2013 X23B needing bike rack

[j_shoe99]

Originally Posted by tslarson

TLarson, that is a very nice setup you have there(above). I might have to look into making one myself, if my new setup doesn't work.

Reminds me of the rack I fab'd up for my former pup...


For those of you recommending keeping the bikes in the bed of the pickup...what do you do you if you want to keep your tonneau cover closed?(to keep things dry or secure)

I'm almost done with my purchasing of stuff, to be able to haul my bikes(and cargo box or basket) on top of my truck bed, above the tonneau cover. Then I can keep the tonneau cover closed/locked and still have a few bikes.

Here's what my final product hopefully will look like. (Excuse my poor photoshop skills)

[j_shoe99]

Success.

I got all my stuff mounted up this morning! Turned out pretty good. Should be able to fit 2 bikes and my basket or box up top!

[Riverbum]

looks good

[tslarson]

Originally Posted by j_shoe99

Success.

I got all my stuff mounted up this morning! Turned out pretty good. Should be able to fit 2 bikes and my basket or box up top!

Looks very nice. I had a similar, but not nearly as deluxe, version of this when I had a Dutchmen pop up and a Mazda B4000 pickup. I bolted Thule brackets to the underside of my Toneau cover frame and connected the feet and crossbars to them. I like the cargo carrier idea. We used that space for our camping chairs.

[coondog]

I've done a lot of recent research on this topic for our newly acquired X23J and considered all of the advice and stories past.

The trailer has a continuous weld 4 inch square bumper so I decided to go with a bolt on receiver and a 4 bike rack both built by Swagman and bought from e-trailer. I also removed the spare tire rack off the bumper to reduce weight.

I've had the bumper reinforced underneath with two small supports running from the bumper to the frame despite a welder saying I didn't need to go to the efforts of doing that. Better safe than sorry I told him.

I bolted on the receiver this past week and secured the rack. There is very little movement from the rack and even tried to stress it out with some of my body weight that did not impact the integrity of the rack and the bumper.

The rear of the trailer moves very little as I left the end caps on top of the bumper for a 30 mile trip and they didn't fall off so I'm confident that the rack and bikes will be ok.

Will post pictures of it over the next few days.

[tslarson]

Originally Posted by coondog

I've done a lot of recent research on this topic for our newly acquired X23J and considered all of the advice and stories past.

The trailer has a continuous weld 4 inch square bumper so I decided to go with a bolt on receiver and a 4 bike rack both built by Swagman and bought from e-trailer. I also removed the spare tire rack off the bumper to reduce weight.

I've had the bumper reinforced underneath with two small supports running from the bumper to the frame despite a welder saying I didn't need to go to the efforts of doing that. Better safe than sorry I told him.

I bolted on the receiver this past week and secured the rack. There is very little movement from the rack and even tried to stress it out with some of my body weight that did not impact the integrity of the rack and the bumper.

The rear of the trailer moves very little as I left the end caps on top of the bumper for a 30 mile trip and they didn't fall off so I'm confident that the rack and bikes will be ok.

Will post pictures of it over the next few days.

I have about 10,000 miles on this setup (along with the front tongue mounted rack in previous pics). Two bike Swagman on the left side of the bumper and the spare tire on the right. The spare tire bracket straddles the frame so it distributes the leverage forces better to the outside welds of the bumper. Also since the bikes are offset, the flex is minimal as the bracket is closer to the left frame to bumper welds. I think you should be just fine with your setup, just keep a close eye on it all. PS if you mount the bracket to the left like I did, you can see the bike tires in your rear view mirror, great peace of mind that they are still attached!