Rear Bumper Hitch

[Bazel]

Looking for recommendations for a rear bumper hitch for my Springdale 303BH. What to add 1 for a bike rack and possibly 2nd for a storage rack.

How much strength does the bumper have to use the attached ones?

Should we look at installing an actual hitch attached to the frame instead of using the U bolt style attachments? Any recommended system for 2 hitches?

[mwemaxxowner]

When I was a teenager, we had a rear bumper break off the camper we were towing due to a bumper mounted bike rack. Ever since then, I stay away from bumper mounted things. I'm also wanting to add a hitch to the rear so I can use a cargo rack that mounts in a receiver.

[meaz93*]

On my ole 2010 Springdale 291RKSSR; I installed the U Bracket/Reciever on the bumper of said trailer and used a bike rack system that plugged into that & held 2 bikes....worked great>no problems at all.

[travelin texans]

The bumper was designed to hold your sewer hose inside it, which by the way is about it's weight limit.
I WOULD NOT attach ANYTHING to the flimsy bumper that you may still want to have once you arrive at your destination. Frame mounted hitch ONLY!!
Yes, they make a product that bolts on to strengthen the welds of the bumper, but does absolutely nothing to help the beer can thin metal bumper.

[Ken / Claudia]

Just to add what I have seen, normally anything hanging, mounted, sitting on the rear bumper or rear of a RV bounces like a yo-yo. That bounce will destroy welds, bend metal and leave your stuff on the roadway at some point if not done right. Be really careful. Make sure what you want to put on the rear is held in place without extra bouncing and strong enough to hold the load. Once and awhile I do see that and this season out of many I have counted 2 that had good solid, stable loads on the rear.

[KSH]

Get one welded on. Look for a trailer shop or any welding shop. Will cost about the same as a bolt on.

[LHaven]

Originally Posted by travelin texans

The bumper was designed to hold your sewer hose inside it, which by the way is about it's weight limit.
I WOULD NOT attach ANYTHING to the flimsy bumper that you may still want to have once you arrive at your destination. Frame mounted hitch ONLY!!
Yes, they make a product that bolts on to strengthen the welds of the bumper, but does absolutely nothing to help the beer can thin metal bumper.

That's scary news. Keystone mounted my spare on the bumper.

[mwemaxxowner]

My spare is on the bumper also. The trailer is nearly 15 years old, and the bumper/welds look fine. I wouldn't worry too awful much about just the spare. The hide a spare would be nice though to free up that space for cargo. (With a frame mounted receiver)

[LHaven]

Curiously, Keystone included a receiver on the rear of my Cougar. Since it's right underneath the spare tire, I doubt I could hook anything up to it without abandoning the spare. This concerns me a bit, because a scooter in our future cannot be ruled out.

[sourdough]

My spare is mounted on my bumper as well. I've also encountered 2 situations that literally bent the mounting bars for the spare leaving it at a 45 degree angle to the ground and the bumper wasn't fazed. But, BUT...for whatever reason the bumper on my trailer is pretty stout and thick walled. When drilling retaining holes for retention screws for the rubber ends it was fairly thick (for an RV bumper) and is mounted very solidly. That is NOT the case across the board. I have tapped on mine many times to get the "feel of the sound" in addition to pushing/pulling etc. I do the same on most units I look at (never even thought of it, or did it, until I joined this forum). I thought all bumpers would be the same; from my unprofessional, backyard mechanic analysis they appear not to be. Some feel like the square tubing could just be pulled off the back, others feel like if you squeezed hard the sides of the tubing would bend. I've seen some with what appeared to be rust around the welds on the bumper.

As strong as mine appears to be (to me) I would never dream of carrying anything more than a spare on it. I initially planned to remove it and place it elsewhere but on our first trip I bent it out the first time and the bumper was unfazed so I've just left it. Those are just my "seat of the pants" observations - that and a couple of bucks will get you a cup of coffee.

[retiredusps69]

Its all about leverage. Tire is almost directly above bumper. When you extend out from the bumper you get a lot of bounce and leverage. Also if you weld to the trailer frame ground clearance is reduced not counting the added length.Saw one guy leave and the dip caught the carrier and bent it upwards about 6 inches !!!!

[Kylesmith3021]

I had these on my last 2 trailers and they work great..had my bike carrier and spare tire on the bumper and never an issue.

https://www.amazon.com/Mount-n-Lock-SafetyStruts-Prevent-Failure-SSN-Standard/dp/B071JM3GJD/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?keywords=rv+bumper+support+bracket& qid=1564093779&s=gateway&sprefix=rv+bumper&sr=8-4

They have great customer service and if you email them a picture of your bumper to frame attachment they even tell you what model to buy...I upgraded to a different camper this year and my old set would not work and they even sent me a brand new one for free that woukd work with new setup

[mwemaxxowner]

Originally Posted by Kylesmith3021

I had these on my last 2 trailers and they work great..had my bike carrier and spare tire on the bumper and never an issue.



https://www.amazon.com/Mount-n-Lock-...+bumper&sr=8-4



They have great customer service and if you email them a picture of your bumper to frame attachment they even tell you what model to buy...I upgraded to a different camper this year and my old set would not work and they even sent me a brand new one for free that woukd work with new setup

[emoji22]

[Kylesmith3021]

https://mount-n-lock.com/

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by Kylesmith3021

https://mount-n-lock.com/

Mentioned those in post #4! Yes they reinforce the welds holding the bumper, but do absolutely nothing in the center of that flimsy bumper.

[jteigen]

Originally Posted by Bazel

Looking for recommendations for a rear bumper hitch for my Springdale 303BH. What to add 1 for a bike rack and possibly 2nd for a storage rack.

How much strength does the bumper have to use the attached ones?

Should we look at installing an actual hitch attached to the frame instead of using the U bolt style attachments? Any recommended system for 2 hitches?

We just did this. Here's what happened when we put a bolt attachment on our 2016 fifth wheel for our two e-bikes - we hauled those bikes for one short trip to the coast and came back and I had a front hitch installed on my truck. We have a camera on the fiver and I turned it on when we traveled. The bikes looked fine but by the time we got to the coast we noticed that the bumper was starting to twist. It's just not meant for any weight on it. My recommendation is to find something else. Either get something welded to the frame of the trailer (one of the options we explored) or get a front hitch for the truck.

[Bob Landry]

I had my local trailer shop reinforce my bumper with 1/4" thick steel tubing. My bumper has carried a spare tire, and an aluminum diamond tread box with Craftsman air compressor, two power cords, two extension cords and -Chocks for several years with no issues. I periodically inspect the welds.

[BadmanRick]

We have a 2011 bullet Premier 19fbpr and it has a heavy duty rear bumper. I have a Curt bolt on hitch and I have an Allan 4 bike bike rack which we carry a three wheel bike on it. We have had no problems so far over the past 5 years.

[keithbeeb]

I have a 36ft 30RLI with 2 spare tires and a 27gal porta potty on my back bumper. I checked my bolts and welds and nothing seems to be broke yet.

[kawi23]

i lost 2 bikes with a bumper mount hitch with bike rack in it would not recommend doing it