Bike Rack or Other - Montana Owners Club

montanaman · 10-01-2006, 08:52 AM

What do you folks do when taking a couple of bikes? Someone said I could not put them on my ladder. So for two bikes should I just get a bike rack with the hitch? Any other ideas appreciated. thanks.

Countryfolks · 10-01-2006, 09:19 AM

You can us a ladder mounted bike rack, many do. I don't 'cause I don't like them. I carry our bikes upside down up by the cab. You need a long bed to do this though. Some use a hitch receiver mounted on the front of their truck. You can also take the front wheel off and carry them crossways in the bed.

Skip

indy roadrunner · 10-01-2006, 10:27 AM

I have used the ladder carrier on my previous Class A and with the 3400 but, Glenn Adams showed me how the ladder can work loose. I was on my knees begging Keystone to allow a hitch at the back to carry bikes but they wouldn't give an inch. I wish someone would come up with an easy solution. I seen a front hitch on the tow vehicle at the rally but that looked expensive to have mounted to the frame. Did someone say mounting on top of the TV if you have a Long Bed? That might be my out.

Countryfolks · 10-01-2006, 10:40 AM

Phill;
I've seen the roof mounted carriers a few times but The Dodge paint is so thin I don't want to use one.The mount points may wear thru the paint. I turn ours upside down an put them in the bed up by the cab then tie them down to keep them from walking.

Skip

richfaa · 10-01-2006, 10:45 AM

I put the bike rack on the ladder of my 3400 and have carried the bikes back there twice..Never again, When I got home from the Rally I took the bike rack off the ladder and it will be a garage sale item.Everything about a ladder bike rack is bad.It is hard to get the bikes on, hard to get them off and no matter how well they are secured there is stress on the ladder..Bad idea..really bad idea. I am going to my friendly welding shop tomorrow and will devise a hitch for the montana..Saw a couple of good ideas at the rally...And that is that...

indy roadrunner · 10-01-2006, 11:16 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Countryfolks

Phill;
I turn ours upside down an put them in the bed up by the cab then tie them down to keep them from walking.

Skip

HMMMMM. Might be some possiblities to that
Thanks for the suggestion. Hey Mom, where's my tie down straps???

RC and Samantha · 10-01-2006, 11:53 AM

We have a hitch mounted bike rack. We had Dale from Lippert check it out at the Great Lakes Rally last year he said he did not see a problem.

Ours is mounted high and at an upward angle. We also purposely did not have it wired for lights and had a plate put on that said "Not for Towing." The angle makes it impossible to tow anything behind the Montana. We are very happy with our set up and use a Yakima hitch receiver Bike Rack that works great. We have full suspension bikes. The Yakima has two trays that the tires rest in so it's super easy. We also use a bike bag that covers the bikes for travel which helps keep them clean.

If we buy another Montana we'll add the exact same set up unless Montana comes up with one of their own before then.

We tried the ladder rack but our bikes bounced and Dick felt that eventually the ladder would fail. What we have now is by far the easiest set up we've ever had including the rack that was on our pop up.

Patty

Ozz · 10-01-2006, 12:26 PM

Hi Frank,
You did not indicate what rig you have, I have the 3400RL, I made a bike rack, but you can buy a similar one, I have mounted a receiver hitch that works super. You can get one from Pep Boys, or any hitch company. I found this way the best for me, there are other options.
I will post some pictures.
I'm over 1,000 miles into a trip, absolutely no problems.
Ozz
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...erhitch005.jpg
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...erhitch009.jpg
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...erhitch001.jpg
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...camping002.jpg

indy roadrunner · 10-01-2006, 12:33 PM

Dick and Patty, could you post some pictures of the bike rack. You know when we brought this subject up with Keystone at the Rally we got a stern NO from them. Said it would void warranty and that is even in the owners manual that any thing attached or modifications made to frame would void warranty.

RKassl · 10-01-2006, 01:22 PM

After not having our bikes with us all of this year, in the Spring I am going to have a receiver hitch added to the Monty for our two bikes. At this time the Monty will be two years old. A question for the folks who already put a hitch on , is is best to bolt it or to weld it on?

Any ideas will be appreciated. Did some of you folks see hitches mounted to Monty's at the rally? What did you learn?

Thanks!

Ozz · 10-01-2006, 01:58 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by RKassl

After not having our bikes with us all of this year, in the Spring I am going to have a receiver hitch added to the Monty for our two bikes. At this time the Monty will be two years old. A question for the folks who already put a hitch on , is is best to bolt it or to weld it on?

Any ideas will be appreciated. Did some of you folks see hitches mounted to Monty's at the rally? What did you learn?

Thanks!

I would say bolt, many welders would not want to take a chance of burning wires, or things they can't see. In my pictures, you can see the wires running on top of the frame, you might be OK, if careful, but bolt on has my vote.

RKassl · 10-01-2006, 03:26 PM

My coach is a 2955RL. Did you have enough room behind your rear levelers to bolt this to the frame?

Very nice job!

tbhd · 10-01-2006, 04:51 PM

We have an 04 3670 which has a long goose neck that allows us to mount a bike rack to the back of the tow vehicle. We only carry one bike on it but there is plenty of room for two bikes. I believe that Glenn and Judy Denner have a similar setup and carry two bikes. But we noticed that some of the newer Montana's have a shorter goose neck that may not be an option.

Ozz · 10-01-2006, 06:19 PM

Thanks. It was very tight. many hitch shops move the levelers, the place I bought mine from moves them, I did some precise measuring, and saw it would work, Besides, I'm lazy and didn't want to move them.....

LonnieB · 10-01-2006, 06:43 PM

Yeah, RIGHT, LAZY, who're you trying to fool Ozz, we all know better! How're things in the Duke City?

Ozz · 10-02-2006, 03:49 AM

Ok, well I really am, and I gripe about everything when I'm working on something. I can be an old grouch.
HA, I just took a picture of this moron, letting his dog dump in a tent campers grassy camping area. There is a sign 10 feet in front of him with a dumping dog cross through it, like those no parking signs. I'll drop it off at the office.
I had to rat him out yesterday for his yapping dogs.
Dumping dog
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...nglight009.jpg
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...nglight008.jpg

We are in a one night KOA short of Albuq. we will be moving today to American in Albuq. I intend on bicycling on the famous bike trails there.
Take care, I love the pictures, your wife is nice looking, you ain't ugly yourself. (Is she from Santa Fe?)

Take care. Ozz

LonnieB · 10-02-2006, 04:51 AM

Ozz, I saw the same thing once in Junction, Tx. A woman with 3 dogs in a picnic area right behind a huge sign that said it wasn't a doggie bathroom. 2 of them were in the process of doing their " business ".
Sorry Ozz, she isn't from Santa Fe, rather central Texas, and you are right, she's easy on the eyes, the goober sitting next to her though, is a different story. LOL.

wswebster · 10-02-2006, 10:31 AM

One bike rides in the bed of the truck up by the cab, and the other lays on top of an old thick blanket on the bed. We took a 4000 miles round trip vacation this summer and neither bike moved. Stacy

dcowie · 10-02-2006, 04:04 PM

I used a ladder rack and it destroyed my ladder in one year. Will never use a ladder rack again.

noneck · 10-03-2006, 02:32 PM

I'm in the process of adding a receiver hitch to my 2002 Monty. Doing the 'bolt' on method although my unit does not have side rails going far enough to the rear. Fabricating additional crossmember to allow 2" tube to reach under rear fiberglass cap. I like Ozz's comment about being able to pull bike carrier from rear of Monty and put on truck receiver when camp is setup. I picked up an Allen 4 bike carrier at local Dick's Sporting Goods, on sale this past week $99.00.
Chuck-n-Linda

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