With my kayaks on top of my Subaru Outback, I have to leave my bike at home. I tried shoving the bike inside the trailer - not easy and vibrations may scratch the trailer's nice woodwork.
Any suggestions on how to mount a bike rack - on the rear of the trailer? Or is there a kind of a tow hitch for the trailer and the bike rack? Suggestions and concerns are greatly appreciated.
That adapter does not appear to be 4000# strong, it appears to be a 1 1/4" to a 2" adapter. In addition the bikes will reduce your tongue carrying capacity. Those extenders may create some sway.
__________________ Jim Never in doubt, often wrong
True, the Subaru only has a 200# limit. They are probably exceeding that without the bikes. What about a rear mount, may help with the tongue weight also.
__________________ Jim Never in doubt, often wrong
I have one of those adapters. What it does is move the ball farther away from the receiver and decreases it's capacity and increases the load on it. I no longer use it. I've found that bikes will bounce on the rear of a trailer so any rack has to be very sturdy. Had one of my racks bend and know of two that broke off. I have had success with a rear rack after I built my own. This subject has come up several times so a search should result in plenty of info. Don't block visibility of the tail lights.
But, this will increase your tongue weight significantly. What is it right now?
Our friends borrowed our scamp and used their bike rack in our Scamp's hitch, against our advice. He is an experienced tower and he said there was a LOT of sway with the bikes back there, to where he was going real slow on the highway and was still uncomfortable. He was towing with a Suburban.
And yes, he now knows for certain that he is not to do that with our trailer again!
The other option is to get folding bikes. There are a wide variety of options, and it might not cost much more than outfitting your rig with something if you can find them used. Sure would cost less than a bad accident caused by towing with bikes on the back of the trailer.
I have wider Yakima crossbars that I use on our Outback that also switch to the truck. I can carry our fairly wide canoe on it, plus I found a swagman carrier pair that fits on the crossbar. With the wider rack, I can carry the canoe and 2 bikes on top.
This setup has worked well for us, used it on a trip from GA to Acadia and Canada and back, and it's in use on our current trip to FL. YAKIMA and Thule both make racks that allow carrying kayaks on their sides, which might give you enough room with your current crossbars.
__________________
Dave (and Marilyn who is now watching from above)
Sharpsburg, GA
04 Dodge Dakota V-8, 17 Dodge Durango V-6, 19 Ford Ranger 2.3 Ecoboost
radar1-scamping.blogspot.com
I put the back seats down in my Outback, take the front wheel off mt bike and stow it in the wagon. What luggage and supplies I can't in the car, I put in my Scamp. Works for me!
Just curious... Has anyone ever tried to put a 10' kayak inside a 13' Scamp? If it (they) would fit, it seems the aerodynamics would be much better than having them on the roof of the TV.
With the Subaru's tongue wight limit you are limited as to your bike options:
Put the bike on the roof of the car.
Take the front wheel off the bike and stick it in the rear of the car - have done that lots of times.
Put bike inside the trailer - Put a towel over the handles to stop it from damaging the trailer. Or take the front wheel off and lay it on the rear bed - done that once or twice as well.
Add a hitch receiver to the rear of the trailer - Orbital Machine Works (members here) made one for my Scamp and I use a Very lightKuat Beta rack (the rack weighs 11lbs).
Just curious... Has anyone ever tried to put a 10' kayak inside a 13' Scamp? If it (they) would fit, it seems the aerodynamics would be much better than having them on the roof of the TV.
The interior length of 13' Scamp is 10'. The only way to fit 10' kayak inside is to break it in half.
Thanks all for your feedback, especially the hazards of a dual tow apparatus. I now have lots of options. I did see a Scamp 13 with a bike rack welded to the back of a trailer at a rest stop which prompted my question.
A 10 ft kayak inside a 13 ft egg? Ha Ha My kayak is 17 ft....best to go with an origami ORU kayak and stow it inside the trailer - Home | Oru Kayak | Explore outside the box
I have one welded to the front over the tank, works great and was built with lightweight materials so the combined weight is not that much, maybe 10# plus bikes
You can also have a 2" receiver mounted on the rear of the trailer. I did this on my 19 5er. Only you need to come off the trailer frame and have an experienced welder do the job.
__________________
“I have tried to live my life so that my family would love me and my friends would respect me. The others can do whatever the Hell they please!” —John Wayne
The interior length of 13' Scamp is 10'. The only way to fit 10' kayak inside is to break it in half.
You can put a 5' pipe in a 3'X4' box. You just have to go from corner to corner... I believe Pythagoras was the guy's name... <_<
Using his theorem (10 X 10) + (6 x 6)= 136 sqrt= 11.66'... so if you could
angle it past the doorway you could get an 11 foot kayak in a 13' scamp...at least in theory, My question is, has anybody done it?
Where to mount a bike rack on a 13 ft Scamp?
Prairie Schooner
Hags Hideaway
1992 Scamp Side bath
I believe Pythagoras was the guy's name... <_<
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