Rear Bumper Bike Carrier

joeblm · 01-15-2009, 04:53 AM

I have a 5th wheelCruiser. I want to install a rear bumper hitch to hold a bike carrier. Does anyone know what weight and or stress this bumper can endure? It is a four (4) bike carrier, with total weight including the carrier some where under 125lb.

THANKS!

red · 01-15-2009, 06:59 AM

Whitch 5th wheel camper do you have?

markbet · 01-15-2009, 07:27 AM

I have heard horror stories about bumper mounts. I went with a combination bike carrier and ball hitch so I can double pull. I had to attach a receiver hitch to my campers frame.

Chrisnan23 · 01-15-2009, 08:16 AM

Look at your owners manual I think it is a max of 250# on a hitch installed to the frame. The bumper welds won't hold very much at all.

joeblm · 01-15-2009, 08:56 AM

I HAVE A CROSSROADS CRUISER BUNKHOUSE Â*30'

Chrisnan23 · 01-15-2009, 08:57 AM

The owners manual can be down loaded fron the home page.

joeblm · 01-15-2009, 08:59 AM

I had considered weldind to the fifth wheel frame , but didn't want to if I could trust a bumper install. ThanksÂ*

joeblm · 01-15-2009, 09:03 AM

I am guessing I will go to the frame. I hate wondering if something is going to hold while on a trip. A few extra hours and dollars now may prevent more time and money on the road Â*Thanks for the input.

markbet · 01-15-2009, 09:13 AM

I don't remember how the receiver hitch was attached to my Cruiser Sport, it came from the factory already attached, but on the camper I have now, it had pre drilled holes on the frame for an after market hitch to be added. It took me 15 minutes to put the hitch on it. It also had a wiring stub already there also, might look for that also.. Edited by: markbet

joeblm · 01-15-2009, 09:25 AM

Sounds good, Some time after it gets above zero I'll have to crawl under it and see Â*Thanks! Hey where did you get your hitch?

markbet · 01-15-2009, 09:32 AM

I purchased it from the camper company, NuWa. I think I paid less than $200.00 for it. I am not positive, but I think it has a 300lb hitch weight on it, don't remember what the Cruiser had, I think Chris was right, 250lbs.

bradrv · 01-15-2009, 12:41 PM

I didn't trust the bumper, so this is what I came up with.

joeblm · 01-15-2009, 10:20 PM

Great use of space! We have always just parked them stacked against the sofa, always in the way. I'll probably pursue a frame mounted hitch simply to get them outside. That way I can throw them on last, as the kids never want to give the bike up until the last second

.

Thanks

danskool · 01-16-2009, 10:09 AM

I never had a problem. But i do want to do some more work on the set up.

joeblm · 01-16-2009, 11:39 AM

That is exactly the setup I had originally planned. Have you made many trips like that? I see you have support straps to control the bounce. I may still weld and bolt a 2" receiver to the frame, but it is great to see pics of my first plan. Â*Thanks for posting them. Â*Joe

BDLuke · 01-16-2009, 02:26 PM

You said earlier that you had the 30 foot bunk house. Is it a CF30QB?

If it is, you should be able to get four adult bikes into the bottom bunk storage area. The trick is to loosen the handle bars and turn them 90 degrees making them straight with the frame. Also removing the high side pedal will allow the bikes to be nested closer together. I use a couple of bungees to hold them all upright and tight for travel.Edited by: BDLuke

mwebber78 · 01-16-2009, 11:55 PM

Just a observation (not a slam) but the folks who welded these frames are NOT certified welder's, this is easy to see by inspecting the welds on my outrigger's and bumper. The bumper will handle a spare tire mount but not 4 bikes, IMHO. It's not the mass of the bikes that would cause bumper failure it's the movement of the bikes and their mass over road surfaces.

Ideally, you would need to weld to the I-beam rails directly and then attach to the underside of the bumper, this would produce a stiffer and better mounted bike rack. I have seen it done on other's RV's, I think RV.net is a good place to use the "search" feature to see pictures, etc. Some brands like Keystone and now Jayco mount their slide-out bike mounts this way.

croberts · 01-17-2009, 12:29 AM

I used a hitch bolted to the bumper with two adult bikes and had no trouble. I had the spare tire on the bumper as well. If you are worried about the bumper, I might put the spare tire in the camper storage area as it is much smaller and easier to put in there than the bikes would be. Plus (knock on wood here) you should be using the bikes more than the spare tire!!! Edited by: croberts

spinella · 01-17-2009, 02:37 AM

hers my bike rack. i also posted this in the "upgrades and modifications" section. i went into detail about it there. -ed

http://www.photobucket.com/eds-zinger

coastn · 01-17-2009, 03:26 AM

When I bought my Sunset Trail I transferred a bolt-on receiver such as the one in danskool's pictures from my Dutchmen to the new trailer. Never had a problem with the Dutchmen bumper using the receiver for a Yamaha rack and two mountain bikes. Also used it with a Hitch Haul platform fora Honda generator and firewood.Big selling point for the ST was the storage space up front which easily accomodated the generator. Thought this is great...I can put the generator up front and bikes on the bumper. WRONG. Made one trip in the Sunset Trail with the spare tire and bikes on the back and discovered that the welds held fine but the bumper was of such thin-walled material that it bent inward and downward slightly at the welds. Not good, very disappointed! Am now going to do something along the lines of what Ed shows in his pictures. Thanks, Ed! CR's 5-er bumpers look much more substantial you guys might not have the problems I had.

This post is in the spirit of a word to the wise to other ST owners of my experience.

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