Rear Bumper Bike Rack

[Flicdog]

Has anyone put a bike rack on the rear bumper of a Cougar 333MKS or similar rig? I put the bolt on receiver box and a rack but it looks sketchy as far as bouncing while under way.

[Festus2]

I haven't put a bike rack on the bumper of our Cougar and wouldn't advise anyone to do so. The bumper is just not sturdy enough to support that kind of extra weight. If I were you, I'd have a receiver hitch welded to the frame and purchase any one of a number of bike racks that are designed to carry 1, 2, 3 or 4 bikes.

Do a forum search on "bike racks" and you'll find plenty of posts and threads about this topic and what others have done.

[The Outdoor Duffle Bag]

I did it and twisted my bumper ! If you do it I would put it as close to the one of the cross members as possible. You could also go to your local welding shop and they could beef up the bumper supports. Then you know it will handle it.

[gearhead]

On our previous Cougar I removed the spare tire from the bumper and put it in the storage bay. Then used a bolt on receiver to carry ONE very light all aluminum bicycle. Towed from Houston to Ohio and back. The bumper was distorted so much I couldn't get the sewer hose in it.
On the Montana, I had a new heavier bumper welded on. It has a receiver welded into the bumper. I just towed to Virginia and back with the bicycle and spare on the bumper.

[gearhead]

pics of new bumper...

[KYFamily]

I've used a bumper mount on our Avalanche for about two years now and the same setup on my old Jayco for close to 6 years with no trouble. Usually only have one kids bike on it but I have had up to three. My brother usually follows me and he always has told me that is was very stout with no bouncing. I also have China bombs and I'm over by 400 lbs. on GWVR. So what do I know.

[{tpc}]

Gearhead, what did something like that run ya? How long did it take to get it?

[gearhead]

Gearhead, what did something like that run ya? How long did it take to get it?
Two welders for basically all day. $600. But welders were scarce last year. Not this year. All the supports are .250" thick and the bumper is about .225" thick.
Smitty's RV & Welding. On Brittmoore near I-10 West at Beltway 8.
Referred to me by my infamous dealer before our relationship hit the rocks.

[Rickmuzick]

I use the bike rack that goes over the spare tire on the back of my Outback.

Picked it up at Camping World and it works great.

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/around-the-spare-bike-rack/25898

[{tpc}]

Thanks for the info gearhead! :)

Rick, that rack looks pretty cool, but doesn't solve the problem of the weak rear bumper that I believe my trailer is equipped with lol.

[gearhead]

Thanks for the info gearhead! :)

Rick, that rack looks pretty cool, but doesn't solve the problem of the weak rear bumper that I believe my trailer is equipped with lol.

That bike carrier on the spare just puts more weight and stress in one area.

[Festus2]

That bike carrier on the spare just puts more weight and stress in one area.

It seems that the most positive thing about it is the actual rack itself - otherwise, it is an accident waiting to happen. Yes, I know folks have attached racks and goodness knows what else to unreinforced, original equipment bumpers and have travelled for miles and miles without incident.
The bumper is really nothing more than a thin, flimsy square "tube" so why increase the risk of it separating, falling away or falling off and potentially causing an accident?

If you click on the link to the product, check out the review by William Dolley (the 4th one down). Even though he likes the rack, his experience with it was far from being positive and pretty much sums up what others have said about bike racks that are added just to the bumper. Makes you question why others would do this.

Yes, I know ......... "been using one for years and nothing has happened........"

[MArices]

We have a Laredo 266RL. I put a bike rack over the spare. The bumper is so thin that metal fatigue caused the bumper to separate from its supports.

[PerryB]

I haven't put a bike rack on the bumper of our Cougar and wouldn't advise anyone to do so. The bumper is just not sturdy enough to support that kind of extra weight. If I were you, I'd have a receiver hitch welded to the frame and purchase any one of a number of bike racks that are designed to carry 1, 2, 3 or 4 bikes.

Do a forum search on "bike racks" and you'll find plenty of posts and threads about this topic and what others have done.

That is what I did. I built my own receiver/cross member assembly and welded it to the frame and included some gussets as well, and then bought a nice 3 bike rack. I was constantly being asked what I towed behind the trailer (when the rack was not installed). I would usually respond with something like "a car" or "ski boat ". As the admonishing would begin I would smile and tell the truth. I now have an 8 foot bed so the current trailer has no rack/hitch. I would not hang a rack/bikes off the rear tube, for fear of all three being gone upon arriving at camp.

[5mary6]

The issue in the original question is that of the 333MKS. It has a pull out bumper that is considered a bike rack with a weight rating of 200lbs.. Don't trust it. Add a bike rack to that bumper and it may just cause disaster. Now if the bumper is left slid in, there may be more support considering Keystone put that big heavy spare tire rack on the bumper. I doubt the bicycle will weigh as much as the tire

[SkiSmuggs]

I have a two-bike rack mounted on the bumper of my Cougar High Country and have carried two adult or kids bikes with no trouble UNTIL I got a ladder rack so I could carry just one more. It came with nylon straps with plastic buckles. I used those to fasten the Wally kids' bikes to the bumper rack and used the bungees from that on the ladder rack bike. When I got home from the campground, the DW asked what I did with the bikes. Mine was still on the ladder rack, but both Wally World bikes were gone from the bumper rack with one strap with a broken buckle hanging from it.
Now I only use bungees and a bicycle cable lock to the ladder. After reading some of the other posts, I will add a bungee from the bumper rack to the ladder just to add support.

[mamawildbear]

We had a popup camper with a super duper extra strong bumper and hitch on the back of it. The previous owner towed a super duper Texas sized smoker behind his popup (yikes). We thought how great, we can use a hitch mounted bike rack. We mounted our four bikes on it and headed off to camping. Those things bounced up and down like they were on a trampoline and our traller swayed so much that 15 min down the road, we turned around home and dropped off the bikes. For us, it shifted so much weight to the rear of the trailer that we became unstable. We've been gun shy of that ever since.

[Barbell]

Our Montana came with no bumper or hitch. After several attempts to make my own hitch to carry a two bike rack, I had a welding shop install two heavy 3 inch angle irons between the frame I-beams about 3 feet apart and welded a receiver hitch to them. Seems pretty solid and no problem so far. Even though it looks strong, I would not attach anything heavier than a bike rack and certainly would not try to tow with it.

[mamawildbear]

We had a popup camper with a super duper extra strong bumper and hitch on the back of it. The previous owner towed a super duper Texas sized smoker behind his popup (yikes). We thought how great, we can use a hitch mounted bike rack. We mounted our four bikes on it and headed off to camping. Those things bounced up and down like they were on a trampoline and our traller swayed so much that 15 min down the road, we turned around home and dropped off the bikes. For us, it shifted so much weight to the rear of the trailer that we became unstable. We've been gun shy of that ever since.

Funny enough I had posted this from my trailer at the campground. The next morning our friends showed us the bike rack they installed on the back of their Coleman 23BH. They had a hitch mount 3-bike rack that came with a conveter to a bumper mount. The used a couple of u-bolts to attach it and said it worked great and didn't negatively affect the drive.

I'm going to see if I can convert my hitch mount rack the same way.

[Festus2]

Funny enough I had posted this from my trailer at the campground. The next morning our friends showed us the bike rack they installed on the back of their Coleman 23BH. They had a hitch mount 3-bike rack that came with a conveter to a bumper mount. The used a couple of u-bolts to attach it and said it worked great and didn't negatively affect the drive.

I'm going to see if I can convert my hitch mount rack the same way.

mamawildbear -
I still maintain that the safest way to install a bike rack is to have a receiver-type that is either welded to bolted to the frame. Mounting bikes on a rack that is attached only to the bumper with U-bolts is, IMO, unsafe and irresponsible. If you read the posts in this thread and the reports of twisted bumpers, broken welds and "missing bikes" that should tell us something and we should all pay attention to what has happened to others.

If your friend's bikes are hanging from a rack which is held on by U-Bolts, I would encourage them to think about those folks that are following their RV down the highway. While it may "work great" and "didn't negatively affect the drive", it is unsafe and is an accident waiting to happen. It may not happen today or tomorrow but why risk it? Why put other peoples' lives in jeopardy?

Yes, I know, nothing has happened yet so why all the excitement?

Rant over.

[Ken / Claudia]

One would think bikes or other stuff mounted on the bumper of a trailer would be OK, just like mounted on the back of the SUV or car. Not so, since I have spend more time than I want to think about on the highways and freeways. This is what I see. Bikes mounted on the rear of cars or SUVs seem to be real solid. Mounted on the trailer bumper they bounce like crazy. Why? opinion at this statement. The trailer axles and pivot up/down points are many feet foreword on the trailer compared to the SUV, the trailer also will never ride as smooth as a car or SUV or truck. . If you pull out that bumper to carry anything grab it and pull up and down. Mine moves 3-5 inchs and it will move that much with most bumps in the road. They really need to be modified to be safe.

[orvlin]

I took off the spare, put a Bal under belly tire storage. Well worth the money $80 easy to install. I have a swagman 2 bike rack. with a bolt on receiver.Never had any trouble.I have since had it reinforced since mine slides out. Cost $125 at welding shop now i have bikes plus extra fire wood or what ever you decide to put there with limits.

[mamawildbear]

mamawildbear -
I still maintain that the safest way to install a bike rack is to have a receiver-type that is either welded to bolted to the frame. Mounting bikes on a rack that is attached only to the bumper with U-bolts is, IMO, unsafe and irresponsible. If you read the posts in this thread and the reports of twisted bumpers, broken welds and "missing bikes" that should tell us something and we should all pay attention to what has happened to others.

If your friend's bikes are hanging from a rack which is held on by U-Bolts, I would encourage them to think about those folks that are following their RV down the highway. While it may "work great" and "didn't negatively affect the drive", it is unsafe and is an accident waiting to happen. It may not happen today or tomorrow but why risk it? Why put other peoples' lives in jeopardy?

Yes, I know, nothing has happened yet so why all the excitement?

Rant over.

I see what you mean. I'm guessing it's not the bumper or u-bolts that are that actual problem but that people are overloading them. I just searched for bolt on hitches on which to mount my bike rack and almost all of them say max weight 200lbs. I haven't weighed them but I'm darn sure my heavy bike rack plus our 4 adult sized bikes are well over 200lbs.

[JRTJH]

I see what you mean. I'm guessing it's not the bumper or u-bolts that are that actual problem but that people are overloading them. I just searched for bolt on hitches on which to mount my bike rack and almost all of them say max weight 200lbs. I haven't weighed them but I'm darn sure my heavy bike rack plus our 4 adult sized bikes are well over 200lbs.

The hitch is "rated for 200 pounds" when installed on an adequately strong bumper. The problem is that the bumpers on Keystone RV's is not adequately strong !!! Remember that "a chain is only as strong as its weakest link". You could install a hitch rated for 200 pounds on the bumper, the hitch would work "flawlessly", but if the bumper it's attached to bends or fails at 100 pounds, it's still going to lay your bikes on the pavement even if the hitch were rated at 1500 pounds.

[Jabber2Jake]

I have a Cougar 292RKS that came with the slide out bike rack. I removed my spare tire from it and store the tire in the basement. Doesn't a bike weigh less than the spare tire? I read that one can drill a hole on each side of the bike rack slide out rail or tube so that it can be secured with the pins in a position closer to the back of the trailer without extending it all the way out. This will decrease the bouncing. Anyone done this?

[Festus2]

I read that one can drill a hole on each side of the bike rack slide out rail or tube so that it can be secured with the pins in a position closer to the back of the trailer without extending it all the way out. This will decrease the bouncing. Anyone done this?

Yes I have but I've not been able to determine whether it reduces the bouncing or not. I can't remember how much "shorter" the slide out rack is with the holes in their different positions but my thinking was that if the rack was brought closer in, it wouldn't bounce as much.

Because of the decreased space for two bikes to fit, the handles bars of the nearest bike to the back wall were almost touching it. Some extra padding helped prevent any chaffing.