Weight limit on bike rack

We purchased the bike rack at the time of sale. Does anyone know the weight limit capacity of the rack? We had heard mutterings that the rear bumper of the TM won't support much weight.

On my sticker on the TM hitch it says 100 pounds. If in doubt I would send an email to Ed in customer service at Trailmanor. Good Luck!

Have you ever watched what happens to bikes in these racks? They tend to sway a lot.

Since you already have it, load it up, go for a ride and have someone follow in a car and report the results.

I gave up on that idea because my son' downhill race bikes weight 45 pounds each. Two bikes at 90 plus the weight of the rack would probably exceed 100 pounds. Besides that, at 5 grand per bike, I want them where I can see them.

My son tried to carry 3 bikes on a rack on the back of his Subaru WRX wagon. He had hauled 2 bikes several times with no problems. When he put a third bike on the bike rack failed.

That is the best I can offer regarding our experience.

Frequent visitors to this site know that I tend to evangelize on the benefits of a front rack for the TV. An extra 100# on the front of a vehicle is much less likely to cause problems than the same 100# hanging off the back of your TM. The bicycles are always in your field of view so you'll always know if they need to be resecured and how close you can pull to another vehicle or object without hearing an expensive crunch. If you install a front receiver on your TV to mount the rack on, you have the ability to hook the TM up front and then see exactly where your TM is going in a tight setting. As with a fork lift truck, you can then make very precise steering inputs beause you don't need to have the entire TV turn before the TM follows suit. I better quit now before I begin claiming that a front receiver will make you smarter and irresistable to the opposite sex! - camp2canoe

The only downside I see in a front mounted bike rack is bugs and rocks. My son will not put them in front.

But, he has race bikes, 5k each, and sometimes has 3 just for himself, so he certainly is not average.

Years ago I carried three bikes on the front of my Datsun (aka Nissan) 4x4 truck on a cheap add on with straps. I had no complaints.

I have been tempted to put my motorcycle on the front, but a motorcycle will block the headlights a lot more than a bicycle would.

Just to play devil's advocate on the front mounted hitch. On my midsize SUV (Jeep Grand Cherokee) I mounted a front hitch. The front tires on the bikes blocked my headlights some and reduced the amount of front vision at night. Also the front seat on my mountain bikes would always end up in the center of my vision and I had to tilt my head to see around the seat. I have put bikes on the back of my TM and have not had any trouble with a good quality bike rack. I did buy two racks of different manufactures that were in the $100 range and they started to fail. One developed a crack at the base the other had a poor design in the carrying arms. The model that I have now is called a Softride Dura Rack http://www.softride.com/rack-product...ions/dura_rack . One neat feature of this rack over others is that it keeps your bikes level when you lower the bikes to pull out the back bed on the TM.

We have an Allen rack and hauled three bikes on the back of our TM, probably 4000 miles or so. I bungy corded the bikes down firmly and the Allen rack has a locking bolt that holds it down in the receiver. We noticed no problems at all.

Of course this was on two light adult bikes and one kid's BMX style bike, I doubt all three of them weighed 45 pounds. The rack is fairly heavy, I'd guess 20-25 pounds or so.

I am also someone who would never, never put his $6,000+ bicycles on a rear rack for the reasons stated above. But realizing this is the only option for some, get the absolute best rack you can find and fasten everything down tightly. Pay very close attention to the total weight, including the rack, and be conservative in your load total. You can use foam pipe insulation to pad the frames from each other. As was suggested, have someone follow you (not too closely in case something falls off!) and report on what the bikes do. It might just work...TM sells a lot of the receivers. You didn't mention your TV, but my daughter just bought a Yakima rack that hangs from the rear of her SUV. Seems to work well should you have trouble with your trailer rack. This issue has been discussed before. You might check the archives for additional info.

[ShrimpBurrito]

The roof of either the TM or TV is also an excellent place to transport bikes. That's the preferred way when dealing with pricey bikes in particular. It also makes them less prone to theft. More out of sight, harder to get to.

Dave

Apparently some bike racks fold down and some are rigid. I can see how folding down or even pivoting sideways is helpful when installed on the back of certain vehicles.

But behind the TM, rigid would be a better choice, I think.