Bike rack

[danskool]

Explained well in words Jerry.. Tough sometimes, i know.

Did the bumper break? From the twisting or did the bumper peal away from the welds ? You just had a bike rack? On my motorhome that the bumper fell off of when i was cleaning windows, I bought a 1/4" wall 8' long 4x4 and welded it on. No more twisting, But all the stress was on the weld so i made sure the weld was sufficient plus i made a receiver hitch to haul a moto-x enclosed trailer around. But that is another story and hitch arrangement.

My bumper would flex(twist) with me on it. 175lbs and really bouncing on the bike rack.. And purposely trying to get it to twist. The force applied during the bounce is way more that 175. Probably upwards in the 3oo lbs range if not more. My wife got on it.. 100lbs naked and couldn't do it.. So i doubt two bikes even 4 as i carried, would even make a difference over the largest bumps, flex,twist.. What does a bicycle weigh? really ?

Just a note.. My spare tire has been on there for 7 years. Weighs pretty close to two bike bicycles. I have an acquaintance.. Carries a 125 cc scooter on his rear bumper. The thing has to go 300lbs or more.. He has been doing it since we met up with him in 2004.. He loves that scooter.. 1-1/4" receiver. Heck, I seen a golf cart on one the other day on the thu-way.. Now that is nuts and must have done some serious welding for that to happen, It even looked like it was laying down form the weight.

Jerry.. I think if you bumper was prone to fall off, It would have and did, the Bike rack or not as it did with my first c-class motorhome it was going to fall off or give you issues.. I was just standing on it washing windows when i heard the creaking from the metal starting to peal away. No hitch,Bike racks ever on that. It was 1992 model as far i could ever tell, I was the third owner but showed now signs of towing anything or carrying.








Edited by: danskool

[jererp]

Bike rack with only 2 bikes on it. Bumper metal thickness was under .100". Just saying, better safe than sorry. Do a Google on material fatigue for more info.

[Schabtod]

Wow Danskool, you seem a bit sensitive to this topic. I sent you a link to a bumper that fell off (as requested). That apparently was not to your specific parameters?

Regardless, I spent several hundred dollars to re-weld the cracked welds on a bumper several years ago. The 2004 Salem LE 25 EX had the black (cheap) 4 inch square bumper with a spare tire and 4 bicycles with bolt-on rack.

During a trip to the upper peninsula of Michigan, we experienced the weld failure and bikes dropping several inches from the bouncing and twisting of the bumper.

I am happy that you have not had these issues, but it is a common problem and not a wise way to haul bicycles.

Happy camping !

[danskool]

I think i might be. I get wrapped up in stuff like this because of the countless post on this site and other sites that say it is a bad idea to put bicyles on the bumper because of a few folks that had issues out of the 1,000s that are on the road of all these years. I believe if the bumper was going to fall off, It will on its own, It will just take longer because there is no weight on it. Putting a little weight on it will speed up the process and bikes will ultamatly be the blame of the thing falling off. Just speaking from my experience because my c-class bumper came off and had nothing on it except me standing on it to clean windows. Nobody blamed me standing on it was the cause of my bumper tearing away. Of course i inspected it every trip because of all the posted issues.I know Ishould let it go, I don't even carry bikes anymore



The bumper will twist with nothing on, it will fromfrom normal driving. It flexes between the two frame rails. Jack up the rig on one side by the frame to take off the tire ,as the owners manual suggest, and see that baby twist. The RV's flex around. Somtimes i can't even get my man door shut if i load up the stabalizer jack to much. All that flexing also speeds up the bumper problems and probably in my opionion, The cause of bumper issues. Not two bikes of a total weight of 40lbs. OR 80lbs with 4 bikes.



Ok, I will be done with this. I just can't see putting bikes on the front of my truck. I do like the idea of up on the pin box though, That is neat.



O yea, .100 is a decent about of wall thickess.And the tube can flex all day long. Were they tear away is at the welds from cheasy welds and flexing of the frame rails.. You should see my tongue on the boat trailer, .100 also.. Bounces to high heaven, No issues with the old boat trailer. My 2 place snowmobile trailer has Aluminum Frame and .1 thickness. That babby really flexes and that is aluminum, which is more subseptableto weld cracking.

[Irish Bird Dog]

Newbie here.....

Interesting subject here for me.....never before carried anything but a spare tire on the rear bumper of a camper....& then only pop-up types w/8" wheel.

Our 2008 Cruiser 5th wheel (25ft) has a 2" receiver hitch from the factory (a factory option) and it is attached underneath the unit....behind the bumper to a sturdy square tubing....not to the bumper.... and comes out under bumper....the square tubing the hitch is welded to is quite heavy walled & about 4" sq and securely welded to frame rails on either side. Never used it yet but it sure looks to be quite well built. Book says it is rated for 500#'s wt., can pull small trailer ie boat or 4x4 etc. Plan to carry two mountain bikes there in a factory 4 bike rack made for a 2" receiver hitch.

[Kamper Dave]

Here is an old post. This monstrosity is

still working great after many miles, that is 5 trips over the Rocky Mountains.</span>http://www.crossroadsrv.com/forum/fo...s.asp?TID=1716

Kamper Dave


Edited by: Kamper Dave

[Tuscany]

Glad to hear it Happy camping be safe

[CygnusSailor]

I had a front class 3 hitch put on my truck and I put the bikes out front where I can see them. It adds a certain peace-of-mind because I don't have to wonder if they are still with me or if they are laying on the road behind me.

I also have found, because I now need to carry a 3rd bike, that you can put a bike inside the 5er and tie it down so it can't move. This is really ideal because it is not exposed to the weather. With a little creativity I'm sure that you could put as many as 3-4 bikes in the 5er without any problem. On our vacation, coming up, I'm going to have 4 bikes with us. The 2 least expensive ones will be on the front rack and the other 2 (one of them is a $3500.00 bike) will be in the 5er and tied down.