Bike racks and trailers

[ted saxton]

We just bought new bikes, now trying to decide on wether to put the bike rack on the back of the vehicle or on our trailer. Seen one bike rack that fits over the trailer hitch. Or we can put a receiver on the trailer and put a rack in it . Ted & Vera

[Adrian W]

We added bike holders to a rear carrier to carry two bikes, we had Scamp add the reciever as it was being made. I've carried them with a bike rack as well, a pole one which will hold 3 bikes.

[Adrian W]

Another Veiw without the bikes

It shows the bike ties

It is an aluminum carrier, I cut off some of the rail which went all around it, I got it at Harbor Frieght. It is very light weight. I added the brake lights.

I do not have a photo of the pole type of bike rack.

[ted saxton]

Thank you Adrian for answering my question. I've seen one carrier that fits through your spare tire. So if the Scamp has a spare on the back this would work for us. And we do have a Habor Freight near us and seen the kind of carrier you were talking about. Vera

[Bigfoot Mike]

Another approach...

Two bikes are mounted above the propane box on the front of the Casita.

[Chris B]

Here's one where you can use the hitch to mount your bike carrier. It's a Swagman.

[james kent]

Hi Adrian
Good thinking re the extra tail lights. Followed too many trailers which have had the lights obscured by boxes, bikes and and other items. How are they wired?

[Pete Dumbleton]

Everybody please keep in mind that the further away to the rear from the axle that you hang a weight (and the higher above the axle), the more likely that weight is to induce trailer sway (and the greater the speed, the greater the sway).

If someone is considering a weight on the rear, also consider moving the spare tire to the front for better stability.

[Adrian W]

Hi Adrian
Good thinking re the extra tail lights. Followed too many trailers which have had the lights obscured by boxes, bikes and and other items. How are they wired?

The 7 prong electric outlet plug on the pick-up had a 4 prong one on it as well. I ran a second group of wires from the 4 prong outlet under the trailer to the rear reciever on the trailer. I picked up some tail lights at Wal-Mart, hooked them onto the carrier and ran the wires to reach the reciever and hooked them to another 4 prong which hooks into the one by the reciever hitch.
If something happens to the tail lights on the trailer, I have a back up set on the carrier. Mainly, I did not want the bikes, etc to block the view of the tail lights. I have a Swagman bike carrier I use on the pickup and have use it on the Scamp as well. I added light to it as well. I wired the trailer to reach it. It stook out so far in the rear, I wanted to try a bumper carrier to see if it would work. I am please with it. The Swagman cause a little sway, but tightening the sway bar stopped it. It seemed less sway with the bumper carrier and I can also carry boxes, etc. if I wish. The Alumium maybe lighter than the steel Swagman? I added a spare tire to the tongue mainly to have an extra spare. The added weight up front did not seem to make it sway less however.

[Pete Dumbleton]

I added a spare tire to the tongue mainly to have an extra spare. The added weight up front did not seem to make it sway less however.

I was thinking more in terms of getting weight off the back and adding it to the front, getting a double-effect from the move.

I have yet, in nine years of FullTiming from Florida to Newfoundland to Alaska to California and a lot of bad roads in between, needed more than one trailer spare. I did 12K miles on almost all of the BC, YT and AK roads without a flat on truck or trailer. In fact, I can only recall using a trailer spare once in Colorado.

If you are tightening the sway control to adjust for the weight on the back, you are in the zone where the control is likely masking the problem and it may catch up with you in high winds or slippery roads, so be very careful!

[kfletcher]

Hi Pete,

Thank you for your post. I was just looking for information regarding bike racks and came across this discussion. I was going to put a hitch on the back of my trails west for 3 mountain bikes, but am reconsidering after reading your comments. We have 3 kayaks and 3 bikes we like to take with us when we hit the road. The kayaks go on the roof of my subaru.

Presently we can fit two bikes inside the trailer. I took a yakima bike rack bar and ran it between the two benches. I can remove the bar when we aren't using the racks. The forks lock into the rack and the weight of the bikes is essentially over the axle. It is a hassle getting the bikes in and out of the trailer. Also, now that I repainted, etc., I am more picky about dragging the bikes in there. Even with that arrangment, we are one bike short.

So, I was considering getting a hitch on the back and putting the bikes back there. We could remove the rack when we reach our destination, as the Trails West campster has the door to the rear. But, we trailer primarily on curvy mountain roads as we live in Yosemite and are going from one side to the other of the park, i.e, Mammoth and back to Yosemite. Causing this trailer to sway would not be a good thing, as I don't have a sway bar.

I looked at the option of the rack on the hitch receiver (a sleeve essentially that fits over the 2 inch reciever, but it says you need at least 10 inches of reciever, which reduces tongue weight by 50%. My subaru rack says maximum tongue weight is 200 lbs as it is. So that option is out.

My question to you would be, how do I figure out what my tongue weight should be for my particular trailer. I know the hitch can handle 200 lbs, but how do I figure out what is should be for my trialer?

Also, I would like to raise my trailer because I can't really go over any dips without bottoming out. If I turn down a few forest service roads, even very slowly, I sometimes hit the bottom of the bolts on the axle. Do you know if I could turn those horseshoe looking springs upside down and put the trailer higher. If I had someone do that for me, does that cause any sway/other problems I should know about.

Thanks for letting me pick your (and anyone else's who would chime in) brain on this topic. You seem to have given the weight distribution some thought.

Kim

[Brian B-P]

...If I turn down a few forest service roads, even very slowly, I sometimes hit the bottom of the bolts on the axle. Do you know if I could turn those horseshoe looking springs upside down and put the trailer higher. If I had someone do that for me, does that cause any sway/other problems I should know about.

I sounds like the Campster has a leaf-spring axle. If the threaded ends of the U-bolts are hitting, they are facing down, which means the leaf springs run under the axle (this is called an underslung or spring-under configuration). It is possible to remount the springs on top (yes, turning over the U-bolts), to make it an overslung or spring-over configuration; it can also be done with a bolt-on kit or just some grinding and welding, but there are issues (including handling) raised by doing this.

I suggest a search for something like "+leaf +spring +raise" in this forum (all sub-forums) to find the existing discussions of how to raise a trailer with a leaf-spring axle - the discussions are often about various Bigfoot trailer or the Boler B1700 model, since most moulded fiberglass trailers don't have leaf springs, and Bigfeet and our B1700s are the most common leaf-spring designs.
example topics:
NEW AXLE
Raising Bigfoot for more clearance??

Keep in mind that Bigfeet and B1700s are relatively wide trailers, and raising the narrow Campster might cause more handling problems, unless it is low enough to still be sufficiently stable.

[kfletcher]

I suggest a search for something like "+leaf +spring +raise" in this forum (all sub-forums) to find the existing discussions of how to raise a trailer with a leaf-spring axle - the discussions are often about various Bigfoot trailer or the Boler B1700 model, since most moulded fiberglass trailers don't have leaf springs, and Bigfeet and our B1700s are the most common leaf-spring designs.
example topics:
NEW AXLE
Raising Bigfoot for more clearance??

Thank you for your reply Brian! I read the links and they were very informative. I think I will just pick my roads carefully and save myself some trouble.

Kim