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mike2195
08-11-2009, 09:38 PM
I have purchased a Swagman bike rack to mount on the rear of my Trailmanor Elkmont trailer and would like to know what type of receiver to purchase that will fit the frame of my trailer. The bike rack is advertised as fitting either a 2-inch or 1-1/4 inch receiver hitch.

Mike Watters
08-12-2009, 05:50 AM
2" recievers (Class 3) are the standard. There are quite a few more things made to plug into class 3 recievers than there are made for class 2 (the 1.5" ones). Might not make a difference with this bike rack, but a class 3 will give you more flexability in the future.

mike2195
08-12-2009, 07:32 AM
Thanks for the reply Mike. Would you happen to know of a specific brand of receiver that will install on the frame of my Elkmont trailer. I would like to purchase a receiver prior to our next trip in the trailer the end of August.

Mike Watters
08-12-2009, 09:42 AM
Well, I'll defer to others with more TM experience, since we just picked up ours. It appears to have a fairly standard 4" square RV rear bumper. There are bolt-on hitches made to fit. JC Whitney carries them. I'm sure others do as well. Heck - might even be in the local WalMart or Tractor Supply.

mike2195
08-12-2009, 12:15 PM
Thanks Mike. I appreciate you taking the time to respond to my inquiry. I will see what, if any, responses I get over the next few days and go from there.

PopBeavers
08-12-2009, 01:15 PM
I don't think I can elp you much.

I ahve a 2 inch receiver on the back of my 2720, but it is factory installed and welded to the frame.

fwiw, it is only rated to carry 100 pounds, so I never use it. Our mountain bikes are 40+ pounds each, so 2 mountain bikes plus the weight of the bike rack would exceed 100 pounds.

Beside that, I have watched how much those bike racks bounce and I would not carry our mountain bikes back there. I want them where I can see them.

My son tried carrying two mountain bikes in a bike rack with a 2 inch bar into a 1.5 inch adapter into the 1.5 inch hitch in his Subaru WRX wagon. It lasted two trips before the metal began to crack in multiple places. I would stick with the 2 inch hitch.

Make sure you cable the bikes in such a way that if the hitch or bike rack fails, and it separates from the trailer, that the cable will cause the bikes to drag on the ground instead of being dropped in the middle of a freeway lane. Either way the bikes are totally destroyed, but at least you won't cause an accident by leaving debris in the lane.