How to take our bicyles with us??

[Wiarton William]

I want to take our bikes with us...I have a bicycle carrier that bolts on the back bumper of the trailer..... I am concerned about the strength of the bumper and its supports,, as they are only welded on to the I-beam.......they dont appear to be that strongly built...I often see bikes strapped to the ladders.........anyone able to give advice or suggestions..?? thanks......

[HamRad]

Don,

If you have a place to mount them on the back bumper then that is what I'd do. I know folks do mount their bicycles to the rear ladder but we've been told by Keystone reps that we shouldn't attach anything to the ladder. And I believe we have had some folks report broken or bent bolts on their ladder.

The Mountaineer (recent models) have a built in bike carrier and that is what I'd use. Actually I have room in my truck bed to carry a bike so that is probably where I'd carry mine.

Dennis

[cdaniels]

There have been many of us that have fabricated hitches to carry bikes. There is a thread with pic's if you do a search. It works great for us. We bought the ladder bike rack, used it once, hated it. Scratched the bikes bad on the first trip and since our bikes where new we not happy campers.

[BB_TX]

We also have an F350, mine is a long bed. We have two 26" bikes that have the quick remove front wheels. I just remove the wheels and lay the bikes in the bed in front of the hitch.

I have been behind 5ers with bikes on the ladders that were doing a lot of bouncing. Can't imagine that being good for the ladder. Have also been behind some with bikes on a hitch mounted rack. Some of those bounce back and forth sideways. Didn't like the looks of that either. The single mounting point seemed to allow a lot of movement. (mine doesn't have a rear hitch anyway). I would think the bumper mounted would be more stable as long as the bumper was adequately strong.

[jpbcny]

I use a Front Mount Trailer Hitch with a Trailer Hitch Mounted Bike Rack

JP

[CmdrDewey]

I have used a front mounted hitch and I hated it. I could never get all my lights to be visible through the bikes. I have used a bumper mounted hitch and lost a bike off it. I used the ladder on my 2955 and it worked OK. I have also used a hitch on the back of the truck between the truck and the trailer. It worked OK but it made me nervous. I have also carried the bikes in the truck bed and it was a hassle. I now have a 3400 and I don't trust the ladder.

Bottom line- we put an old sheet on the bed and carry two bikes laying crossways on the bed. I hand them in the door and DW puts them on the bed. Works just fine for us and, it takes less time than loading them in any of the other configurations.

YMMD (and probably does)

[Pete Hanson]

We have two ways to carry our bikes depending upon whether we also have kayaks with us. (too many toys ....LOL) We either put them on our TV roof rack or we stand them up against the couch with strong bungy cord wrapped around the handle of the pull out bed and the bikes. This method works well for us. Oh ya.....we put an old blanket between the bikes and the couch.

[OntMont]

We carry our two Giant Cypress bikes in the basement lockers by removing the wheels and laying the frames in the locker with the pedals hanging over the "step". Donna fabricated bags out of an old bedspread to put the wheels in, and we lay those on top of the frame. Works for us, and we still get a lot of other stuff in the basement as well. Just one of many ideas, but we like the fact the bikes are under cover as we travel.

[Wiarton William]

Some good ideas to consider...not using the bumper or ladder is most evident.. I will practice the other methods to see which one works the best for us.....thanks

[HughM]

I've used bumper bike rack where the bike wheels rest on the rack. It's much more steady that suspending them from the bike frame. Works for us.
Hugh

[Tincup703]

My next door neighbor carries his bike inside his travel trailer.

[1Happycamper]

Hi Don...I have the 2 bike rack ,catalog item #37759 from camping world. Have used it for over 10 years without any problems.

Bill