Receiver for Bike Rack on TT ?

[KMP44]

Originally Posted by wbillar

In any case we need to figure this Bicycle thing out as I'm not going backward.

Here is a picture of a bike rack that fits around the drawbar of your hitch. Not the best picture, but we bought one similar to this at CW 5 or 6 years ago. Then you can carry the bikes on the back of the tow vehicle. No extensions or anything to worry about, it just has a "sleeve" that slips onto the drawbar and a set screw to hold it. Then the rest of the bike rack is removable when not in use.

It says in fits all standard 2" drawbars, but I found that it is not totally true. Apparently the hole location on all receiver hitches isn't exactly the same because this worked fine on my Explorer, then moved the drawbar with rack mount on it to the F-150 and couldn't get the holes in the hitch and drawbar to line up to put the pin in. Then bought the new TT and the new WDH, and now the "sleeve" for the bike rack mount on the new drawbar I can get the pin through the hitch/drawbar.

So not a sure thing it will fit, and you have to be mindful of the tongue weight you are adding, but this makes for a good way to carry bikes. We haven't had any clearance issues between the bikes and trailer, and easy to load/unload.

[Herk7769]

I would investigate your options, but there are many threads here about why bumper and aftermarket hitch bike racks are a bad idea for lite and ultra-lite frames.

Lite and Ultra-lite frames are designed to sustain only so much flexing from road bounce and no more. They are built with the flex from the rated load and camper length only.

There are other components that are effected when a frame flexes more than the designed load and moment (distance from the axle to the load). The camper walls for example only have just the studs needed to give rigidity for the designed frame flex.

Having a bike or generator rack that extends past the bumper (with a moment well past the designed distance) causes frames to flex beyond their designed tolerance and decreases frame life considerably.

Bumper welds have also been known to fail due to the twisting of the bumper from excessive bumper mount loads.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by KMP44

Here is a picture of a bike rack that fits around the drawbar of your hitch. Not the best picture, but we bought one similar to this at CW 5 or 6 years ago. Then you can carry the bikes on the back of the tow vehicle. No extensions or anything to worry about, it just has a "sleeve" that slips onto the drawbar and a set screw to hold it. Then the rest of the bike rack is removable when not in use.

It says in fits all standard 2" drawbars, but I found that it is not totally true. Apparently the hole location on all receiver hitches isn't exactly the same because this worked fine on my Explorer, then moved the drawbar with rack mount on it to the F-150 and couldn't get the holes in the hitch and drawbar to line up to put the pin in. Then bought the new TT and the new WDH, and now the "sleeve" for the bike rack mount on the new drawbar I can get the pin through the hitch/drawbar.

So not a sure thing it will fit, and you have to be mindful of the tongue weight you are adding, but this makes for a good way to carry bikes. We haven't had any clearance issues between the bikes and trailer, and easy to load/unload.

can't see the pic very well, but if it's what i think it is, this is not rated to use with a WDH.

[Bikeski]

We just completed a 10,000 mile trip to AK with our new 2013 Rockwood 2304 with original tires. No problems with tires and just under 20% wear. Do not under stand what dealer was talking about trying to sell you an "upgrade".

As far as the bikes, I too was disappointed to find out about the rear bumper not strong enough, this after the dealer installed a receiver. We found that the easiest way to transport our expensive carbon fiber bikes was to put bike covers over them and slide them in the camper and bungy cord them around the couch. No problems even bouncing over the AlCan in the Yukon Territory.

Other than that the 2304 is a great little unit and served us very well on our trip. Off to Cape Cod this weekend for the last trip of the season.

[KMP44]

Originally Posted by bikendan

can't see the pic very well, but if it's what i think it is, this is not rated to use with a WDH.

No idea why it would not be "rated" for use with a WDH. Doesn't affect anything on the hitch. Works fine for my son's bike.

I also remember seeing a mod on here where somebody took the cushions off the dinette while traveling and had a plywood base with some cradles to hold bikes on the dinete. It was pretty slick.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by KMP44

No idea why it would not be "rated" for use with a WDH. Doesn't affect anything on the hitch. Works fine for my son's bike.

I also remember seeing a mod on here where somebody took the cushions off the dinette while traveling and had a plywood base with some cradles to hold bikes on the dinete. It was pretty slick.

the pic you posted is only a thumbnail and i can't look at it closely.
maybe if you posted the brand and model, i could find a bigger/better pic of it.
i can only make out a regular drawbar and the rack but can't see how the two fit together.

if it's the one that slide over the WDH's drawbar, it wouldn't work with my Equal-i-zer due to the vertical welded braces that prevented the rack to slide over the drawbar far enough.