mickeypl Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 (edited) I'm in thinking of a way to bring my bikes along. I'm aware of different ways of doing this, one is to hook them up to the ladder with bike mount, but I think the bikes will stick out of the side of the coach and they will bang into the coach and each other. Other option is to install a hitch. Since I have a 18' sunrader, I think the chassis is not too far away from the back of the RV, and even the RV chassis extension seem pretty sturdy to weld a 2" receiver to them. I'm thinking of going for a platform type bike rack such as thule 990xt. This set up will prevent the bikes from moving side to side and hitting the RV. However, it could bounce on a highway or bumpy road and cause too much stress in the chassis extensions. Thule 990xt seems like a secure system, but im not sure if holds up on long drives. Has anyone had any experience with some thing like this? Another concern is that with this setup, my tail lights could be partially blocked, I might have to get extra lights and install them higher on the coach or install them on the rack. Edited October 1, 2012 by mickeypl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeypl Posted October 2, 2012 Author Share Posted October 2, 2012 Any personal experience or advice would be appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanman Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Any personal experience or advice would be appreciated! I made spacers out of a piece of 2x2 with 4 U staples and a piece of string to hold the frames tied together but not rubbing. After that bungie cords to hold the tires together seems to work OK. PS I cut a curved arc in the faces of the 2x2's vanman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 I'd be concerned about the tying anything to that ladder. Its not very well secured. Look at how its mounted. vertical loads all transferred to the roof, i.e. your body weight) there should be no vertical loads on the back wall. The back wall supports are horizontal loads , i.e. the ladder pulling away from the back wall. I have a spare tire mounted on the back wall of my Dolphin. I bought one of those spare tire racks and use it. I had to bend the arms that hold the bikes tilt up a little. Make sure your back wall will support a spare tire. On my tire, One of the bolts goes all the way thru the wall to the inside of the bath cabinet and a nut on the inside (adds structural integrity, and keeps someone from stealing the spare). I have a 6x6 inch plywood that acts as a big washer for the bolt that comes thru the wall. WORD OF CAUTION - Watch where the bike tires can be hit by the truck exhaust pipe. On my first trip, the exhaust melted the bike tire. I since bought one of those fancy chrome exhaust pipe extensions that point down to deflect the exhaust so it wont hit the bike tire. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission mike Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 This works OK for me, and no damage to the bikes.(unless we were rear ended) I built the cargo box for our first trip to Baja Mex, for carrying a BBQ tank, spare gas can, garden chairs and other clutter that would take up space inside. I found our regular car bike carrier would attache to the lid and I can carry up to three bikes. The frame the box sits on my son welded up out of scrap angle iron, and is bolted to the frame extensions and the bumper Total cost was about $50. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bajadulce Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Looks great Mike! I love seeing homemade stuff. I don't understand the stigma with things appearing "homemade" when it comes to RVs. Everyone seems to want to spend a lot of $ to achieve some sort of factory showroom look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission mike Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Thanks Steve My cargo box slash bike carrier doesn't look the greatest but I would hate to be without it, and since adding the propane regulator I can tap into the 20lb BBQ tank whilst on the road to keep the refrigerator running should we run out of propane on the main tank. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeypl Posted October 3, 2012 Author Share Posted October 3, 2012 I have the shorty sunrader with the original box in the back, I wonder if I can somehow hook up a bike rack to the box! But I think it might put too much stress on the box. Plus, it might block access to the box! This is why I still think I would be better off with hitch mounted bike rack. However, I will have to make sure that the bike rack is safe and does not put too much pressure on the frame and the coach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bufbooth Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 I have a rear mounted spare tire on my rear bumper. I brought some 2 inch water/gas pipe and made sort of a Z-pattern and attached the pipe to my spare tire mount (got lucky, the pipe just dropped in between the tire rim and the U-Channel bracket. The water/gas pipe had a shape of something like: ___|`` (but turned 90 degrees). Then put some pipe installation on to protect the bike. I did have to put a couple straps on to keep the bikes from moving around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 I have the shorty sunrader with the original box in the back, I wonder if I can somehow hook up a bike rack to the box! But I think it might put too much stress on the box. It could be wrong information, but I've read that the Sunrader 'boxes' have a warning on them that they have a capacity of only 15lb. Might give you an idea as to how much you can hang on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeypl Posted October 3, 2012 Author Share Posted October 3, 2012 Derek, you have a point. I think the box is not strong enough to carry two bikes, unless it's reinforced. The safest thing to do is to go with the hitch and platform style bike rack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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