e-bike mounting on RP-192

[Robbie Racer]

Has anyone found a safe way to mount two (50 lb each) e-bikes on the RP-192? When not towing the trailer, I have a heavy duty Kuat NV 2.0 Base Bike Rack (for 2 Bikes) that utilizes the 2" receiver hitch on my F-150. However, when I'm pulling the RP-192, I will need an alternate way to bring the e-bikes along with us. My truck is a short bed with a shell on it so, the bikes don't fit in the truck properly. I was thinking of taking the RP-192 to a trailer shop and having them weld a 2" receiver to the frame to the back of the trailer in order to install the bike rack. The total weight would be around 150 lbs and I have some concern that would lighten the tongue weight but I'm thinking that if I added a second 5 gallon propane tank and a second battery, that might offset the weight of the bikes in the back of the trailer.

Any suggestions or recommendations?

[Flybob]

150lbs is an awful lot of weight to put on a lever on the back of an Rpod even with a welded hitch. The unit is built with a light weight frame. The bikes will also take a beating.

[flyflotrtim]

Consider installing a receiver on the front of your F150 and mounting the bike rack there. May require some adjustment of your tow hitch. Are you using a weight distribution hitch?

Another alternative would be a rack on top of the camper shell. Might need a short ladder to get the bikes up there.

As flybob states that is a lot of weight on the back of the trailer. Many threads mention that it is not just the weight but the vibration/bounce causing mounting system failure to rear of trailer mounts.

[Robbie Racer]

Originally Posted by flyflotrtim

Consider installing a receiver on the front of your F150 and mounting the bike rack there. May require some adjustment of your tow hitch. Are you using a weight distribution hitch?

Another alternative would be a rack on top of the camper shell. Might need a short ladder to get the bikes up there.

As flybob states that is a lot of weight on the back of the trailer. Many threads mention that it is not just the weight but the vibration/bounce causing mounting system failure to rear of trailer mounts.

Thank you for the suggestions. I will look into the possibility of mounting the ebikes on the front or on the top of the truck. I do have a Husky Center Line TS 32215 WDH but I haven't used it yet on my F-150. We used it to tow the trailer 150 miles back home after the initial purchase with my wife's 2004 Toyota Forerunner. The sticker on the hitch on my F-150 says that a WDH is needed for towing more than 5000 lbs or 500 lbs of tongue weight. Do you think this WDH will be needed on my F-150 when towing the trailer with or without the ebikes?

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Robbie Racer

Thank you for the suggestions. I will look into the possibility of mounting the ebikes on the front or on the top of the truck. I do have a Husky Center Line TS 32215 WDH but I haven't used it yet on my F-150. We used it to tow the trailer 150 miles back home after the initial purchase with my wife's 2004 Toyota Forerunner. The sticker on the hitch on my F-150 says that a WDH is needed for towing more than 5000 lbs or 500 lbs of tongue weight. Do you think this WDH will be needed on my F-150 when towing the trailer with or without the ebikes?

The Rpod 192 has a fictional dry tongue weight of 440lbs.
So, loaded for camping, it will easily be over the 500lbs.
Just the weight of two SLA batteries will put it over.
That fantasy 440 number is without batteries, factory options, dealer add-ons, water and trailer cargo. It's a number based on a stripped down version of the trailer.

[rsdata]

Some people have opted for tongue mounted bike racks that fit over the propane bottles...

look at etrailer for options there

is there any room inside the trailer?

putting the bikes in the back is not good for the bikes, the light weight trailer frame that supports the bike rack and anything you have bolted or welded that you think might hold that weight levered out over the bouncing back end...

drive behind a trailer with bikes on the back sometime and observe the motion that the rear of the trailer has...

many have reported that their bikes were lost sometime during the drive... even lost the carrier... hopefully not hurting the car occupants behind you

[Canadian Eh]

I had a hitch installed on the front of our E450. The good is you can watch the bikes as you travel but then they are going to be hit with any road debris. We just got the ebikes and haven't traveled with them but have had our standard bikes up front.

[Robbie Racer]

Originally Posted by rsdata

Some people have opted for tongue mounted bike racks that fit over the propane bottles...

look at etrailer for options there

is there any room inside the trailer?

putting the bikes in the back is not good for the bikes, the light weight trailer frame that supports the bike rack and anything you have bolted or welded that you think might hold that weight levered out over the bouncing back end...

drive behind a trailer with bikes on the back sometime and observe the motion that the rear of the trailer has...

many have reported that their bikes were lost sometime during the drive... even lost the carrier... hopefully not hurting the car occupants behind you

Thank you for the reply and the suggestions. After viewing a video of two bikes mounted to the rear of a trailer bouncing around while towing the trailer down the road, I see what you mean about it being unstable. I'm now thinking that option won't work for me.

I haven't yet tried to fit either or both the bikes inside the trailer but I will give that a try the next time I take it out of storage.

I looked a couple of the tongue mounted bike racks on the e-trailer site and there was some pics of customer installations. It looks like I could have a clearance issue between the mounted bikes and the shell on my pickup when trying to make tight turns. Maybe if I remove the shell on my truck, the bikes could fit over the top and clear the tailgate area with enough room. I will have to look into that possibility more closely.

[{Tpc}]

I know you already have the bikes, so changing that probably isn’t an option. But if you have a super crew f150, folding ebikes fit in the cab pretty well. Then again, if you had folding ones they would probably fit in the back of the truck under the shell anyway.

[Robbie Racer]

Originally Posted by Canadian Eh

I had a hitch installed on the front of our E450. The good is you can watch the bikes as you travel but then they are going to be hit with any road debris. We just got the ebikes and haven't traveled with them but have had our standard bikes up front.

Have you noticed any vision blockage with the bikes mounted on the front of your truck. I'm having trouble visualizing how high they would sit on the rack and if the bikes might block my view of the road up fairly close to the front of the truck while driving down the road.

[aircommuter]

Originally Posted by flyflotrtim

Consider installing a receiver on the front of your F150 and mounting the bike rack there. May require some adjustment of your tow hitch. Are you using a weight distribution hitch?

Another alternative would be a rack on top of the camper shell. Might need a short ladder to get the bikes up there.

As flybob states that is a lot of weight on the back of the trailer. Many threads mention that it is not just the weight but the vibration/bounce causing mounting system failure to rear of trailer mounts.

Not sure about carrying an ebike up a ladder and reaching out to put it on top of camper shell.

[Csbadvisor]

Originally Posted by Robbie Racer

Have you noticed any vision blockage with the bikes mounted on the front of your truck. I'm having trouble visualizing how high they would sit on the rack and if the bikes might block my view of the road up fairly close to the front of the truck while driving down the road.

I have a 2” receiver mounted on the front of my Ram 2500. I loosen the handle bars and turn them downward, no visibility issues. The Ram sits pretty high not sure that would be the case on a 1/2 ton. I did carry on the back of my TT with factory installed 2” receiver welded to frame, never felt comfortable with them back there.
Recently traded to a 2022 Outdoors RV TT with a much stronger frame and suspension, may try back mounting again.

[Sisko]

We do not carry the bikes on the bike rack with batteries installed that saves about 35 lbs of weight

[Canadian Eh]

Originally Posted by Robbie Racer

Have you noticed any vision blockage with the bikes mounted on the front of your truck. I'm having trouble visualizing how high they would sit on the rack and if the bikes might block my view of the road up fairly close to the front of the truck while driving down the road.

No issue with vision on our rig.

[curiousme0]

Wondering what you ended up going with? My husband and I also have e-bikes and just purchased an Rpod 192. We were told by the dealer that we could install a hitch to the back and put them there, but everything I find says otherwise....The bikes are so heavy it really limits our options. Thanks!

[Robbie Racer]

Hello Curious, I also had my doubts that a hitch welded to the bumper would hold two 55 lb. ebikes securely for very long driving over bad roads and bouncing around. My solution (while not a great one) was to weld a 2" receiver hitch to the front of my tow vehicle (2001 F-150) and loading the bikes on a heavy duty bike rack there. It does hold the bikes securely and doesn't bounce around hardly at all over bad roads. The downsides are: 1) The bikes do block some of my vision while driving but I have gotten used to it and it hasn't presented a big problem. 2) I don't don't use the front mounted bike rack at night but I would imagine it would also block some of the headlight range.