Bike Rack on Rear Ladder

[Montana_2852]

I'm looking for a way to carry two bikes on my 2005 Montana 3295RK. Camping World offers one to mount on the rear ladder. Reviews from CW indicate maybe 1/3 satisfied and 2/3 had trouble with ladders being bent and otherwise damaged. I'm wondering what Montana owners have experienced, or what other recommendations you might. Thanks from a new owneer. Dave Soco

[Montana_2771]

On my new 3400RL I had them mount a receiver to the frame in back and I purchased a rack that would slide into that. Good luck.

[trukdoc]

I second what Smurfete said. Just be sure it does not block taillights.

[Montana_2785]

Smurfete, Do you know the manufacturer and model of the receiver you had installed on your rig? I'm looking for something that will fit. My local deal said they couldn't find anything so it's up to me to do the leg work.

Eric

[Montana_265]

We have the rack that hangs from the ladder (from CW). Have not had a problem, however the seats slightly overhang the side. We recently started to throw the bikes in the bed of the truck... Takes a little muscle on my part when Phil lifts them over the side for me to put on the ground visa versa but a lot easier than tying them down, etc.

[Glass Guy]

I have used the latter type bike rack and have not had any problems with it, Its not my first choice for hauling the bikes but I only use it for the short trips, on the long trips they get left behind. Roman

[Chester]

Like Sissyph, we have always put our bicycles in the truck box ahead of the hitch. I think they're a little more protected from the weather there. I have always been warned about the weight bicycles put on a trailer hitch when they bounce going down the road. I have been told that you need a Class 4 hitch on the trailer to handle that bouncing.

[sreigle]

We used a ladder rack for two mountain bikes on our 3295RK for two years including a year and a half of fulltiming. Those bikes rode back there to both coasts three times without a single problem. The ladder is plenty strong. We used the bikes only twice during that time so we gave them to our kids and took the rack off. If we were to haul bikes again I'd use the ladder rack without hesitation. The only problem I had with the rack was to climb onto the roof I had to remove the bikes first. I climbed over the rack so I didn't have to unstrap it.

[Mike and Wendy]

We have the ladder rack bike holder. It does the job, but I would perfer the frame mounted class 3 type. The reason we didn't go with the frame type was the cost and they said it would void your warranty. If you use the ladder type make sure you check the straps when you do a gas stop.

[Theadamsfamily]

When we purchased our 3295 last year, we also purchased the ladder- mount bike rack and have hauled 3-bikes on several trips. The bikes have done OK but the rack is a real pain. The bikes are hard to get on/off and the rack has twisted and bent, though it is still usable. I may be overloading the rack but it has the capacity for three bikes. I prefer to put the bikes in the back of the truck if possible.

[Montana_657]

Didn't do the ladder rack for 3 reasons.

Didn't want bikes bounceing on the ladder...I seem to recall Steve dragged one of his didn't you Steve???

Didn't want the ladder obstructed by bikes... if I need to go up I wanna go...

Couldn't move the rack to the truck. Once parked, our rack goes in the truck receiver and we visit all the trails and attractions in the area.... nice if your really serious about using the bikes.

[sreigle]

Gruffy, our bikes didn't bounce much on the ladder. In addition to the straps that came with the rack, I used bungee cords to keep them good and tight.

Yes, I dragged our bikes on the ground coming out of a very, very steep gas station driveway. Vicki was in a car behind me and about had a cow. This was on our first Montana. The reason they dragged was I mounted the rack too low on the ladder and the bike wheels were considerably below the ladder and below the Montana even. My mistake. I moved the rack higher and had no further problems. They then could not possibly drag unless I nudged the Montana off a cliff. I can vouch for the strength of the ladder mounts to the Montana. It bent a couple of the horizontal tubes between ladder and Montana and it cracked a vertical ladder tube where it meets the horizontal tube but it didn't faze the Montana itself at all.

The only thing I didn't like about the ladder rack was having to remove the bikes from the rack to climb the ladder. If we were to carry bikes again I'd go with another ladder rack. I don't want the bikes in my truck because I don't want to haul them around town and I don't want to dismount them if we're not going to use them in whatever is our current location. Just my personal preference. Or maybe I'd go with some kind of receiver hitch and rack if we were outside the warranty on the frame.

[Montana_657]

Yep... that's why I went with the receiver type of carrier. I also see brands other then Montana offer a optional receiver mount on the rear for bikes. They do, however seem to have much more robust frames.

[sreigle]

I guess I haven't seen that about more robust frames but I haven't looked at all of them. The Mobile Suites was mentioned (that's a truly sweet rig) but the cheapest I've seen one of those was $85k plus so I'd expect those extra bucks to show up somewhere in the construction, not just the eye candy!

[Montana_657]

Yeah, they aren't all that much more then a Big Sky... which is no longer available of course.

[Montana_1514]

We just returned from 3 months in Florida.
We had 2 mountain bikes attached to the Rear Ladder via a carrier purched from CW.
The Carrer bent on the way to Florida, and the Ladder completely broke off on our return.
1) The Carrier is not strong enough to carry two bikes!
2) The Rear Ladder is not strong enough to carry two bikes!
Now I am looking for a truck roof carrier for the bikes.
Does any one know Where I can purchase a replacement rear ladder?
Thanks,
Frank

[Countryfolks]

Frank try here:

www.rvsurplussalvage.com

Dave; I have a LB and am carring ours cross wise up by the cab. The little one is upside down.

Skip

[sreigle]

Frank, you might want to talk with Keystone about your ladder. Before I used a ladder rack I asked Keystone and they said no problem. We carried two adult mountain bikes for two years and about 20,000 miles including some very rough roads. No problem other than the time I dragged them on the ground on our first Montana. The ladder should have no problem handling those two bikes. I assume you're talking bicycles and not motor scooters.

I'm not sure where that salvage/surplus store is that Skip provided the link to. There's one in Carthage, MO, and a couple of them in Elkhart, IN. I think there's one or two in Arizona. A google search on 'rv salvage' might turn something up. If not and Skip's link doesn't have what you need, post back and I'll look through my 'favorites'. I think I saved some links there.

Frank, first I'd talk to Keystone to see if they think this should have happened. I'd call, not email them.

[jerryb]

The R.V. Salvage in Carthage Mo. is Colaw R.V. also a Montana Dealer.
They get $100 for a generic straight ladder but can order a curved Montana ladder for about $117. I tried all the ladder companies but never found out who made the Montana ladder. They are very flimsy and most of the ones at the salvage dealer are already bent or broken. The new Montana ladder comes in 3 pieces and will have to be modified some unless you have an 05 trailer as it's a little to long. I tried to buy just the verticle tubes as my steps and stanoffs were good but had to buy the whole thing. Once you have it off and look at it you will think twice about hanging even a wet towell from it.