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Old 06-06-2011, 08:43 AM   #4
The Sod Father
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Souderton PA
Posts: 185
I would not recommend either solution and here's why - I went this route on my last trailer. I had a shop weld a hitch with a 2" reciever to the frame of my Rockwood. It was a beefy I beam, but the top of the I beam was notched out to accomodate the bumper. The guy at the shop tack welded the hitch to the bottom of the I beam. We put a Yakima bike rack on there and loaded up 3 bikes. It worked well for our first two trips, but on the 3rd trip, I was pulled over by a cop. Apparently, the bottom part of the I beam came apart and we were dragging our bikes down the highway.

I went back to the welding shop and they re-enforced the hitch weld by adding some L iron and welding THAT further down the I beam, thus strengthening the whole operation. I thought, "cool - now we are in business". What I didn't realize is that the suspension of a travel trailer is a lot rougher and than the suspension of the a car. The end result is a ton of scratches on the bikes and a Yakima rack that got so rattled from the constant jarring that I lost a few parts along the way.

I called Yakima and they said that they do NOT recommend any bike racks on camping trailers for that exact reason - the lack of shock absorbers is brutal on the rack and the bikes themselves.

So now I store the bikes inside the trailer and in bike bags - when I take them.

What some manufacturers are now doing is offering an optional bike tray that pulls out from the rear end of the trailer and is specifically designed to hold bikes or large totes. The only problem I see with this solution is that you have no way of seeing what is going on back there. With most decent bikes costing $300+, I would be too nervous having $1,000 worth of hardware bouncing around back there.

Now with all this said, I have recently added a Rubbermaid action packer to the bumper of my Bullet. It is mounted with slot channel rails and large 4" square U bolts. I keep chocks, hoses and Lynx blocks in there so there is very little weight to torque the bumper.

I hope this helps!
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2008 Ford Expedition EL
2011 Keystone Bullet 31BHPR
Tracking straight and true with a Hensley Arrow
Tekonsha Prodigy playing the role of brake control
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