Bike rack options for Camper Trailer

Submitted: Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010 at 08:33

ThreadID: 74928 Views:23303 Replies:6 FollowUps:4

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ajcooper

Happy New Year Everyone!

We're still going through the planning process for purchasing our camper trailer and are now looking at options for carrying bikes. We have an existing bike rack which we use on our car (it's one of those special ones that miss the spare wheel) and would like to reuse it. However there seems to be a couple of options which I'd like opinions on.

1. Have a new tow bar fitted at the back of the trailer. Seems to be the standard way of doing things. Would worry about bouncing!

2. Have draw bar extended on trailer and have it mounted over that. Would this limit the number of bikes carried (we'll need three at the moment) and would it interfere with the steering (sharp turns when reversing etc.)

Would appreciate hearing from other camper trailer owners as to what solutions they've employed. One final option I've seen is simply laying the bikes on top of the cover and ratchet strapping them down. Only seen one bike in this setup so not sure how it would work for multiple.

Thanks in advance.

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Reply By: Dave B ( BHQ NSW) - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010 at 09:30

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010 at 09:30

Have you got a hard floor or a soft floor CT?

Dave

'Wouldn't be dead for quids'

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AnswerID: 397866

Follow Up By: ajcooper - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010 at 10:26

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010 at 10:26

It will soft floor.

FollowupID: 666716

Follow Up By: ajcooper - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010 at 10:33

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010 at 10:33

That was supposed to be "it will be a soft floor"!

FollowupID: 666717

Follow Up By: Dave B ( BHQ NSW) - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010 at 10:36

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010 at 10:36

I strap my bikes on the top of my CT, but I have a hard floor.

It depends where you will travel, but the bikes will get peppered with gravel if you have them on the drawbar and go on unsealed roads.

Dave

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FollowupID: 666718

Follow Up By: ajcooper - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010 at 10:40

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010 at 10:40

Hadn't thought about the gravel, that's a good point. I suppose a stone guard could be fitted by I imagine it would all get a bit cramped.

FollowupID: 666719

Reply By: Injected - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010 at 16:06

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010 at 16:06

If your camper trailer isnt galved (hot dipped) get someone or do it yourself to weld a piece of square RHS steel to the back of trailer to accept the Hayman Reese style towbar tongues. Then slide tongue in with bike rack attached.
Cheers.

AnswerID: 397919

Reply By: Member - Duncs - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010 at 16:27

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010 at 16:27

The spare wheel is mounted on the front of my camper.

I built a bike rack that hung on the spare and was held in place by a couple of ratchet tie downs.

The beauty of this set up was that I could mount the bikes on the front of the trailer when towing but I could use the same bike rack on the car if I did not have the trailer.

As for the bikes getting damaged by stones, gravel etc.. I put the bikes behind the stone guard and never had a problem.

The concern over turning when manoeuvring in tight spots is valid but once again I never had a problem. It is unusual to need to turn that tight out in the bush.

Duncs

AnswerID: 397927

Reply By: dionbremner - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010 at 16:35

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010 at 16:35

Bikes are pain to carry but a great addition to kids' entertainment around a campsite - so worth the effort IMHO. We actually changed our trailer so that we could take bikes with us. Have a look at the first couple of minutes of this video to see the solution we came up with.
Cheers
Dion

AnswerID: 397929

Reply By: Member - Captain (WA) - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010 at 21:34

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010 at 21:34

We have a rear bike rack on our Camprite trailer and it works a treat. As the pics show, its built very strongly and we have had no issues with it off-road. Its held in place by three over-centre clamps and the bottom bar rests on a bracket in two places to take the weight.
Bike Rack with bikes.