Geo pro ladder wt. Capacity

[Adogbmw]

I'm considering a bike rack for my 2021 19fd. Does anyone know the weight capacity or had experience with a rack on their ladder? Thx

[d_fisher]

I don't know the capacity of the ladder, but I wouldn't recommend putting a bike rack on it. The ladder is for static weight. Bike(s) will be bouncing around while towing and could easily exceed any listed weight limit. The rear bumper is also not recommended for a bike rack either. Seen too many posts about the bumper breaking over time from a bike rack mounted to it.

In my opinion, the best place for a bike rack is the accessory receiver on the back of the trailer. Next best place would be bed of the tow vehicle (assuming it's a truck) or a tongue mounted rack. However, both of those will increase your tongue weight. Make sure your tow vehicle has the capacity.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by d_fisher

In my opinion, the best place for a bike rack is the accessory receiver on the back of the trailer. Next best place would be bed of the tow vehicle (assuming it's a truck) or a tongue mounted rack. However, both of those will increase your tongue weight. Make sure your tow vehicle has the capacity.

Very few trailers come with a factory accessory receiver.

[01tundra]

A lot of times you can look under the bottom rung on the ladder and find a sticker stating max capacity, on our ML 2109S it is marked as 300 lbs.

I fabricated and installed a rear receiver hitch on our trailer, I'd never trust the ladder for carrying a bike personally. All the 2020+ Mini Lites come with a factory receiver hitch rated for I believe 300 lbs, but since ours was an early 2020 model we didn't get one with ours....

Even if the weight rating on the ladder says it would handle it, that doesn't take into consideration the dynamic forces applied from bouncing down the road and the fact that the bike is cantilevered off the ladder, with increases the moment loads.

Post #475 in the link below shows the receiver hitch I made for a bike rack, we would only ever carry one bike on it since our other two bikes go up front on the factory hitch rack, but I have no worries about hitch capacity and I've removed the hinge pins from everywhere possible on the actual bike rack and replaced them with Grade 8 bolts w/ lock nuts. If you don't have access to a welder I'm sure a welding shop can built you one.

I'm pretty sure there's also some bolt-in options out there that only require a few holes be drilled in the frame rails. I didn't go this route because they hang down a little and I was trying to maintain maximum ground clearance at the back of our trailer.

https://www.forestriverforums.com/fo...184896-24.html

[Adogbmw]

Thx, sure enough there's a weight limit posted there! Mine is #250. Lots of opinions on ladder racks, bumper hitches and receiver hitches and stories of failure and success. Only commonality to success in any of these situations is to be sure and secure object to prevent motion. Thx for all your help.

[jimmoore13]

Bouncing bikes will tear up your ladder and its attachments to the rig. I strongly recommend against this.

I also recommend against a receiver-mounted bike rack at the rear of the rig. This is the roughest ride on any RV. Few have shocks, so the bouncing can be pretty violent on rough roads.

The best place for a bike rack is on the tow vehicle (roof/bed/etc.), and the second best is on the A-frame (if you can absorb that tongue weight). The ride is much smoother. If you have Walmart bikes, you might not care, but if you have good bikes, don't torture them on the rear of your RV.

[viasolis]

All Geo Pro's and E Pro's I've seen come with a bike rack up front. If yours doesn't have one, your frame may have bolt holes and you can probably buy one from your local dealer.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by viasolis

All Geo Pro's and E Pro's I've seen come with a bike rack up front. If yours doesn't have one, your frame may have bolt holes and you can probably buy one from your local dealer.

Pretty sure GeoPro/EPro TTs don't have a rear bumper.
So a receiver would only have the frame, to be welded and braced to.
That's why there's the tongue mounted bike rack.
BUT that just makes the already high tongue weight even heavier.
But RV manufacturers don't talk about that, because these bloated single axle trailers are the hottest selling RVs out there.

[RedRoverComeOver]

The rack was one option I wasn't looking for but was there and when not being used for bikes, works great as a clothes rack. Just like exercise equipment and those pelotons. Loading two bikes on the rack and one inside and forward takes me pretty close to tongue capacity.


The bikes are too much of a hassle and time consuming to load, and usually not taken since there aren't any trails or time to ride.