Spare Tire Mounted Bike Rack

[big_beau408408]

Has anyone out there tried mounting a bike rack to the spare tire? Is there a weight rating? Will it hold three bikes? On our first trip we put the bikes inside our TT but I'm not comfortable with them bouncing around. Thanks for any suggestions!

Bruce

[jsmith948]

Please do yourself a service and search the forum for 'bumpers' or 'bike racks'.
There have been many threads/posts regarding this issue. These bumpers are very poorly designed and not very strong. In our travels, we have seen several trailers on the side of the road with the owners trying to tie up a failed bumper mounted bike rack. Keystone rates their bumpers at 200#. Figure the weight of the spare wheel, plus the weight of the rack & bikes - then figure in the dynamic loading caused by the weight. I wouldn't do it without reinforcing the bumper. JMHO:)

[Tbos]

I own a 238ML too. I tow with a crew cab GMC so I put my bikes in the truck bed with fork mounts. You could make a fork mount rack that could fit securely in RV. Some bungees could help secure it inside. I've also recently seen some bike racks that mount to and above the trailer tongue. Unfortunately I've not been able to catch brand names. Another option is a roof rack on your tow vehicle. Good luck. Have fun.

[BobnLee]

my trailer had a recall on the rear bumper. I found out they were welding brackets on the bumper to the frame because so many were falling off. I found it cheaper to go a couple of miles down the road to a welding shop where they cut off the bumper and put one on that was twice the thickness of the first one. I can actually put my end caps in now without screwing them. Total cost was just over $100.00 and I now have a real back bumper complete with receiver for the bike rack and spare tire

[BirchyBoy]

There's a few posts here where somebody mounted bike fork brackets to the dinette benches. Picture the table being down and the bikes secured to where you sit. I may do that to ours in the near future.

Edit: not the post I was thinking of, but the same idea:

http://cdn.forestriverforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=36151&thumb=1&d=1395791589

Full post: http://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/f68/my-bike-carrier-mod-for-a-roo-233s-should-work-on-other-models-44515.html

[zuley]

There is presently another post this morning in the 5th wheel section relating to the same question. I built a pick up bed rack using a couple of Yakima racks off of a pop up we traded in on our TT. Serves our need well.