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blwoods
06-01-2013, 02:45 PM
I want to carry 2 Mountain Bikes on the rear of a Laredo 292rl fifth wheel. Don't want to void the warranty the first year with any rear bumper frame alterations. Any suggestions about styles and sources would be appreciated.
i.e on the bumper, on the ladder etc (tx)

2013 Laredo 292rl
2011 Silverado crewcab Duramax

TomHaycraft
06-02-2013, 03:11 AM
At 9 months I decided to take my chances as far as the warranty was concerned. I moved my spare off the bumper and hung it under the trailer, up by the front landing gear. I then had a receiver hitch welded to the frame in back to hold a Yakima Holdup rack to carry our two bikes.

Pin weight remained unchanged, but weight at the trailer axles was up 400 lbs! I'm still within my GVWR for the trailer, but wow, did it chew up some of my reserve! Oh well, bikes are the priority. In time, I might try a tandem pull using Yakima's ultralight "RackAndRoll" trailer to carry bikes and kayaks!

kiwi2000
06-02-2013, 06:12 AM
I am considering the camping world Catalog Item # 49401.
I asked this question previous and many happy campers have this item.
That is the way I will go when I get around to it.

I have seen campers placing bikes on the hitch pin with some sort of adapter but as you say it does add weight were you dont want it.

Have you considered the bumper hitch or is it because the spare is on the bumper that it is not a consideration? Move the spare?

suza
06-03-2013, 01:40 PM
Our Cougar has a pull-out rear bumper platform. Does the Laredo have this feature?

On ours (2014 279RK) there is a piece of 2" square steel, about 24-30" long pinned to the top of the bumper platform behind the spare tire and the bumper. I lifts out and attaches to a receiver directly behind the spare on the bumper. My assumption is that you can mount your choice of bike brackets to this piece of steel. As long as you stay under the load limit for the bumper (ours is 200#), I don't see why it would affect the warranty.

We are going to the dealers this Thursday. I will see if my assumption is correct.

derekb
06-04-2013, 09:56 AM
Ours holds two bikes and mounts on the rear ladder. It was inexpensive, and comes off in a jiffy when needed.

Karen & Larry
06-04-2013, 11:19 AM
we will also have a hitch welded onto the frame of our new 29 Res 5th the current rack we have from our old travel trailer will carry two bikes. We won't use this bike rack on long hauls just short camping trips.
Karen

Poppy's 5th Wheel
06-04-2013, 01:24 PM
I took a different approach and am very please with my setup. Just offering another idea.

http://www.keystoneforums.com/attachments/photobucket/img_80816_0_b16c8e8777670081fcea5c15a5960b78.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/blown96ws6/media/freshlywaxedandreadytogo.jpg.html)

suza
06-04-2013, 07:46 PM
I took a different approach and am very please with my setup. Just offering another idea.

http://www.keystoneforums.com/attachments/photobucket/img_80910_0_b16c8e8777670081fcea5c15a5960b78.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/blown96ws6/media/freshlywaxedandreadytogo.jpg.html)

Great rack!

Stublejumper
06-05-2013, 08:36 PM
The first year warranty was up on this last weekend,so with torch and welder in hand,cut factory junk off and added a full hitch and three 2 in receivers ,one for second trailer and wired , the outside ones for a stable bike rack .Still under on weight!!

harpoon
06-05-2013, 09:38 PM
X2 for the roof racks. I like to know what's going on and the rear of the camper takes some bouncing around.

bpurvis
06-06-2013, 04:49 PM
Does it void the warranty if you simply bolt on a bike rack to the bumper?

JRTJH
06-06-2013, 06:31 PM
It shouldn't void the warranty, but if anything happened to the bumper or to the back wall, I'm sure you'd have a fight on your hands trying to prove the hitch wasn't the cause..... That being said, most people have found that the bumper is made of a very light weight steel and usually won't support enough weight to hang a bike rack on it. Do a search on bumper hitch or bike rack and you should get more than enough information to change your mind LOL

bpurvis
06-06-2013, 07:08 PM
thanks John!

the simple search... changed my mind. bikes will go in the 5ver for now

Bowti
06-07-2013, 06:25 AM
Something else to consider is putting a bolt on front receiver hitch on the front of your truck. Most sell for about $125, and are easy to install, It makes for a very strong mount for a bike rack. Craigs list is full of many different kinds of bike racks in the $75 range. So you can have a very good strong bike rack for about $200, with the added benefit of being able to keep a closetful eye on your bikes. Just another option other than trying to modify your 5er.

schwalbach
06-07-2013, 02:37 PM
here is another idea?

SARTech
07-08-2013, 06:41 AM
here is another idea?

I like this idea! Did you have it made or did you buy the hitch? Have you noticed any problems with the bikes hitting your truck or trailer during travel or turning in tight spaces?

Keywestparrothead
09-09-2013, 11:40 AM
That is a great idea! I too am curious if you have any "contact issues"?

gearhead
09-09-2013, 11:58 AM
Well y'all scared me. I took the spare, and the bracket holding it, off the bumper. I put the spare cover on the backside of the tire & wheel so I have access to the tire valve. Put the spare in the storage bay, cover side down, valve up, so I can check the pressure. Now I just have the bike rack on the bumper. My bike is a very light all aluminum Sun cruiser; I'm pretty sure it is a lot lighter than the spare tire.
Good discussion. Thanks....

Yosemitebob
09-21-2013, 10:14 PM
We installed a front hitch on the truck, uses a standard hitch bike carrier of your choice, we still have the rear of the trailer for other use. :)

suza
09-22-2013, 08:08 PM
We installed a front hitch on the truck, uses a standard hitch bike carrier of your choice, we still have the rear of the trailer for other use. :)

And, you can see your bikes :)

JRTJH
09-23-2013, 04:48 AM
A front hitch is "nice" for "seeing your bikes" and for "getting them off the rear bumper" but if you live in the south, you might want to remember the "plight of the lovebugs" before you install them "up front." Each bike could easily weigh a couple of pounds more when you get to your destination and all of that weight would be "slimy black goo" <YECHT>

suza
09-23-2013, 08:15 AM
A front hitch is "nice" for "seeing your bikes" and for "getting them off the rear bumper" but if you live in the south, you might want to remember the "plight of the lovebugs" before you install them "up front." Each bike could easily weigh a couple of pounds more when you get to your destination and all of that weight would be "slimy black goo" <YECHT>

I'm glad we live in Oregon :) We have our share of bugs, too, but not like in your part of the country. I especially hate the ones that splat on the windshield in an explosion of yellow goo (perhaps bees?). Most of ours, however, are small, but a pain to clean off the front of vehicles, nonetheless. And then, there are the bird droppings . . . . . but that's another story :D

homer3
10-12-2013, 07:43 AM
I own a 327 RES, this MO# has a bumper that slides out and acts as a combo storage space/bike rack. Has anyone utilized this space for carrying bikes while traveling. If so how did you mount them and tie down.

JRTJH
10-12-2013, 09:16 AM
I own a 327 RES, this MO# has a bumper that slides out and acts as a combo storage space/bike rack. Has anyone utilized this space for carrying bikes while traveling. If so how did you mount them and tie down.

A number of people have RV's with this feature and a lot of them (not sure if it's the majority or not) have had "nightmares" or "near nightmares" with broken sliding racks, missing bikes, broken rack components, bent frames, and a host of other problems. Do a forum search using "Cougar sliding rack"

This one will get you started: http://www.keystonerv.org/forums/showthread.php?t=5063&highlight=cougar+sliding+rack

theeyres
10-12-2013, 07:54 PM
I like this idea! Did you have it made or did you buy the hitch? Have you noticed any problems with the bikes hitting your truck or trailer during travel or turning in tight spaces?

This is what we did on our fiver when full-timing--many thousands of miles and loved it. No problems hitting the truck--once you see how they move with the fiver you will see that they can't hit the truck. The bikes are not as wide as the fiver, the fiver will hit before the bikes. So if the fiver clears, the bikes will. We just had a friend take a standard receiver, weld an easy bracket to bolt to the pin box and then used an off the rack bike rack. There's lots of instructions on the "biggie" forum.

Branky
10-19-2013, 03:25 PM
OK I will bite.
"Biggie forum"??

kiwi2000
10-20-2013, 05:45 AM
We went with item 49401 http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/xc-hitch-or-bumper-mount-rack/49401 from camping world for our two bikes.
There are pages of happy campers reviews on the site.

It seems well made.

There are no horror stories on the site reviews.

I like it that hitch comes off in seconds and we can put it on the truck if we are going to the park or something and want to bring the bikes.

Only complaint the small hole for a lock.