keys we put our sit on tops in our boat and the vibration down I 95 caused the yaks to rub the boat seats and it damaged them. We do have a roof rack for the SUV and thats where they go now....

[prof_fate]

If you hit something at speed then yeah, the bikes won't be a concern. But a very minor fender bender and you can trash the bikes and do no other real damage -plus they add 2 or 3 feet to the front of your truck and sometime you may need that 3 feet to stop and if it's filled with bikes, well, bye bye bikes.

If you have the bikes on the back and hit something at speed they're likely to come off and be destroyed anyway. The forces in a crash are instant and tremendous - people get thrown out of cars, loose things in cars get thrown hundreds of feet after going through a window. a bike in the TT will be thrown around as well as the contents of the TT.

Best plan is just don't hit anything!

[MtnGuy]

Bob, with your Tundra rail system and Yak Racks, sounds like you carry your bikes similar to the way I do.





In my case, I fabricated some adapters to fit some Yak Racks I had from a previous application to connect to my TracRac system.

[Smokyroo]

Mtn Guy, I have seen something like this made by Thule and I am considering it for the future. I use my truck for work too hauling stuff around and I would like a rack system that I can easily remove as needed.

Before we got a camper I bought a cool kayak trailer that uses Yakama bars and we have bike attachments for it and so forth. It has a 7 foot long box and we put our tents and so forth in it.. We use it every now and then.

You right Prof Fate...anykind of major collision and the stuff is gone...I think of a few minor reasons why not to put bikes there... in Florida they have love bugs...those critters are nasty and would cover a bike. Then there is rain and water will be pushed into the bearing seals and so forth. There is no perfect way to carry a bike, but in my opinion the front of the vehicle is the least perfect.

[Willybgh]

I use to carry the bikes inside the trailer, but found that it was a pain if we wanted to use the trailer while travelling. At least with the bikes on the tongues we can use the trailer for lunch etc. while driving and I can keep an eye on the bikes in rear view mirror.

If your bikes are worth a bit of money, then what about a cover over the bikes while they are on the bike rack? I have seen some people with their bikes covered while hauling them. I also run a cable and lock trhough our bikes, but that is to keep the amateur at bay.

Chris

[Smokyroo]

Chris,
Yakima makes a thing called a B String. It covers the seats and bars. I think it is made of neoprene. Putting them in the trailer is not a great solution as the bikes need to be secured and the pedals and stuff need to be wrapped to keep them from tearing up the interior ... I think you onto something there though....

[SoundMan]

All this talk about bike's and stuff makes me wonder if I should keep my toy hauler?
We made a trip last winter to Fla. on the roof of the truck was the YAK in the garage of the camper was all the tables & chairs, outdoor kitchen cabinet, bikes, and lot of other stuff. Makes me wonder
Oh yea the garage turned into a second bedroom for my mom and eldest daughter.
I know that the 3065 will give me a lot more living space but where will I put all the stuff. And no bikes on the rear bumper will be a problem.

[Danimal]

has anybody used a ladder mount bike rack ?
if so how did that work out ?

[Triguy]

Originally Posted by Smokyroo

How do I write this without coming off arrogant or snobby? Some folks have motor cycles, some have boats, some have other stuff. I enjoy biking, alot and I invest in my liefe sport like others invest in their hobbies and interests. My carbon fiber road bike is worth around $4,200 and my mountain bike costs me about $2,500. My wife's bikes while not as expensive, they are expensive. While my truck and so forth are bigger worries, a collision, even a minor one for me is not worth the risks for me to put my bikes there. Ya'll can do what ever you see fit, it is your rig, your stuff. I am just say'n...to each his own .

Smokyroo - I understand and agree completely with you about your bikes. My wife and I race (TT and triathlon) and also have a lot invested. Plus - they're fitted exactly and replacing them in the case of a minor accident would be a pain.