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Old 11-03-2014, 05:56 PM   #1
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Another bumper hitch question

So I know from everything that I have read here that it probably isn't a good idea to attach a bike rack to the square bumper on the back of a TT. But I was wondering about putting my 42 gallon empty tote there.

The tote weights about 40lbs empty and I figure another 10lbs in metal for the u-bolts and bars that would be used as a mount.

I was thinking of an L shaped mount attached to the bumper with u-bolts. The tote would slide between the brackets and the back wall of the TT itself, attached with bungie cords.

Thoughts????
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Old 11-03-2014, 06:25 PM   #2
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I don't know about the weight. I would be concerned about chafing the rear wall.

A service rep at our dealer told me they repair a lot of damage caused by things that are mounted on the back of TTs and shouldn't be. Chairs and waste totes on ladders can cause damage, but I see a lot of that. Is there a way you could attach to the frame?
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Old 11-03-2014, 06:35 PM   #3
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I see where you are with this, I could easily make sure that it didn't rub up against the back wall by tying it close to the brackets. I am mostly concerned with the weight. The bumper is welded pretty well to the frame and the spare tire is already attached to it.
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Old 11-03-2014, 08:28 PM   #4
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I don't see any issue with you plan. The issue with bikes is the dynamic forces because a bike rack essentially becomes a lever pulling on the bumper.
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Old 11-03-2014, 08:56 PM   #5
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I don't see any issue with you plan. The issue with bikes is the dynamic forces because a bike rack essentially becomes a lever pulling on the bumper.
Agree, the majority of the weight is still going to be pretty much still on the bumper. I am fortunate that I have a welder and can manufacture the brackets myself, and simply attach using U-brackets
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Old 11-04-2014, 09:34 AM   #6
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I had 2 25 gallon totes on back there and after 3 years the bumper fell off.. so I would not reccomend it.
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Old 11-07-2014, 10:02 AM   #7
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Have you seen these? Supposedly they reinforce the back bumper to prevent breakage at the welds.... I am considering putting storage there as well.

https://www.mount-n-lock.com/index.p...=38&Itemid=545
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Old 11-07-2014, 12:34 PM   #8
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Don't waist your money on those things, there is not enough metal on them to be sufficient for more load capacity. They are only good for not having your bumper falling off in its present situation. Get a good hitch installed on the back of the trailer with 2" receiver channel going across bolted on the trailer chassis.
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Old 11-07-2014, 11:00 PM   #9
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Yes, a bolted hitch with a 2" receiver is great...for $300. But for $50, you can get the metal braces that will provide enough extra strength to hold some storage.

I have done some stress analysis on this set-up. As you can see in the pictures (bumper A - no brace , bumper B - brace), adding the braces moves the stress points away from the bumper welds (where it fails and the bumper falls off).

As someone pointed out, it's the stress on the welds that kick the bumper loose and drop off. So, the braces would be a cheap solution to get additional strength for simple storage.

(I don't sell that product, I am just interested in the design and will probably cut my own version of it.)
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Bumper_A-01.jpg   Bumper_A-02.jpg   Bumper_B-01.jpg   Bumper_B-02.jpg  
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Old 01-05-2015, 11:12 PM   #10
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After some research (and a little design "borrowing"), I settled on using this tote from Tractor Supply:

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/stor...-chest-toolbox

I will fabricate the bumper reinforcements and the bolt-on supports. Then I will bolt the tote in place. This should give me plenty of additional storage....I'll post some pics TEX1961 once I get everything in place...
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Old 01-06-2015, 09:00 AM   #11
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... snip ...
I will fabricate the bumper reinforcements and the bolt-on supports. Then I will bolt the tote in place. This should give me plenty of additional storage....I'll post some pics TEX1961 once I get everything in place...
Greetings from an ex- Michignader or is it Michiganian... Of course some say Trolls.

I really like your analysis and design. If I had tools like that, I'd spend days playing 'what if' because, but I'd never get around to building anything. But that's me.

I don't know about your space constraints etc., but did you try an analysis with some type of reinforcements over the top of the frame and bumper? Twisting of the bumper by the weight and bouncing of the storage box on the fabricated bolt-on supports would put a lot of stress on the upper welds. The commercial reinforcements bolted to the frame would help counteract the twisting if they were thick enough and, of course, help hold the bumper if/when the welds failed.
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Old 01-06-2015, 09:37 AM   #12
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I know what you mean...I tend to way over-analyze these things! (my brother lives in Arizona!)

If you look at the previous bumper stress pics (blue) you can see that adding the added braces in the lower two pictures take the stress off of the welds. Kinda hard to see in those pictures. I copied that off of a commercial product here: https://www.mount-n-lock.com/product...e-safetystruts

So. That helps prevent the 'twisting' on the welds. I understand that the 3 supports I added would apply those stresses if the weight is solely on them. My intent is to have the back part of the tote to rest on the bumper. So the weight would be distributed between the 3 support and the bumper (with the braces keeping the weight off the welds).

Here are a couple stress pictures with 100# on each support and 200# on the bumper. Understand that this is a static load, but it is a good indicator of actual performance.

In the picture with the blue bumper, the weight is applied to the outer edge of the supports. This would not happen as explained, the weight would be even across the braces, but this shows the stress the individual support can handle. The picture shows an exaggerated theoretical distortion. Where is is RED, it has moved 0.07312" from its original position. The further down the color bar on the left, the less movement.

The yellow picture shows where the stress (green) is on the bumper braces (or struts).

So, this is with 500# total. I won't be anywhere near that, so I think this will work.

The only wild card is the dynamics of driving down the road with weight in there, but I feel confident that it would be fine....
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Bumper_B-05.jpg   Bumper_B-06.jpg  
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Old 01-06-2015, 09:50 AM   #13
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Originally Posted by MrScary View Post
I know what you mean...I tend to way over-analyze these things! (my brother lives in Arizona!) snip
I know what you mean...I tend to way over-analyze these things, too! (and my brother lives in Michigan!)

Thanks for the added info. Somehow I knew (but didn't want to assume ) you had analyzed the torque on the bumper in addition to the weight.
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Old 01-09-2015, 06:55 AM   #14
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I'll assume that folks are "weighing in" the additional weight these attached items add to the total amount of towed weight of your vehicle.

I say this only because the bafoon neighbor of mine accross the street placed a ton of stuff on his TT; all on the tongue of the campers trailer. The nose made the camper sag the front about 3 inches when he hitched it up to his truck. No doubt he was close, if not exceeding his maximum tongue weight.
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Old 01-09-2015, 08:00 AM   #15
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I can't speak for others, but in the spirit of over analyzing, I will be measuring tongue weight before and after. In my case, it could make the tongue lighter as the weight is on the back. I will probably load up the container with more than I intend to carry and test from there. I will probably use the bathroom scale method which should be close enough for my purposes....
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Old 05-27-2015, 04:24 PM   #16
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Here are the brackets I fabricated....they are 7 gauge steel. Now that I see them in place, 11 gauge would probably be fine.

All I need now is to mount the container (after I buy it!)
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Old 05-29-2015, 05:47 PM   #17
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Attached!
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