Bike Racks on Trailers

Submitted: Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 07:12
ThreadID: 58117 Views:6805 Replies:8 FollowUps:1
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Dear all, Has anybody had experience with bikes and bike racks fitted to the rear of trailers. The current thought is that it is not a good idea, given the damage to the bikes, rack, or both.
Please advise
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Reply By: guzzi - Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 08:00

Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 08:00
I have a lifestyle explorer + which gets the bike rack fitted nearly every trip.
It has a hayman reese type recepticle welded to the rear support below the rear door, which my bike rack fits into.
As yet I havent damaged either the bikes or the rack, but I think it would be possible negotiating steep inclines like creek beds etc.
I think youd have to take it on a trip by trip basis as to whether you take the bikes or not, or have someone build a high rack that gives a lot of clearence at the back or a over the top of the trailer type rack.
AnswerID: 306427

Follow Up By: Member - Mark G (NSW) - Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 09:26

Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 09:26
guzzi's right,i have a hayman reese type recepticle attached to the rear of my camper trailer.as long as all the materials are of decent quality and strength you should have no problems.just dont forget that by law cant over hang the rear of your trailer by more than 1.2 metres,cheers (:-)
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FollowupID: 572436

Reply By: Member - JohnR (Vic)&Kath - Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 09:40

Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 09:40
I have an extended srawbar on my Karavan and a square piece of tube to take a carrier. If you look at any camper/caravan/trailer, the rear movement is exagerated far greater than the movement thta the carriers were designed or intended for. I believe that the bike racks on the back are the chief cause of bike damage. I have heard stories about lots of them written off.

Is yours indusred for that?
AnswerID: 306443

Reply By: & speedway nut - Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 09:57

Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 09:57
we put a bike rack on the rear of the caravan, bad move,
couldn't see the rack and my bike (ladies) rattled off on the wonderful rough bitumen road somewhere between Jerramungup and Albany. Also added a lot of weight to back of van, changed the way it towed.
Otherwise could do it if more careful.
AnswerID: 306452

Reply By: Member - Duncs - Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 13:21

Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 13:21
Why not mount the bike rack on the draw bar, or the front of the trailer.

I built a rack to hang on the spare wheel. I can use it either on the camper or the car. The camper spare is on the front of the trailer so I can see what is going on all the time.

It also mounts nice and high on either the car or trailer so I have no worries about damage. It also mounts behind the stone guard on the trailer so sand blasting is not a problem.

These type of bike racks are now commercially available if you don't want to build yourself.

Duncs
AnswerID: 306492

Reply By: Grassparrot - Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 13:51

Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 13:51
I have an A frame type of bike rack that folds down bolted to the bar on the rear of my camper from repco for $110. Only damage I have had to bikes is my own fault for not tightening the clamps tight enough and they moved around a bit causing some scratching. Do them up tighter now and no problems. I have also rachet strapped the top of the rack to the chassis of the camper to prevent movement. Works fine for me.
AnswerID: 306501

Reply By: Member - 120scruiser (NSW) - Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 16:52

Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 16:52
I have 4 bikes on the back of my camper trailer in a hayman reece hitch. I wouldn't do any offroading with them due to rear overhang and clearance but whilst on the road, no problems at all.
AnswerID: 306548

Reply By: Member - colin M (NSW) - Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 21:05

Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 21:05
We had one fitted on front draw bar (on trailer side) of 8x5 box trailer with 2 mountain bikes , travelled extensively throughout Qld for 6 months with little damage to bikes only a bit of dust which we usually washed off with car washes and hit bikes with wd40. Got bikes serviced professionally when we got home. Looked at cost of fitted covers but decided cost not worth it, put the $ towards new bikes. Have always found the bikes great exercise and a way of really seeing towns and great for beach riding.
AnswerID: 306609

Reply By: Outa Bounds - Friday, May 30, 2008 at 15:24

Friday, May 30, 2008 at 15:24
Hey for some more "heavy duty" style bike carriers check out...

www.gripsport.com.au

I'm in no way associated with the business, I've come across them from hanging around mountain bike forums.

We couldn't have a bike rack on the back of our camper due to the tailgate. We did have a mountain bike and two kids bikes on the front. My disc brake rotor copped some gravel blasting from driving off road - this was taking a brand new bike from Perth WA back to NSW. Other than that if we had too the steps to protect the wheels of the front bike from stone damage I think it would have been fine. It was a decent bike rack in a custom made receiver, however for a quality more off road worth rack I'd check out Grips designs. Really I would assume having bikes at the front could possibly get more rocks flicked up than the rear?

This particular one may be of interest
Site Link


The downhill one is also a good one, but it secures the bike in place by slotting the crank arm into a crank holder - may not be suitable for all types of cranks.

AnswerID: 306759

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