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Old 12-25-2011, 08:21 AM   #1
gr8330
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Taking your bikes with you

What did you add to your Montana to haul bikes with? We have two bikes that we want to take with us but they wont fit in the bed of the truck and we don't want them in the Montana.
 
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Old 12-25-2011, 08:31 AM   #2
Rondo
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Mike and Linda-- Do you have a hitch on the back of your Mountaineer? With the year of your unit I would think it has one on the rear of the unit! Since it is a Mountaineer I can't give you a positive on that however. The regular Montanas come with one. It's not a two inch but an inch and a half hitch and most are using a bike rack on there but a lot of them are either reinforcing their rear hitch or taking it off and putting a two inch on the unit for more stabilitiy! Some have attached the bike rack to the front of their tow vehicle and carry the bikes up there also. I have also seen several that have attached the bike rack to the pin hitch on the units but I have no idea how they did this! You might go into the Search section at the top of the page and key in bike rack or bike carrier and you will probrably come up with some threads there also.
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Old 12-25-2011, 09:52 AM   #3
gr8330
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Thanks Rondo. I don't have a hitch unless it's really back under the rear. I need to get on the ground and look. I tried the search earlier but I must have not used it correctly.
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Old 12-25-2011, 11:06 AM   #4
1Happycamper
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We have one of the bike racks in this link. Our's holds 2 bikes and we really like it.

http://www.discountramps.com/rv-bike-rack.htm
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Old 12-25-2011, 01:05 PM   #5
DQDick
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We added an 11/2 to 2" conversion to ours and then added a back rack that had a bike rack add on. We looked at the pin racks, however, and since you don't have a rear hitch here is what we found: http://www.arvika.ca/index.php?optio...chk=1&Itemid=4. Another option would be to use a roof mount on your truck. We carry an 8' stepladder on a ladder mount on our rear ladder and so that was another option we considered.
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Old 12-25-2011, 01:29 PM   #6
subra1228
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We have a rack the attaches to the ladder on back - it works pretty well, but when the bikes are attached, you can't use the ladder.
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Old 12-25-2011, 02:21 PM   #7
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I also bought the 1.5" to 2" adapter so I could use an existing bike rack mounted to the rear of our Montana. Last weekend I put it all together, and mounted one bike...there was way to much twisting in the metal attaching the reciever to the trailer frame. I guess the adapter adds just enough length to really allow some serious leverage action. I'll use the current setup to store the bikes once we are parked but I'll be installing a front reciever on my GMC for traveling.
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Old 12-25-2011, 03:31 PM   #8
The Oldguard
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This our hitch

Bike Rack
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Old 12-25-2011, 03:51 PM   #9
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I have a bike rack that attaches to the pin box. I think its an outstanding product. www.toppoprails.com
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Old 12-25-2011, 05:02 PM   #10
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We just bought a pair of folding bikes from CW and put them in the basement!
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Old 12-25-2011, 05:42 PM   #11
wersqu
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We went to a local welding shop recommended by our dealership and added a 2" receiver to the back of or 03 Monty. It has worked great. What we learned the hard way is taking brand new bikes down to Texas on the coast. The new bikes rusted like crazy. Good luck, lots of good ideas out there.
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Old 12-26-2011, 02:01 AM   #12
helmick
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Put a 2" receiver on the back of Monty, no problems.
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Old 12-26-2011, 02:56 AM   #13
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I have been looking for over 8 months, with no good answer yet. Though the Candian made pin box mount is looking good right now. Currently, I carry my bike in and out of the bedroom each trip -painful. Many manufacturers of racks have a disclaimer in the small print saying they are not approved for use on RVs. I think Swagman has an RV compatible one. I have the rear hitch but have been unwilling to go against that recommendation with a very expensive road bike. I'm sure many will say they've had no problem, but I have to believe the engineers that make these things have a reason for saying that. There is a long distance between the axle and the rear hitch and that moment arm creates a lot of "bouncing" at the back of the rig. If you beef it up like some have done here, that probably mitigates the risk significantly. Let me know what you find.
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Old 12-26-2011, 01:45 PM   #14
gr8330
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Thanks all for the help I am going to look at installing a 2" receiver.
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Old 12-26-2011, 02:38 PM   #15
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That's probably the best idea. The versatility that offers even if you decide to do something else with the bikes is something you won't regret.
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Old 12-27-2011, 07:13 AM   #16
08UltraRider
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Whenever I read one of these bike carrier threads it reminds me of the time several years ago while on a road trip on my motorcycle when I was behind a car with a bike carrier on a Los Angeles Freeway. I could see the bikes bouncing up and down on the back of the car when suddenly they let go and dropped to the ground. Fortunately they slid along the road at 65 mph where I could steer around them without much effort. Had they started to tumble who knows what direction they could have gone…

The overhang on these trailers will magnify the bouncing so please take that into account when installing the receiver….

Kingdaddy on this site had a hitch installed on his High Country that looks like it was well done. I don’t know if he’s been on lately but here is his thread on the subject.

http://www.montanaowners.com/forums/...ad.php?t=44360
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Old 12-27-2011, 07:55 AM   #17
c214dick
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Our receiver is attached to the front of the truck. The rack we use allows the rack to be lowered to give access to the engine compartment w/o removing the bikes. This way I can monitor the bikes and not worry about insufficient support at the rear of the Montana.
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Old 12-27-2011, 01:47 PM   #18
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We made ours fit in the back of the truck. Put them up against the rear truck window perpendicular to the direction of travel. Two fit fine.
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Old 12-27-2011, 03:07 PM   #19
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My only suggestion would be to make sure it is tight and secure however you do it. And have someone trail behind you after having it mounted to make sure it carries them well. Some seem to ride ok. But I have also been behind 5ers with receiver mounted bike racks and the bikes were bouncing so much up and down and side to side I couldn't help but think that some day they were going to break loose. And that was on relatively smooth roads. I can only imagine what they do on some roads I have been on.
I carry ours laying flat in the long bed but still considering the pin box mounted type rack.
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Old 12-28-2011, 02:02 PM   #20
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We used a pinbox mounted receiver on our last 2 5'th wheels. I like the way the bikes ride, but getting them up & down is a chore. Not sure what I'll do with this one
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