Jump to content

Extra storage


sue

Recommended Posts

We just purchased a 1992 Toyota 6 cyl. Itasca and wanted to know the pros and cons of adding some type of storage to the rear of the motor home. We would like to take two bikes for our grandsons (no ladder on the back of the motor home) and possibly a storage container for some lightweight things like a tent, screen house, folding chairs, etc.

What have others done for storage? Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Many of the frame extensions are weak. Two bikes is one thing but a couple hundred lb of stuff is not a good idea. Its not so much the weight as it the overloads caused by the bumps, g-forces and all that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like WME said, allot of the extensions are weak. Stand on the bumper and bounce up and down. See what kind of flex there is. Its the repeated flex that WME is talking about that is bad. Eventually the welds or the steel itself crack. A welding shop should be able to beef it up for you. The previous owner of my 18 ft Sunrader actually had the rear bumper extended and beefed up in order to protect the Sunrader storage pod. I added two cargo containers on each side of that to carry firewood and other essential gear. Eventually I will also have a spare tire mount on the rear and a bike rack. The bike and rack 50 pounds and my guess the tire rim and mount another 100 pounds plus firewood and gear another 150 pounds. Mine is strong and I even would not hesitate to pull a small trailer.

As an example, someone had attached a bike rack to the rear square bumper. The extra weight and leverage of the bike and rack broke the bumper loose from the frame. It was not even welded, just bolted with some really small bolts. The bumper and bike fell off going down the road at 50 mph, not good.

I would definitely visit a welding fabrication shop and get a better idea of what you have under there before adding the weight. Cost of course is dependent on what is fabricated. A hitch mount for those platform cargo haulers are nice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 months later...

I will echo what has been said about the frame extensions. I looked at another toy camper about an hour before I bought mine. I hopped up and down on the bumper and my fat behind darn near ripped it off.

Those frame extensions are even flimsier than the toy frame they are welded to. And that toy frame ain't too heavy.

My sunrader has a bumper mounted spare and that's about all I intend to hang off it.

Greg, I think you are really pushing it with what you have hanging off the back.

I think a much smarter way to go is a lightweight trailer. There are models out there that weight about 150 lbs which will reportedly carry 1000 lbs. I wouldn't want to drag that much. The most I see towing is my old FJ1100 (world's fastest toad). That would be about 700 lbs including trailer. It might also be a good way of bringing along large amounts of potable water for extended boondocking where water is unavailable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...