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Old 08-14-2008, 10:09 AM   #1
lenlin84
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REAR HITCH ON TRAILER

We fulltime in our '03 Monty 3255RL towed with a '99 F350 7.3 diesel. With the price of diesel, we need to have some other mode of transportation just to putt down to the store or just around town. We have become interested in getting a motorscooter of appropriate size to carry us around. At 85 to 95 mpg it seems to be the right thing to do and they are fun to drive. That being said, our problem becomes, how do we take it along with us??? I'd like to add a hitch to the back of the trailer to carry it. Weight of the scooter will be in the 225 to 275 lbs.
Has anyone installed a hitch on the back of their trailer? I contacted Keystone and all I get from them is that they don't recomend adding anything to the rear of the trailer. I don't know why it wouldn't be possible, the frame rails in this unit are 10 inch steel I-beam's. Seems to me that they should be able to hold up a scooter/support rail assembly that would be no more than 300# max. Weight on the trailer pinbox up front is about 2000#'s. Anybody have any experiance on a project like this?????
 
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Old 08-14-2008, 10:31 AM   #2
Jolu
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Lenlin84,
I recently installed a hitch on my 2955RL. My intent is to haul 2 bicycles. After installing the hitch I had to extend out about 14" from the receiver to mount the bike rack. I stepped onto the extension and bounced up and down a little with my 200 lbs. There is a lot of bounce back there and perhaps a little give. I am not going to haul more than a couple of bikes and will not tow anything.
This being said it might be possible to beef up the frame a little behind the rear axles. I think I read where a MOC member did have a mount for a scooter. JB
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Old 08-14-2008, 11:26 AM   #3
bsmeaton
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The Keystone hitch on the new Montana is way to light for anything beyond bicycles (200 lb limit). However, you can hava a hitch shop install one with a 2" reciever and then add a scooter rack from Camping World that will carry it just fine.

We had a hitch installed on our 2003 2955RL for a boat, and we are ab out to install one on our 3400 for hauling a scooter or ATV trailer.
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Old 08-14-2008, 03:19 PM   #4
carlson
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that is way too much weight that will be bouncing around back there.
If that is the way you want to go, then I would look at one of those trailers the attaches in two receiver on the back of the unit, and put you item on that.
they work great and they have a swivel wheel or wheels.
We bought a 94 Wrangler that I had sold to a friend of ours a couple of years ago back.
Have registered it in MT and will tow it behind the Monty from NH to AZ this fall.
I install a hitch a couple of years ago and it works great. Again, I am pulling the jeep so I have little vertical weight on the hitch.
Usually what I have on the hitch is a cargo carrier, with light stuff when we travel.
Be careful of tongue weight!!
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Old 08-14-2008, 03:53 PM   #5
cdaniels
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We know someone who put a receiver on the front of his truck (2500 Chevy) and carries a scooter that weighs 600lbs on it. He did add snow plow lights on the carrier. He took it this weekend on its first voyage and he reports that it did great and did not block any of his view. Have not seen it yet. Just an idea since it seems the Montana is not made for it. If you go under the swivel wheel trailer, one mfg. on the main web page explains that they are not made to carry much weight and can cause damage to slides, as well as cracks in the construction of the RV. We did talk to someone who loves the swivel wheel and he was pulling about 300-400 lbs. We also have been thinking of what would work for a few hundred pounds. Just afraid to try something that later we would regret. In a previous thread a MOC member has a pic of his scooter on the back. Run a search and see if you can find it. Good Luck.
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Old 08-14-2008, 04:49 PM   #6
bsmeaton
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Here's the one I'm going to try -

Simons scooter
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Old 08-14-2008, 05:50 PM   #7
ols1932
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Again, don't violate the frame warranty with a hitch. Those of us who have had hitches installed (mine was installed by my dealer before Keystone said, "No-no") know we risk a possibility of frame problems.

Orv
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Old 08-15-2008, 05:08 AM   #8
simonsrf
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Brad,

Thanks for helping me post. We are so happy with the setup, it works very well. Yes, it does bounce around, but the straps hold it real well as long as there is some compression against the scooter shocks.

80 miles to the gallon is not bad.

We're not worried about the Montana frame warranty, we had a fabricator who laughed when we told him we wanted to carry 300 pounds. He said that this hitch bolted to the frame would carry much more weight than 300 pounds. With the price of diesel, we'll take the risk of the almost non-existent warranty from Keystone.

The Tilt-A-Hitch receiver is aluminum and is rated to carry 400 pounds. Recently unbolted the receiver hitch from TONTOW (Montana) and attached the Tilt-A-Hitch to LN RNGR (truck) to take SILVER (scooter) in for maintenance. Very easy for one person to do.
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Old 08-15-2008, 10:50 AM   #9
BB_TX
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Last month at a campground we were at, I saw a HD truck (Freightliner I think) pulling a S.O.B. 5er of probably 38' and behind the 5er was a car trailer with (I think) an early 60's model Buick convertible. I can only imagine how much total weight that was there. Would probably make the 5er manufacturer cringe. Probably why Montana takes the easy way out and says don't do it.
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Old 08-15-2008, 11:21 AM   #10
Delaine and Lindy
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We found out while picking up our (SOB) that we could have had a rear hitch installed as a option. I just glanced at the weight # and I believe the tongues weight was either 300# or 500# and the towing weight was 3,000# from the factory. However we have a 15" frame and I think thats the difference. We also have seen many 5er's towing boats and small cars, the one's towing the cars were mostly Class 8 Trucks. We just wanted something to carry a Bike rack. But our 5er now has a bigger basement area than any 5er we have owned, so we decided not to get a hitch installed. It would have cost $350.00 to have a rear hitch installed. GBY.....
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Old 08-15-2008, 05:55 PM   #11
lenlin84
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I want to thank everyone for their great response to my question. I contacted my RV dealer I bought the trailer from and got the name of a local welding shop that the dealer refers all of this type of work to. If I have a hitch put on the back of the trailer, the welder will make a custom fit hitch with proper additional braceing. It could be a little pricey so I'll need to talk to the welding shop to see what the total cost will be and if it is really feasable to do. The other option I think I have is to mount the scooter behind the truck between the truck and trailer. The scooter is 28" wide and I have 38 to 40" from the back bumper and the front of the trailer. The scooter is as long as the truck is wide so there's no problem there. The only concern is the height of the bike. I've got 59" from the bottom of the front overhang to the ground and the scooter is 50" tall. Not much room to work with there, unless I can take the handle bars/steering head off to lower the overall height. With this installation, the bike would be very secure, not be hanging on the back of the trailer or the front of the truck. I think I like this solution best if, after all is said and done, I still have enough room between the back of the scooter and the front of the trailer to be able to make turns. Don't want to be banging anything together in a turn.
Thanks again for the info. I'll post what ever progress I make on this ongoing project. Any other ideas are welcome anytime either on this thread or my email. Always glad to hear and talk to any MOC'ers.
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Old 08-15-2008, 06:20 PM   #12
HamRad
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Lenlin84,

If you have room to carry the scooter on the back of the truck between the trailer then that would be my first choice. Few setups have that room. If yours does then go for it. Just make sure you still have that room when you make a turn!

Good luck.

HamRad
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