Adding Safety Struts for the rear trailer bumper for bike rack.

[hexmex357]

As the wife and I started planning for this years travels we wanted to take the bikes with us. I have heard it is not recommended to put bikes on the rear bumper of the travel trailer. So I started to browse the internet world and found this simple gadget that looks like it would work. Its call safety struts bumper brackets that are made by Mount N lock. One thing it advertises that you can add up to 400 LBS of weight on the bumper. It is a little stretch but I was wondering if anyone in this Forum has used this system?

[travelin texans]

Have not used these brackets!
But as mentioned on this forum & just about any rv forum on the web have all had this subject discussed extensively.
In my opinion/experience those flimsy bumpers were/are designed to carry & wear holes in your sewer hose & nothing more.
If you want to carry anything other than your sewer hose your best bet is to go to a welder & design/install a bumper substantial enough to carry whatever you plan to haul on it.

[JRTJH]

Those "safety struts" will help reinforce the area near the ends of the bumper where it is attached to the trailer frame rails. It won't help support something "centered on the thin, square tubing" 2.5' away (in the center of that thin, square tubing). If you buy a CURT bumper hitch and bolt it onto the square tubing, you'll see that it distorts the tubing just from tightening the bracket bolts that hold the hitch to the bumper. I've seen bumpers where the $60 CURT hitch was so tight the bumper was crushed and it was still loose and wobbled on the bumper. Add the cost of the safety strut package and your investment is around $150, approaching the cost of welding a "proper receiver" to the back of your trailer.

[cjm]

I put them on mine - Love them. Yes the bumper is thin, but the issue with the bumpers isn't them bending - they are more than strong enough to prevent that. The issue is them pulling away from the frame where they are welded on. These eliminate that problem, and support the full bottom square of the bumper - thus greatly increasing the strength and stability.

If your putting 600lbs of gear on your bumper - you want a different bumper (and perhaps your head examined), but if its a couple hundred pounds of bikes or gear, then no problem. I've had mine for 2 years - have 250lbs of gear on there all the time - about 25,000k and no issues.