Bicycle carriers

[2306Rick]

as usual, lots of info & opinions...
i went to a local place that only does trailers - they were happy to beef up the frame by welding all sort of cross support bars, all for only $675, a welding shoppe wasn't much better.
after all this i figure having the bikes in the back of the truck, albeit a minor annoyance is not only free it's also guaranteed not to bugger up my TT.

[Berkshireba]

I ordered a 2013 sv291 with the Diamond package that includes a " fold down bike rack" that I assume will be similar to the photo in the thread: Palimino, Sabre rack issues". sorry, don't know how to link with my iPad.

[Crusader]

Had a bike rack receiver ( for a Swagman # 64400 ) welded on the back of my fifth wheel today. The welder ( a friend ) has 40 plus years of experience of fabrication welding. Before he started, he looked at all the factory welds. He said all looked good and will be fine for a bike rack. He stated that the most important thing is, not to have the rack stick out to far ( forum effect ).

[cbvp]

Originally Posted by Crusader

Had a bike rack receiver ( for a Swagman # 64400 ) welded on the back of my fifth wheel today. The welder ( a friend ) has 40 plus years of experience of fabrication welding. Before he started, he looked at all the factory welds. He said all looked good and will be fine for a bike rack. He stated that the most important thing is, not to have the rack stick out to far ( forum effect ).

Looks to me your welder (a friend) did a great job for you.

The way he braced the bumper to stop it from starting to twist down due to the bike weight is the key to not having problems.


C.B.

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by Crusader

Had a bike rack receiver ( for a Swagman # 64400 ) welded on the back of my fifth wheel today. The welder ( a friend ) has 40 plus years of experience of fabrication welding. Before he started, he looked at all the factory welds. He said all looked good and will be fine for a bike rack. He stated that the most important thing is, not to have the rack stick out to far ( forum effect ).

Give a report of how this holds up.
I'd be curious to know.


Turbs

[Pirogue]

As a slight detour on this thread, I noticed a couple replys that spoke of the bumper end caps coming out while traveling. Everytime I stop I find the drivers side end cap trying to come out of mine. It hasn't fallen off yet though I assume it is inevitable. I was wondering, do y'all think this is from twisting of my bumper as mentioned? My unit came with the spare (16" so it is fairly heavy) and a very light weight gas grill holder mounted to the bumper from the dealer. The grill is inside storage until needed. I hate to think that the spare could conceivably be too heavy for the bumper. I don't really have a lot of other options for carrying the spare.

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by Pirogue

As a slight detour on this thread, I noticed a couple replys that spoke of the bumper end caps coming out while traveling. Everytime I stop I find the drivers side end cap trying to come out of mine. It hasn't fallen off yet though I assume it is inevitable. I was wondering, do y'all think this is from twisting of my bumper as mentioned? My unit came with the spare (16" so it is fairly heavy) and a very light weight gas grill holder mounted to the bumper from the dealer. The grill is inside storage until needed. I hate to think that the spare could conceivably be too heavy for the bumper. I don't really have a lot of other options for carrying the spare.

What you described is what's happening perfectly.
The spare along with the grill holder twists the lightweight bumper and that's why your caps shimmy out.

Which is why I'd like to see how this bike rack deal works out.

Turbs

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by Pirogue

As a slight detour on this thread, I noticed a couple replys that spoke of the bumper end caps coming out while traveling. Everytime I stop I find the drivers side end cap trying to come out of mine. It hasn't fallen off yet though I assume it is inevitable. I was wondering, do y'all think this is from twisting of my bumper as mentioned? My unit came with the spare (16" so it is fairly heavy) and a very light weight gas grill holder mounted to the bumper from the dealer. The grill is inside storage until needed. I hate to think that the spare could conceivably be too heavy for the bumper. I don't really have a lot of other options for carrying the spare.

Yes, your bumper is flexing under load. Examine your welds very carefully for cracks. They may look like these.

[DualSport]

My first RV trip in 1996 had our 2 bicycles on a bike rack on the rear bumper and we left Ontario on Dec 27th in a snow storm. I didn't think any more about the bikes until a week later when I went to take them off the rack in Florida. I couldn't believe the mess they were in (no bike cover) and we ended up throwing them away after the trip as they were rusted and salt-correded so badly. Since then I've always carried them INSIDE the trailer.

Our next trailer was a large 5th wheel so they easily went in the basement, but with the FR Grand Surveyor I found it worked well to carry them on the "collapsed" dinette. I made a plywood board about 3'x2' with two dummy axles on the top and non-skid sheet on the underside. Removed the front wheels and bolted the bikes onto the dummy front axles and bungeed the front wheels between the bikes. We did about 60,000 Kms with this setup and no problems.

When I got the Lacrosse recently, I was going to add a hitch mounted rack (as there's no dinette, only a free-standing table) but I was concerned about the long term structural stability. What I found I can do is to use the same idea of a non-skid board to hold the front forks and use a board between the sofa and the table, and one between the table and the slide wall. With PT's "Oversized MAX Living Room Slide Out" there's more than enough rome to do this . It's a bit inconvenient when you're travelling but we tend to use restaurants rather than eat in the trailer while towing, so it works for us.

Bob

[Pirogue]

Its pretty disappointing that I now have to worry about this issue but at least I now know something I didn't before and can keep an eye on it. I am not sure what I could do about it though. I could perhaps shorten the post the tire is mounted to. It is bolted to the bumper but the tire bolts on kind of high on the mount, I assume this is to facilitate removing it if needed. If I shorten that distance it may reduce some of the "leverage" as the wheel would be closer to the bumper itself.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by Pirogue

Its pretty disappointing that I now have to worry about this issue but at least I now know something I didn't before and can keep an eye on it. I am not sure what I could do about it though. I could perhaps shorten the post the tire is mounted to. It is bolted to the bumper but the tire bolts on kind of high on the mount, I assume this is to facilitate removing it if needed. If I shorten that distance it may reduce some of the "leverage" as the wheel would be closer to the bumper itself.

Forewarned is forearmed. Just keep an eye on it.
It is odd that just with the tire it is flexing enough to pop the end caps though.
Your welds may have been poor from the factory.

[Lloydg]

I just ordered a SVF293 FW and it comes with a fold down bike rack. Does anyone have any pictures of how the bikes are fastened to the carrier? I know there is a vertical bar that is raised, but I'd like to know how two bikes are secured? If you don't have pictures, an explanation will be appreciated. Thanks!

[Berkshireba]

Congratulation on your new FW! The "bike rack" would be more accurately called a "utility rack". If it is the same as mine and like the FW I have seen at my dealer, the rack surface is flat corrugated? metal with no provisions for bikes. The vertical 2x2 post is the only attachment. I have been trying to come up with ideas: bolt fork mounts to surface or use a hitch mount bike rack by way of cutting the "hitch" part off and adapting the vertical part to replace the 2x2 post. Let me know what you come up with

[Lloydg]

That's what I was afraid of. Yes mine has a corrugated floor. I looked at a bike rack that bolts to the floor of the rack. Its basically a carrier that secure the front and rear wheels. Camping World sells them for $31.99 for a set of two. Their model #58854. I'm not quite sure how they work and need to look at them closer. My FW is being built this week and I hope to take delivery in a few. I was just wondering about it while watching the Final Four. Go Blue!! I'll post what I come up with after I take delivery because I'll have to come up with something pretty fast.

[QCCowboy]

Originally Posted by Berkshireba

....bolt fork mounts to surface........

Did this on my last FW that had the same corrugated "utility rack".

Amazon.com: Hollywood Racks T970 Fork Block 1 Bicycle Fork Mount: Sports & Outdoors

Put two on one side (spread across the rack) and then one in the center on the opposite side. Had no problems getting three bikes on and I was able to get my youngest daughter's with training wheels in between. Then just used two tie town straps to keep the rear of the bikes in place. What I liked about this was that the bikes had literally no movement. Didn't have to worry about handlebars slamming against the back of the camper. Yeah, so I had to remove the front wheel when loading and add it when unloading, but we have quick release hubs, so it is not a big deal. Might have to add them to the new rack, but it is the "slotted" kind so I need to see how well it works first.

[brokenaxle]

Originally Posted by Pirogue

As a slight detour on this thread, I noticed a couple replys that spoke of the bumper end caps coming out while traveling. Everytime I stop I find the drivers side end cap trying to come out of mine. It hasn't fallen off yet though I assume it is inevitable. I was wondering, do y'all think this is from twisting of my bumper as mentioned? My unit came with the spare (16" so it is fairly heavy) and a very light weight gas grill holder mounted to the bumper from the dealer. The grill is inside storage until needed. I hate to think that the spare could conceivably be too heavy for the bumper. I don't really have a lot of other options for carrying the spare.

I had a friend that also had this problem He put long slim screws through the bumper (I believe they were 8x32 or similar) and end of the plug. I also had a problem with bee's going in them I got some metal screen material and applied silicone bath caulk around the inside of the hole and attached the screen.

[MMattox]

Has anyone used a roof top rack on their truck? I have a New 32 RL 5th wheel and want to bring our bikes with. Yakima has a roof rack with all kinds of attachements including the bike rack but you will be pushing 500 bucks all said and done. I have tried the "ladder rack" on our previous TT with some success, also have the bolt on square reciever to bolt onto the square bumper and it really felt unsafe, with lots of slop and bounce, used it once and now it sits in the garage on the floor. The factory bumper is really only good for holding the sewer hose in my opinion. New to this site and this is my first post and I can easily recognize all the valuable experience from fellow RV'ers. Thanks for all the posts!

[AquaMan]

This was my solution.

[Lloydg]

That's incredible!!! I see you have a long box, but I have a short box and with that arrangement I'm sure it would lead to problems even if I move my slider hitch back. Do you experience any problems turning?

[AquaMan]

Originally Posted by Lloydg

That's incredible!!! I see you have a long box, but I have a short box and with that arrangement I'm sure it would lead to problems even if I move my slider hitch back. Do you experience any problems turning?

None whatsoever. I could actually add a couple more bikes and still have room. The real key is that the bikes don't extend to the far corners of the camper, so the turning radius clearance is very close to whatever you would have at the corner of camper. If I recall right, I think the clearance is around 39" from kingpin. I can do some measuring later.