Bike rack

[Sebber83]

Originally Posted by Gundog

How many bikes can you put on the cargo rack? We are waiting to complete a deal on a 311bh that has the rear rack. Just wondering if we need to weld a receiver like we did with the Triple E. That has worked great BTW.

I am pretty sure you could easily throw on 3 bikes. People get phased with the "weight" of bikes but in reality most normal mountain or hybrid bikes are sub 30 lbs, most road bikes are sub 20lbs.

I use a bolt on 2 inch receiver on my rear trailer bumper and then add a 3 bike thule rack, I have been doing this for 3 years ( 2 years with the Palomino and now 1 full year with the Denali) and have never had an issue. I make a point of checking my bumper welds every so often but never saw anything alarming whatsoever. I once spoke to an ex RV dealer and he told me they use the scare tactic to up-sell buyers into the expensive "over the propane tank" bike racks.

I imagine the rear rack is designed for the famous 200 lb or so limit, so you should be good.

Pull the trigger on the BH311, you will love it! People had told us it was too big for weekend travelling, but we are very very very happy we went with it! Comfy, Luxurious and just plain awesome! I will never own a trailer without an outdoor kitchen ever again!

[gazingm42]

Here is what we did in the dinette area. I end up getting 5 bikes in there.

[Rustybronco]

On my trailer I originally tried the bumper bolt on receiver. It worked but I was worried about my thin walled bumper failing. I decided to weld a fabricated receiver hitch between the rear frame rails that dropped under the bumper. Now it can accommodate several hundred pounds. I even fabricated a generator mount that's secures my Kipor 3k genny. The genny mount is flush with rear of trailer and I put another receiver on it for my bike rack. I'll post up pics next time I pick up my trailer from storage. I may have a few distant pics to show WTH I'm talking about but nothing real close up for details.

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/g...ll5p22/720.jpg

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/g...2/bikerack.jpg

[Rustybronco]

I welded a receiver hitch between the rear frame rails. I tried the bolt on receiver onto bumper route once but it was flimsy on my thin walled bumper. I didn't want to risk losing my bikes or more importantly hurt or kill anyone traveling behind me if the rack fell off. I also made a locking generator rack that mounts into new receiver. Now the generator is with me at all times and covered and secure. The generator rack also has a receiver so I can slide my 4 bike rack into it. I wanted to be sure I wouldn't lose my generator and bikes so I built it to hold several hundred pounds and made it so it was mounted up high and close to rear of trailer.

[Rustybronco]

Originally Posted by gazingm42

Here is what we did in the dinette area. I end up getting 5 bikes in there.

I have the same trailer but I see you have metal table leg bases on the floor. Mine are plastic and the table is pretty wobbly. I was thinking about changing them to metal. Is your table pretty stable?

[gazingm42]

My table is not bad Rusty. I did cut some soda cans shims and put them inside around the metal leg bases and table. It did really help any wobbliness I had.

[Gundog]

Hey Rusty
Thanks for the suggestion. The metal at the back of ours looks pretty sturdy so maybe I can rig something. With the rack down to carry anything the spare tire rubs on the road on slightly uneven surfaces. There's not much clearance on flat ground. Not too surprising with the length but not good.
Thanks again.
Dean

[memgrove]

Originally Posted by Gundog

How many bikes can you put on the cargo rack? We are waiting to complete a deal on a 311bh that has the rear rack. Just wondering if we need to weld a receiver like we did with the Triple E. That has worked great BTW.

We get 3 adult and one child bikes on our built in rack. Next year they will be all 4 adult bikes.

We bought the wheel chock things from camping world (two sets of two chocks each) and just toss them on and a quick tension strap and we are off. Just be sure that the first one goes on with the handlebars opposite the rear window.

They do bounce around a bit more that I like, so I am working on a more solid locking mechanism to hold the whole rack more solid.

[knowles24]

Here's my custom version of a bicycle rack mounted to the front tongue of a travel trailer. I have built 2 units so far- one for my camper and one for someone who saw mine and wanted one. They are overbuilt with USA sq tubing and gusseted everywhere. My rack holds 4 bikes easily. Clears the bed of the truck in the worst possible turning scenario by 8 inches. An SUV may need to check clearance during a sharp turn to be sure. There are many different shapes and sizes of campers and vehicles, but I think it would clear the majority of both with no problems, even hauling 4 bikes. The bikes don't budge at all during traveling. With all four loaded (or with the rack empty) it is very difficult to cause even a 1/4" of deflection to the rack. The A-frame rack that I built (with 2" receiver top) weighs 45 lbs. This doesn't include the bike rack.

It took me many many hours to design and build these, but the ease of loading (compared to the ladder hanging bike rack) and the peace of mind I have (compared to the bumper mounted bike rack) made it well worth the time, money, and effort! The LP tanks are still just as easily accessible as they were before. The bikes are very easy to load and unload. I am able to stand flat footed on the ground and load them. I lower the tongue jack down and unload just before leveling.

[Nana & Poppy]

knowels 24 - nice looking mod - John B over on the Sunline Owners Forum (we once owned Sunlines before we went with a toy hauler) has made one very similar to what you have done......however we bought the toy hauler to avoid having to do what you are doing LOL!!!!!!

[donzinger]

When I had my Sunnybrook, I built and welded on a triple receiver to the rear frame. I don't have a pic of it with the bike rack in it, but here is the pic of the generator rack I built that went into the outer receivers. We used this when dry camping at NASCAR races since this rig did not have provisions for a built in generator.

[bcs slc]

Man that looks great! How does it attach to the frame of the trailer?

[rcharrette]

I had a local welder put in a 2" receiver for me. He welded a plate across the frame from left to right then the 2" receiver box comes out right below the bumper. We welded it at the bumper as well. Cost me $150 painted and I usually carry a Honda 3000 generator, 5 gallons of gas and 5 gallons of water on it. We usually carry our 6 bikes on the roof of our truck but I have no doubt the receiver could handle the weight!

[knowles24]

I attached a diamond plate tool box with lightweight bulky items to rear of our Denali. Welded up a hitch bracket from 2.5" tubing and clamped it to the frame. No weight or torque on the rear bumper. It's a standard receiver size so a bike rack could be used instead on the tool box. After hauling the bikes on the tongue mounted rack there's no going back for me! It's a dream to haul bikes now.

[donzinger]

Originally Posted by bcs slc

Man that looks great! How does it attach to the frame of the trailer?

I wish I had more pics - I welded the triple receiver I made directly to the frame. My wife had the brilliant idea to use four flip down trailer tongue jacks and I was able to roll it in to place and remove it from the trailer without help. I used two standard 5/8" trailer hitch pins to secure it in place. I ran heavy battery cables to the battery and a 4-wire trailer wiring harness (both could be unplugged for removal that way) and wired the start/stop switch inside the camper. Worked fantastic! The generator rack slid into the outer two receivers and the center one was used to mount a bike rack or to tow my motorcycle trailer behind the rig.

[Gonefishin]

Been looking at also adding a bike rack to the rear bumper.
Looks like to me the issue isn't so much the weight but the leverage of the bike rack trying to twist the bumper off the back. Seems if you had some attachments to the camper to hook a winch strap around the bikes and wrap from one side to the other with some type of cushion against the camper side to hold everything tight it should work just fine. It would keep everything steady.
Maybe even a brace attached from the camper to the rack at the top.

[Fanboy]

I did near the same as Knowles on the last TT. I used a carrier instead. 4 bikes no problem

[knowles24]

After all the work and time I spent fabricating and welding my tongue mounted bike rack, I can't believe we sold the Denali and bought a 5er, but we did. Now back to the welding table to fab up a design for a fifth wheel bike rack... On the plus side, I'd sell my TT tongue bike rack if anyone was interested.

[knowles24]

Originally Posted by Nana & Poppy

knowels 24 - nice looking mod - John B over on the Sunline Owners Forum (we once owned Sunlines before we went with a toy hauler) has made one very similar to what you have done......however we bought the toy hauler to avoid having to do what you are doing LOL!!!!!!

Nothing like a fashionably (7 month) late reply. Sorry, somehow I never saw your reply. Thanks, it worked out great for the 10 trips or so that we used it. We looked at toy haulers, but most places we go don't allow ATV's. Couldn't justify giving up 10-12 ft of living space for bicycles. If I had any idea we would upgrade campers that quickly I would have waited to build it.

I'll post pics of my 5er bike rack when I get it built.

[Thom]

Why not just put your bikes in the garage?