Bike Racks - Ladder mount or bed of pickup

[Pmedic4]

Seen lots of questions on bike racks, and discussions about the weak rear bumpers on TT and 5vers. I know I've looked at the one on my 5ver, and it looks like it is only 16 gauge steel(maybe 14 I'll have to check), pretty light weight. Probably good for storing a sewer hose ( I don't), but not much more than the spare already mounted there. Also, not interested in adding the weight to upgrade the tube and mount brackets.

Trying put put the bikes in the bed of the pick up seems like a pain, and not even sure it's possible? Anyone do this?

Anyone had experience with the Ladder mounted racks? CW has one for $43, but I'm not convinced the ladder is any stronger than the bumper tube.

[zuley]

Personally, I would not trust either the rear bumper or the ladder for mounting a rack. The weight of the bikes is compounded every time you hit a bump in the road. I looked at a tongue mounted bike rack that mounted over top of the propane bottles at our local RV store that looked quite sturdy. It was rather pricey, I believe about 300 dollars. I ended up magyvering a rack out of a couple of Yakima racks that I had left over from our Pup when we sold it. Took the two racks and bought two pieces of alluminum tubing from the HD boutique and made a removable rack that fits nicely in the back of my pick up. A couple of ratchet straps to hold it all down and we are good to go. We take it in and out as required. Works well.

[bsmith0404]

How many bikes are you planning to mount? My experience with bike racks is that just about any 2 bike rack will work fine, but when you move to a 4 bike rack, most are not worth the money you spend on them. I had a $100 rack that bent down under the weight of 4 bikes and almost lost them. I then bought a "very heavy duty" receiver hitch rack that that was over $150. It worked great for 2-3 bikes, but again bent under the weight of 4 bikes. I now have a receiver hitch mounted 4 bike tray rack from SportRack. This rack works great and I have not had any problems. My opinion, if you are carrying 2 bikes, about anything you find should work fine, if you are carrying more, put a receiver hitch on the back of the RV and get a quality tray rack.

I also have a front bumper receiver on my truck (got it from etrailer for about $150) and I mount a 2 bike rack up front. You cannot mount more than 2 bikes on the front without exceeding 3' legal length limits.

I've also seen rack that mount on the 5th wheel hitch, but do not have any experience with them.

[lablum]

We normally bring 3 adult and 1 kid bike. We have always carried them in the bed of the truck along with everything else under the sun that you need to camp. It was not an easy task getting them in and out. A lot of climbing in and out and bending and banging your head on the cap and scraping your knuckles wrestling to get them out. Our old Crossroads back bumper was strong enough for us to install a hitch. Just when we installed it we sold it and bought a Keystone Cougar. I wouldn't trust the back bumper of the Cougar to hold much more than the sewer hose. So we put a front hitch on our Ford F250. Nice and strong and sits great until you put the bike rack and bikes on the front hitch :(. The bikes are too high.. Can't see out the front windshield. So. the bikes are still in the bed of the truck..

[Festus2]

I wouldn't trust the back bumper of the Cougar to hold much more than the sewer hose. So we put a front hitch on our Ford F250. Nice and strong and sits great until you put the bike rack and bikes on the front hitch :(. The bikes are too high.. Can't see out the front windshield. So. the bikes are still in the bed of the truck..

:D Sorry, but if it is any comfort, you are not the first person that this has happened to......... and probably not the last.

[bsmith0404]

. So we put a front hitch on our Ford F250. Nice and strong and sits great until you put the bike rack and bikes on the front hitch :(. The bikes are too high.. Can't see out the front windshield. So. the bikes are still in the bed of the truck..

Get a tray rack, the bike tires sit in the tray and the bikes barely show above the hood. They are just barely higher than the bug deflector.

[mguay]

Mine ride in the back of the truck across the bed on top of my 50gal Transfer Flow tank.

http://www.keystoneforums.com/attachments/photobucket/img_139001_0_307677a8d79ca72dbe6e307c33d6834b.jpg

[greengiant]

I looked into the rear TT bumper, and the Hideout I have has a weird bumper to camper attatchment. So not only is the bumper weak, but it's hooked to a 16" piece of tube that is then tacked to the bottom of the end of the I beam. Not sure why the I beam just isn't run all the way to the back. With that said, I've seen many rear racks, and even same model as mine, but I don't want to ask for trouble.....so...

Anyway, I went with the front hitch. It took me 4 months on craigslist to find a custom bike rack that was shorter in height than the average for the aforementioned reason-a regular rack will bug the crap out of my eyes because the bikes sit above the hood...a lot. A tray rack like bsmith mentions is one option, or find one like mine, or get a regular one and chop 8" off the shaft to shorten it. Sorry the pic of mine isn't very good. It still only holds two bikes, but then I can still throw one bike and a canoe on the truck cap, and the others under the cap. Other benefit of front receiver for me is during hunting season the cargo/deer rack sits there and I can still tow TT and not mess with moving the rack in and out of the bed.

If I had a 5er, I would think I'd still have the front hitch, but would do bikes in bed like mguay-depending on bed lenght I guess.

[lablum]

Get a tray rack, the bike tires sit in the tray and the bikes barely show above the hood. They are just barely higher than the bug deflector.

I'm going to look into a tray rack, great idea.. Never heard of it before but will check it out.. Thanks.

[gearhead]

For you folks that have installed a front hitch....Curt makes one for my Ford with 2 ways to install it. One that the receiver is under the front chin spoiler, and another that is higher and comes out of a hole you cut in the spoiler. Which way would you install it??
The lower position may be too low...I don't want to high center an extended rack on a sloped driveway. I've been thinking about this hitch to hopefully make it easier to wiggle my boat into the garage, but the bike rack would be cool too.

[grayghost03]

I installed it thru the spoiler, you really loose ground clearance with the below spoiler mount, also check the bike rack to receiver tubing, ours was a little light, so I built a new piece. see pictures on my blog, under the modification and change tab.

[gearhead]

Yep, I'm thinking through the spoiler will be better. Where did you find the bike rack? I have a Swagman the holds the bike under the frame. I'm thinking yours is the platform type that has been mentioned here?
Cool blog.

[slow]

.......Trying put put the bikes in the bed of the pick up seems like a pain, and not even sure it's possible? Anyone do this?
.............

We use an in bed bike support (two bike package for $175) from Rec Rac:http://www.recrac.com/Bike_Racks_for_Pickups_s/42.htm

Our two bikes are light and therefore easy to load from each side. Securing the bikes is quick and they are very stable while on the highway.

BTW: You will need at least a 78 inch (6 1/2 foot) box for it to work with adult bikes.

[theeyres]

We had a friend weld a receiver on top of the hitch on the fiver then just bought a bike holder. Best decision. Easy to load, no questions about weight, never in the way. We just had two bikes but four would have been no problem.

[gearhead]

I think you posted about this some time back. I searched but not very long! Could you repost a pic or explain more?
edit....disregard I found pics on Google.

[rweis]

For TT or FW
ARVIKA, Canadian company
TT sits above front A frame
FW mounts to FW pin box (I think, I have a TT)

Holds up to 4 bikes, has locks, tray type, removable, but pricey (last rack you will ever buy though)

Bob Weis