RV Bumper Hitch's - Be Aware

[Scottay]

I installed an RV bumper hitch on my 5th wheels 4" square, rear bumper. The trailer is only 4 yeras old and the bumper had no rot, and all factory welds were in good shape. Its use was for a bike rack. The "bouncing" cantelevered weight of the 3 bikes actually twisted the 4" bumper tube, broke several of the welds, and tore the metal on one side where it was welded to the letaral tubes that are attached to the trailers frame. We almost lost over $1000 of brand new mountain bikes. Two of the bikes are back in the shop for bent wheels (from dragging on the hightway), and one the bikes may even have a bent frame. I will be repairing the bumper, and adding several welded gussets for added strength. The bikes however will never see that back of the trailer again. Be very careful on what you support from these RV bumper hitches.

[Steina]

Good "heads up".......thanks!!!

Steve

[bigredtruckmi]

You would be surprised at the number of those setups bouncing down the highway. As you said it twisted the bumper tube. I am not surprised. I travel a lot down rough freeways and I see them moving several feet.

[FordxFour]

On my 2007 Outback, it clearly states in the owners manual not to attach bike racks etc. to the bumper. I guess if I want to put anything back there, I will have to have a receiver installed.

[X_Hemi_Guy]

This topic can NOT be discussed enough.

I've seen way too many posts on RV.net about this and my advice is always do NOT do this on the bumper.

I've installed a 2" receiver that my local welding shop fab'd up. I ratchet strap the heck out of my bikes on the bike rack. You will notice in these pictures...I strap the rack to the receiver on both sides to reduce wobble.

I then put one strap PER bike and with the excess I further tie around the bikes.

I then put one strap around the frames of the bikes snugging them all together.

And those yellow straps you see that tie the rack to the receiver...I weave that thru the spokes on all wheels to keep the bikes from bouncing off the rack.

When I'm done...you can shake the MASS as ONE.

Now this is not to say that the receiver won't fail or some portion of the rack fail...that is always possible...but I spend some time loading the bikes because they are out of sight and you don't want to injure innocent motorists you share the road with by having a bike come loose and bounce down the road!

These pictures were taken on the Outer Banks of North Carolina...so not a small hike from home...

[X_Hemi_Guy]

Just as a follow up to this topic...

Yesterday I went on the Jayco factory tour. They are building 2009 models.

They have NEVER offered a factory rack (bike, genny, wood, etc) option before. But now they do on their Eagle line in 5'r and TT's as well as their Designer 5'rs. I took some pictures of their rack. If you notice they have attached it directly to the FRAME!







I talked with one of the senior customer serivce reps and asked specifically about the rack...he indicated he could not count the number of calls he gets asking about a bike rack and asking about carrying on the bumper...he always says DO NOT CARRY IT ON THE BUMPER!!!

At least on the Jayco now there is a frame mounted factory option...he told me the way I did it with the receiver to the frame is just fine.

Cougar TT's offer a frame mounted slide out rack option as well...I'm sure others do too...

I bet if folks simply called their RV manufacturer and asked if they could carrry something on the bumper...they'd get the answer...NO.

But what is confusing is that all these aftermarket makers make bike racks for bumpers!...just say NO is the best advice for bumper carry anything...the spare tire is fine but it doesn't have a large leverage advantage as it sits diretly above the bumper...hang a bike rack 4' BEHIND the bumper with near 100#'s of bikes and there is a huge multiplier advantage in leverage there.

As an aside...the Jayco tour is highly recommended for anyone passing thru this area of Indiana. It is a HUGE facility...much larger than I had imagined.

I did witness why Jayco has such a good customer satisfaction rating...as I toured it was very evident that even though they are a large company...their employees all looked happy to be there...everyone had a smile on their face and were super friendly...which is refreshing...and helped solidify WHY I purchased a Jayco product!

Today we will visit the RV Hall of Fame in Elkhart...

Thought I'd share some recent info on factory installed rack options at Jayco...

Joe.

[spinella]

i did the same.i welded two receier tubes to my frame then built a square tube box.it had to be 8' wide to carry my schwinn tandem bike.the bumper tube is just to flimsy.that jayco set up is nice.does it tuck under the trailer when not in use?

[X_Hemi_Guy]

Originally Posted by spinella

that jayco set up is nice.does it tuck under the trailer when not in use?

yes...when not in use...it simply slides and stores completely under the trailer and is held in place by pins.

[NM_F450]

It was not a tough job to modify and install a generic after market hitch to my first travel trailer frame. The second trailer I had done by a local machine shop and it was a custom built hitch. Both cases the hitch was right below the bumper and would pull a small trailer or hold a rack. I did make a "z' extension to lift the rack to increase ground clearance as I was not always on the beaten path.

Bill

[novice psd]

I have a keystone cougar with this bike rack. The metal attached to the frame is not strong enough and needs to be reinforced it bouces on the road some and has slop in it. This is on a 2006 camper.

[Scottay]

Ended up re-welding the entire bumper at every seam, and added re-enforcing gussets at all joints (top, sides, and bottom). Also added 1/8" cables from the bike rack with turnbuckles down to the trailer frame to stop the bouncing. It ended up being a very "clean" looking installation and worked wonderful. My wife followed me on our last trip and she said everything was solid as a rock.

I would have liked to run supplimental steel to the frame, however the 50 gallon fresh water tank is mounted all the way to the rear of the trailer and projects about an inch below the frame, and would have ended up being a very time consuming and difficult project. If wanted I can take photos next week to post.

[novice psd]

The bike rack I have is factory installed and slides out. It has a "C" shaped bracket to place pin in and that is what is weak and needs reinforced. It looks like the one on the Jayco listed above. Good idea just a little weak. 35ft keystone cougar 2006.