Bike Rack Question

[aerofarm]

I have a 2003 Cougar 276 5th wheel.

I have read that I don't want to bolt a receiver hitch to the bumper for my bike rack. (Highway disasters, etc.)

I was looking a welding some channel iron or tubing across the frame that holds the bumper and then welding my receiver to that. Under further inspection, I found that the tubing that the bumper is welded to is not really part of the frame but welded on underneath. Tempted to weld a piece of 2" tubing across about two inches in front of the bumper at the same level as the bumper. Then weld the receiver to the bottom of the tubing and also to the bottom of the bumper. Still relying on how well the factory welded the bumper holders to the frame.

How do people put bike racks on the back of their fifth wheels. My family has always enjoyed biking while camping and I just envisioned adding the bike rack before I bought the camper.

Nate

[5mary6]

As long as it is a steel bumper and not an aluminum bumber it will hold. I had a bolt on one I got from Wal Mart and never had an issue. You can even turn them upside down where the receiver tube is on top of your bumper. That's what I did.

[pedalsteelpicker]

I just found a you tube video of the same year and model as yours for sale just to see what the bumper looked like.I had the same type of square tube bumper on my 04 prowler and bought a bike rack that bolted directly to the bumper and it straddled the spare tire(it held 2 bikes).

[aerofarm]

Thanks guys. It does have a steel bumper with a aluminum trimming which covers the top and back. It's only about 1/16 inch thick though.

[hankpage]

Don't trust that bumper ... even with carrying a spare tire. The welds are not good enough. Go with your idea of reinforcing and adding receiver.

[Festus2]

x2 Adding a bike rack to that bumper - steel or not - isn't a good choice IMO. The weight of the spare tire and the bikes is just too much for that bumper - steel or not. You may "get away with it now" but I wouldn't want to be behind you when the welds break and have the spare tire and the bikes bouncing all over the road in front of me!

Go with your first idea and attach something solid to the frame and then you know for sure it will be safe along with the safety of others on the road. It might cost a bit more but you can never put a price on safety of you, your family and others. Should you have a failure, you probably won't get hurt. What about the family behind you?

[harpoon]

Would you consider a roof rack? Thule and Yakima are good choices. Just another opinion really. If you value your bikes, having them back there would be a concern for me. Much has been made about the bouncing around that goes on back there.

[JeffS]

First off let me be clear I am asking a question NOT advocating or making a case.

Granted the bumper is an issue, we have had the recall work done on our 2011 26SAB, but had not experienced any tearing of the metal.

So here is the question; “I am wondering if the type of bike rack has any impact on the stress placed on the bumper?” Prior to the recall we towed 4,000 miles using a 2 bike platform rack (see thumbnail below) and saw no damage at the weld sites – granted we very well might have just gotten lucky. However, with the weight distributed over 4 anchor points there appeared to be little to no jiggling while traveling. I did notice that single mount racks and spare tire carriers produced a substantial amount of jiggle especially if mounted in the center of the bumper.

[Little Guy]

I took my rig to a welder and had him weld 2 cross braces to the frame and then weld a 2" receiver to the cross braces. He also welded the receiver to bumper and added a couple of gussets for additional bracing. This setup is so strong that I no longer worry about the spare tire snapping the bumper welds.
The bike rack slides into the receiver and is no issue whatsoever. Secure and stable. The work cost me less than $200 including the steel and receiver.

[Festus2]

Jeff -

If I understand that particular recall correctly, it was due to the bumper which could experience metal fatigue causing the spare tire to separate from the vehicle..."Over time, the bumper may fail". Obviously, there was a safety concern with this particular bumper and Keystone sent out kits to reinforce the bumper.

Looking at your bike rack, it would appear that the stress points are spread over a fairly wide area of the bumper and this may have some effect on the how well the bumper is able to withstand the stresses caused by the weight of the bikes and perhaps the tire. I am not an engineer and really can't offer anything one way or another.

Other than having someone follow you down a road that has some "bumps" or uneven pavement, I am not sure how a person could determine if the bikes and tire were bouncing up and down, jiggling or were fairly stable.

If the bumper is not securely attached to the frame, the welds and metal are subject to fatigue or if there is some remote possibility that the tire and/or bikes could suddenly separate from the RV, then I am not sure if it matters what type of bumper-mounted bike rack a person has.

[JeffS]

Festus, nor am I am engineer - so let me take another stab at this.

Based on pictures I have seen of failed bumpers it appeared that the failure was not the weld but a tearing of the bumper steel at the weld site - as you indicated. Keystones fix looks like it improves the attachment of the frame to the bumper. http://www.keystonerv.org/forums/showthread.php?t=8800
However, if the issue is fatigue/failure of the bumper material (which seems to be a much lighter gauge steel than the bumper on my old Jayco) I’m not totally convinced they have created a situation that will handle the stress of a single mount point tire and/or bike rack over the long haul. Hopefully one of our members who is an engineer or metallurgist can comment on whether distributing the weight actually improves the situation.

Unfortunately, here in the US, many of the Interstate Highways currently qualify as the bumpy road you mentioned.

[captbru]

Why not go with a front hitch? Put one on our truck and no problems, see more and more of them. Go to curt hitch find the model for your truck then check price on amazon, will be half the price on amazon. Then get a swagman bike rack on amazon. You won't have to worry about that bumber or paying to reinforce it to carry bikes.