Currently, I have a ladder mounted rack that fits the 2 adult bikes we bring. My son's bike fits in one of the underneath storage compartments, and my daughter's goes in the bed of the truck. I don't love the ladder mount and would like to add a 4 bike rack to the bumper. I've got a 2011 Cougar High Country (by Keystone) 5er. It's an ultra light, and they don't recommend more than 150 lbs on a factory installed bike rack - and they don't' recommend installing aftermarket at all. I can understand that - they don't want to deal with someone else's bad engineering, but my question is: Can my bumper handle a 4 bike bike rack with essentially 3 adult bikes (daughter's next bike is a full size) and 1 kid bike (eventually 4 adult bikes)? Is the 150 a guideline, or a hard/fast limit? I look forward to the wisdom of my fellow RVers on this... Thanks!
QUOTE(edcornflake @ May 11 2011, 08:14 AM) [snapback]26062[/snapback] Currently, I have a ladder mounted rack that fits the 2 adult bikes we bring. My son's bike fits in one of the underneath storage compartments, and my daughter's goes in the bed of the truck. I don't love the ladder mount and would like to add a 4 bike rack to the bumper. I've got a 2011 Cougar High Country (by Keystone) 5er. It's an ultra light, and they don't recommend more than 150 lbs on a factory installed bike rack - and they don't' recommend installing aftermarket at all. I can understand that - they don't want to deal with someone else's bad engineering, but my question is: Can my bumper handle a 4 bike bike rack with essentially 3 adult bikes (daughter's next bike is a full size) and 1 kid bike (eventually 4 adult bikes)? Is the 150 a guideline, or a hard/fast limit? I look forward to the wisdom of my fellow RVers on this... Thanks! My brother has a 23 foot 5er and his bumper got a crack and bent after installing a 2 bike rack. He had to get a welder to reinforce the bumper. So Cougar may have good cause to warn about the 150 lbs limit.
Rollinghills suggestion is probably the best route. I don't know how much it would cost to install. I have seen bike racks mounted on the pin box. I never got close enough to see how it was done. I think it is a homemade thing, cause I don't see them in any of the camping books. I don't know how many bikes they will hold either. Wow, I was a big help, huh.
I bought this http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CCBMEO and this http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CQ47GU and use them on the back of my 2010 28" Dutchmen trailer. I put the kids' 3 bikes on it, and have had no problems. I got the wife and I these http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/...ding-bike/37702 which go in the back of the truck.
