Bike Rack

[Liontiger]

Help ! I have an '05 Jayco Jayfeather 29Y and I'm trying to find a way to haul two adult bikes. I have a topper on the pick up truck and with my children's bike and dog kennel the adult bikes will not fit in it. There's really not room inside the camper and I don't want to tear anything up inside during transport. The bumper on the back of the camper is not the typical box tube like most campers have. I've heard good and bad things about trying to weld a hitch receiver onto the back frame of the camper (I believe that Jayco does not recommend this). Has anyone tried this or have any other suggestions ? I've seen some type of bike rack from a Canadian Company that mounts to the front of the camper frame above the propane tanks but it was $500-600. I only spent about $40 on the bikes at an auction. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Denise]

Welcome to the Jayco Owners Forum LionTiger! We haven't had to look into a bike rack for the tt yet as we have room in the back of the truck. I will watch this thread with interest though because at times we will be using my daughter's GMC Yukon to pull the tt camping (only way we can take all four grandkids, their mom and dad, and us to. But then there could be no bikes unless we add a rack somewhere. Hope some clever thoughts pass through this thread

[jameshil]

Try looking into a rack that attaches to a rear mounted ladder(assuming you have a rear ladder) Our dealer thru one in with our recent trailer purchase and it is great for 2 adult bikes. Literally goes on and off in a couple of minutes. mounting the bikes takes a couple minutes more. The company even offers a cover to keep dust and weather off the bikes if you like.

[JPBeck]

I welded a 2 X 2 X 1/4 wall tube steel that connects to the trailer's superstructure (acts like a stiffener plate), butted it under and against the rear bumper. Then I welded a 2" receiver to the tube steel. I just slip my Yakima bike rack into the receiver.

It's easy if you know how to weld and have a machine, if you don't it may cost you 100 bucks.

I also made a frame for my Eu2000i that slips into the receiver as well.

Before anyone says that my set-up isn't safe... let me say that the Channel iron on the super structure's frame would break before my weld. Going down the road that sucker doesn't bounce a bit. I'll take some pictures in a bit.

[One Country Boy]

I was a little afraid of mounting the bikes on the ladder. Most of the ladders I've seen are not that sturdy. I wondered it the constant bouncing and vibration would not create problems with the ladder's mounting locations. Especially where the ladder attaches to the roof of the RV. You really want to keep that location sealed to prevent leaks. The rear of any RV takes the most bouncing.

I have seen where a couple of bikes were mounted on the front of a tow vehicle, if that might be an option. Not sure how the rack was attached but the owner did state it didn't create any cooling problems with the tow vehicle. We are fortunate enough to have the square tubular rear bumper. Makes it easy. Just a few thoughts.

[Denise]

Back in the 90's when we had a truck and 5er (then a camper... talk about downsizing!) we actually used the car rack from our little Honda to hook our bikes to the truck. Until you mentioned the front of the truck Jim, I totally forgot we did this!

The rack was attached by "hooking" the soft plastic covered hooks on the trunk of our Honda Accord where it closed.... the attached straps draped over the trunk itself to the rack which held two bikes I think (could of been three but we only needed two). Then the bottom of the rack had a strap that attached under the bumper. Well, we took that "rack" and adjusted the straps to see if it would work from the hood of our Diesel f-250, and it did! We had no probs with that set-up while traveling over 8000+ miles over the next few years ...ummmm.. except for dead bugs!

Anyhow, that is an option!

[Liontiger]

We don't have a ladder on our camper. I've since researched hitch receivers that fit on the front of the truck. We are hoping to buy a new tundra and the hitch kit will be different from the hitch kit for our 2000 Tundra. We'll probably wait until we get a new truck and haul the adult bikes on the front of the truck. Thanks for everyone's ideas and I'd love to see pictures of the welding attached to the super structure.

[Denise]

Originally Posted by Liontiger

We don't have a ladder on our camper. I've since researched hitch receivers that fit on the front of the truck. We are hoping to buy a new tundra and the hitch kit will be different from the hitch kit for our 2000 Tundra. We'll probably wait until we get a new truck and haul the adult bikes on the front of the truck. Thanks for everyone's ideas and I'd love to see pictures of the welding attached to the super structure.

There are hitch receivers for the front? Can you post pics once you do so? Thanks

[Liontiger]

It probably would be this fall at the earliest. curtmfg.com sells a variety of adapters for a front hitch. The one for the 2010 Tundra can be attached in about 20 minutes. Now I just need to hit the lottery in order to purchase the 2010 Tundra ! If I buy the front hitch for a 2000 Tundra (which I currently have) it will not work on the 2010 body style so I'm going to wait.

[JPBeck]

This guy did some a little of both-- welded a receiver onto the rear and bolted some angle iron onto the tongue ( I would have welded it on the front though).

http://www.everymilesamemory.com/ourtrailer.htm

[JPBeck]

Here is what I welded to the "I" Beams-- I also welded the hitch to the outside beam. The receiver is just below the rear bumper. I don't have any pictures of our bike rack attached but I do have a picture of our generator attached to it.








I guess I should get some more spray paint on those welds-- maybe this weekend.

[JPBeck]

Here it is with the generator on.

[William]

The previous owner of our white hawk had one on the ladder know the ladder is broke. The best bet is to have a hitch shop weld the receiver and tie back to the frame not the bumper. I got an est. for $269.00--$369.00 depending on inclosed under belly.

[TeamFoxy]

You may have to do some custom blocking, but what about a roof rack on th TV for the bikes?
We had a ladder rack on our class c RV and it was never a problem. Two bikes are probably considerably lighter than an adult male.

[MrKong]

Why not just get a front receiver hitch for your truck? It works great.

[Bikester]

all, this is currently a big dilemma for me and need some opinions. I'm down to 3 options
1. Front Receive Hitch (Front mount)
2. Weld something similar to what JPBeck did (Rear Mount)
3. Dual Hitch Extender (between TV and Camper Mount)

Does anyone have an opinion on #3?

Thank you
JR

[eldermike]

Front hitch on the truck is a good option.

[clubhouse]

Personally I don't like #3 for two reasons. First the 400lb tongue weight limit would not work for me, and I cant imagine it will work for most TT + bike rack and bikes. Secondly, I feel it would impead with backing up, the bikes would contact the front of the TT.

I had a receiver welded to the rear. It's is a custom frame to frame welded 2" receiver. Works great, cost $295 from a specialty hitch shop near my home.

The only concern I had when i was investigating a front of TV mount was restricting air to the radiator. That and I didnt like the looks, but I could have gotten past looks if I was confident there wasnt going to be a cooling issue.

[owenssailor]

We have a front receiver and bike rack on the front of our 2012 Silverado. 4000 miles and no problems at all. Had similar setup on 2003 Silverado.

I suggest Swagman bike carrier since it hold the bikes by the wheels and then they don't swing in the wind while driving.

[us71na]

Have you thought about buying a folding bike. There are some reasonably priced ones at Camping World. You can even get a carry bag to keep it clean or to protect the inside of the camper or truck cap.