Bolt on bumper bike receiver

[CeeWoo]

I've spent several hours reading various threads giving the pro's & con's of the receivers that can bolt on the back bumper. Even started one myself and then deleted it after I saw some of these other threads

I'm not overly concerned of increasing sway, I can pack enough wt forward of the axel to compensate for the wt on the back. But what does concern me is the issue of bumper strength. I certainly don't want to have the bumper rip off the trailer. BUT-while I see it's a concern, has anyone seen it happen with a trailmanor? (I have found threads on other boards where it happened on other trailer makes)

Here's my details...we have a 2720sd, would like to camp with 2 lightwt bicycles, but would not attempt to bring them to areas where we would be going over unimproved roads. We already have a rack that would fit into a 2" receiver.

So, does anyone have any knowledge of bumper loss/damage using these on a Trailmanor?

thanks
-Monte

 

[brulaz]

What type of bumper does your 2002 have?

The newer ones, including my Elkmont have the storage type bumpers which really aren't designed for bumper mounted bike racks.

 

[CeeWoo]

It's not my trailer, but this bumper is just like mine.

The receiver bolted onto this one is what got me thinking

 

[commodor47]

Monte,

If my memory serves, the rear bumper on your unit has a 100 lb weight limit. We also have the bolt-on receiver on the back bumper and used it for about a year and half. During that time it was a struggle to secure the bike rack (and bikes) enough to prevent bounce. I used a series of ratchet straps and bungees which got old fast. During one trip I lost the seat of my bike - due to the bouncing, even with the straps and bungees. I finally decided to install a front receiver and that has worked much better. I mount the bikes with the handle bars facing curb side and remove the seats to give unobstructed vision. I did purchase a bike rack that uses tire mounts to support the bikes which allows the bikes to sit lower. I have not read about anyone using the bolt-on receiver losing their bumper. But I have read about cracking of the welds attaching the bumper to the frame.

http://www.trailmanorowners.com/forum/album.php?albumid=29

Dick

 

[moaboy]

I'd think you would be much better off having it mounted directly to the frame. There is a post here that shows how some one got a receiver welded (in NC), which looks like a very secure set up. There is a lot of vertical motion and since one can not see what is going on back there, better safe than sorry-especially if you care about your bikes...

 

[CeeWoo]

Thanks for the info folks---
While my wt would not approach 100 lbs, I'm still gonna just mull it over for a while. I may not make a decision till next spring (only another couple months and it'll be too cold up here for me to camp LOL)

 

[brulaz]

I was thinking about modifying our bumper and attaching a receiver like you show. But when I looked at the hidden cross bar, it was just too flimsy. So added a frame mounted receiver underneath.

Even then the bikes+rack still bounce around. I've shimmed and removed all slack in the system, but still you could tweak one end of a bike and the whole thing would rock back and forth, side to side, and front to back. The whole assembly is balanced on that one bar going into the receiver and just resonates.

Initially I twisted the inner bike's handle bars to one side (so they wouldn't hit the back of the trailer) and lived with the bounce. Didn't think anything would break, but it still bugged me.

Then I realized that with a little adjustment of the bike rack I could get the end of the inner bike's handlebar close enough to the back of the trailer to tie it down there (mounted Al angle on back of trailer, added U bracket, rope).

This two point mount is much more stable. Really no bounce at all now.

 

[Speckul8r]

My 2720 has steel frame members under the storage bumper that we bolted a 2" receiver hitch to. I think I got the hitch from the TM dealer but it's been so long ago that I don't remember for sure. At any rate, I carry 2 medium weight bikes on it and have had no issues. I wrapped some pipe insulating foam around the innermost bikes frame, securing the foam with zip ties, to mitigate the scuffing but other than that.................