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Old 06-25-2018, 06:12 AM   #1
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Bike Hitch Allowed?

I have a Sunset Trail 260RL and was looking to buy a hitch receiver and bike rack for my wife and I to carry two bikes to our campsites. In an amazon review I saw that someone damaged their camper because the rear bumper was not welded and not rated for a bike rack. Anyone know if my camper can hold a bike rack and if not, where to find that information? Thanks for your help in advance!
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Old 06-25-2018, 07:35 AM   #2
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What camper do you have? I personally would not put a receiver hitch on the rear bumper. If you add a hitch have it welded to the camper frame. If that thing comes off going down the road best case you loose your bikes worst case the family behind you could loose there life! As I said this is just my opinion. I have a receiver hitch welded to the frame and carry a power wheelchair so my setup is heaver then most would need.
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Old 06-25-2018, 08:07 AM   #3
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Sunset Trail 260RL. It isn't for towing or for much weight...just a couple bikes.
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Old 06-25-2018, 08:36 AM   #4
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I support the post above, the people behind are the losers. The most weight I would attach to that bumper is the spare tire and with that I have mine mounted in the center. There are some rather brilliant ideals on U tube that are worth the time to view like front mount if your tongue weight can support that option.
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Old 06-25-2018, 11:56 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by WeymanFamily View Post
I have a Sunset Trail 260RL and was looking to buy a hitch receiver and bike rack for my wife and I to carry two bikes to our campsites. In an amazon review I saw that someone damaged their camper because the rear bumper was not welded and not rated for a bike rack. Anyone know if my camper can hold a bike rack and if not, where to find that information? Thanks for your help in advance!


You will get different responses however mounting voids whatever frame warranty you have left. The bumper is only to meet DOT regs

Some reinforce with welds and braces, however I would not.


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Old 06-25-2018, 12:25 PM   #6
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To answer your question, "is it allowed", YES. Is it wise to do it, NO!!!
Most rear rv bumpers were designed to hold a sewer hose & for me that's all it would ever hold. Just because they mounted the spare on the bumper doesn't necessarily mean it's been beefed up to handle the vibration. If you want to carry bicycles spend the money to have a hitch welded on heavy enough to hold up to your bicycles shaking constantly while travelling. Or at least use a cable/chain to tie the bikes or spare tire to the frame so at least you'd be dragging them & the folks behind you wouldn't be wearing them
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Old 07-01-2018, 04:06 PM   #7
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I would contact the maker. They are the ones who engineered the bumper. Bumpers are ment for protecting the trailer in the event someone runs into the back of your trailer, so they do have to be fairly strong. We have a bolt on receiver on our 250 and have used a heavy tray to cary 3 bikes from Alberta to California and back again without incident but we used ratchet straps from frame of tray back
to the bumpers end tubes to remove vibration.

Happy camping

Joe
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Old 07-01-2018, 04:06 PM   #8
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I would contact the maker. They are the ones who engineered the bumper. Bumpers are ment for protecting the trailer in the event someone runs into the back of your trailer, so they do have to be fairly strong. We have a bolt on receiver on our 250 and have used a heavy tray to cary 3 bikes from Alberta to California and back again without incident but we used ratchet straps from frame of tray back
to the bumpers end tubes to remove vibration.

Happy camping

Joe


They’re not bumpers on the travel trailers.


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Old 07-01-2018, 05:59 PM   #9
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I added a mount-n-lock receiver and bumper supports. Check out their site:
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Old 07-01-2018, 06:27 PM   #10
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Thanks Papa T. The answer to all our needs I just ordered up some for added security

Thanks
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Old 07-08-2018, 06:22 AM   #11
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Here's a thread that might just answer all your concerns.


Note the use of the 'hook like' reinforcing brackets, photos and description by Papa-T on page two of the thread.



http://www.crossroadsowners.com/foru...ort-13364.html


Good luck.
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Old 07-26-2018, 07:46 PM   #12
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Bumper rated for 300 lb?

I was just looking at the Crossroads website and watched some of the promotional videos. The guy showing off the Zinger Z-1 says all their bumpers are rated for 300 lb in case you want to add a bike rack. Here is the link:


He talks about the bumper at around 8:50. I sent a note to Crossroads to see if they would confirm that in writing. Let's see if they respond...
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Old 08-01-2018, 10:13 AM   #13
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Crossroads response

I just heard back from Crossroads. They said "Thank you for contacting Crossroads RV. I do apologize, if your unit was not built with a bike rack during product then adding one aftermarket will void your frame warranty."

I suggested they might want to put some sort of caveat in their promotional video. But I guess I have my answer...
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Old 08-01-2018, 10:38 AM   #14
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I mounted a hitch on the front of my truck for my bike rack. It was a no drill installation that wasn't hard to do with the help of a floor jack.
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Old 08-02-2018, 09:43 AM   #15
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Bikes on the rear Bumper

I do not agree with this practise.

Have you ever followed someone down the highway with anything mounted on the rear bumper and seen how that load shakes and bounces. There is an incredible amount of torque placed on the attachment location and when it breaks it is the people behind or the family that comes around the curve to be faced with all your junk in the middle of the road and you dont even know it is no longer attached.

There are safer options.

I followed a horse trailer thru a windy canyon and they lost 2 bales of hay immediately in front of us on a curve, lucky I had an empty lane beside me.
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Old 08-02-2018, 10:03 AM   #16
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I do not agree with this practise.

Have you ever followed someone down the highway with anything mounted on the rear bumper and seen how that load shakes and bounces. There is an incredible amount of torque placed on the attachment location and when it breaks it is the people behind or the family that comes around the curve to be faced with all your junk in the middle of the road and you dont even know it is no longer attached.

There are safer options.

I followed a horse trailer thru a windy canyon and they lost 2 bales of hay immediately in front of us on a curve, lucky I had an empty lane beside me.

Sound advice. The term i believe is called torque-based torsional shear stress. That is a fancy term for "It beats the heck out of the welds".


FWIW this happened to my neighbor on a trip. The State Trooper caught up and fortunately he talked his way out of a very expensive ticket.. Busted up bikes sans a traffic violation. Could of paid for a front hitch x2. Not to mention he lost an afternoon of traveling.

Than there is the issue you might actually kill someone.
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Old 08-02-2018, 10:04 AM   #17
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I mounted a hitch on the front of my truck for my bike rack. It was a no drill installation that wasn't hard to do with the help of a floor jack.
Would you be able to post the link to that bike rack you installed. Sounds like something that might work in our situation.
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Old 08-02-2018, 10:14 AM   #18
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Would you be able to post the link to that bike rack you installed. Sounds like something that might work in our situation.



Here's one from years back.


http://www.crossroadsowners.com/foru...rack-8411.html
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Old 08-02-2018, 11:49 AM   #19
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Would you be able to post the link to that bike rack you installed. Sounds like something that might work in our situation.
https://www.etrailer.com/Hitch-Bike-...an/S64940.html
This is the rack that I have but I assume any hitch mounted rack would work
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