2016 30qbss bumper bike rack

[Lucdogg]

Hello all, just bought our first new camper! We love it already, getting it all set up but had one question: I have a Swagman 4-bike rack that I purchased and installed (haven't gone anywhere yet) and I've heard horror stories about bike racks being too much weight for the bumper so I'm seeing if anybody's done it and how it worked out for them. A few bikes doesn't seem like it would be too much but you never know.

[bikendan]

Have you ever watched how much a trailer bounces going down the road? They have no shocks.

As an avid cyclist, I can tell you that your setup looks way too weak to carry 4 bouncing bikes weighing 75 to 100 lbs, down the road safely.
Especially the spindly rack.

[Lucdogg]

I've had this rack on the back of my truck and it works, it holds the bikes no problem. I'm more worried if the bumper will be alright, I can't seem to find any weight capacity.


2016 Salem 30qbss

2000 Ford Ecursion 7.3 diesel

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Lucdogg

I've had this rack on the back of my truck and it works, it holds the bikes no problem. I'm more worried if the bumper will be alright, I can't seem to find any weight capacity.


2016 Salem 30qbss

2000 Ford Ecursion 7.3 diesel

Your truck has shocks, the trailer does not.

[bikendan]

this is my bike rack that attaches to the truck bumper. it's a Swagman and quite a bit beefier than yours.

[Camp4two]

If you end up going with your bumper bike rack (or any bumper bike rack) recommend you remove your spare tire and store it up front in the storage compartment if you have one. Get the extra weight of the spare off your bumper.

[Telstar]

I don't think that the weight on the bumper is the issue. Most bike racks warn not to use on a trailer due to bouncing, they may break. Make sure you buy a back rack that specifically states it can be used on a trailer.

[masterchip]

Wow! You have an aluminum bumper and you are attaching a steel/aluminum bike rack to. Many posts on this. It is unsafe. Insurance companies won't cover this. Attorney's will love ya and the person who hits your falling bikes will hate ya. Aluminum bumpers are even unsafe for the spare tire they get mounted to except near the end where they are mounted close to the frame. There is too much flex and not enough strength to this type of bumper. Think about a frame mounted hitch and bike rack.

[Bigbob1824]

We had a similar problem. We mounted a hitch reciever to the front of our Ram 1500 and put the rack and bikes up there.

[Camp4two]

I don't think Salem trailers have aluminium bumpers. Swagman has various bike hitches made specifically for square bumpers on trailers. Swagman's instructions is that there be a continuous weld where the bumper attaches to the frame.

Some more testimony (good or bad) from actual users of a bumper bike hitch would e great.

[Joe-Barb]

We had a piece of angle iron welded across the top and back of bumper and attached at the I beam frame. I swear I can towacarwith this addition.also we carry two electric bikes that weigh a total 165 lbs on a cargo carrier. No problems have hauled all over the country.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by masterchip

Wow! You have an aluminum bumper and you are attaching a steel/aluminum bike rack to. Many posts on this. It is unsafe. Insurance companies won't cover this. Attorney's will love ya and the person who hits your falling bikes will hate ya. Aluminum bumpers are even unsafe for the spare tire they get mounted to except near the end where they are mounted close to the frame. There is too much flex and not enough strength to this type of bumper. Think about a frame mounted hitch and bike rack.

You are wrong.
None of FR trailers have aluminum bumpers.
I don't know of any TT that does.

The problem is the weak welds of the bumper and the bouncing and flexing of the bikes/rack.
They pull down and back on the bumper, over and over.

[tdidad]

I have installed a set of "safety struts" on the rear of my 8289WS. Worked well so far.
www.safetystruts.com

[Goff]

The biggest problem I see is the distance from the trailer axels to the bumper. This is a lot further than on a truck. This is where the bounce comes in to play. This puts a lot of pressure on the rack and the bumper.

[Tonylmiller]

I bought two folding bikes and we store them inside the camper. Problem solved, and no damage to the bumper. My bumper has a sticker that says nothing can be mounted to it.

[Camp4two]

That is what we also do, store our two bikes inside our trailer. We cable lock them to the the bumper when not using at our campsite.

[dmdomokos]

I added a bike rake to our 4" bumper but did the following to ensure there was no weight issue or boucing issue:


1) Used the Safety Struts as mentioned in this thread
2) Moved my spare underneath the trailer with the BAL Hide-a-spare
3) Added two eye bolts, one on each side of the bumper where the Safety Struts are mounted so I could use straps to keep the bike rake from bouncing.


Towed several thousand miles so far with 4 bikes, no cracking at the welds yet.

[OldCoot]

You can use the bumper to mount it IF you want to create a major hazard with the bumper, rack and bikes being dropped on the highway for someone to hopefully dodge.