Concerns about carrying 2 e-bikes on back hitch and sway

[Campingbliss]

I purchased an e-bike bike carrier that attaches to the frame welded hitch on the back of my 16ft Scamp. The carrier weighs about 40#’s and each bike weighs 55-60#’s, so all together I am looking at about 160#’s of added weight off the back end. I am worried about possible sway. Any suggestions or packing tips for proper weight distribution? I usually travel with a bit of water in the fresh water tank (not full) and a full 6 gallon water container that I store in side bathroom. I do not have a sway hitch. Do any of you also carry 2 bikes in back and what is your experience doing so? Thanks.

[mary and bob]

Is the bike carrier rated for use on the rear of a trailer. Most bike carriers are intended only for use on a car or truck, not for on a trailer.

[stevebaz]

the only 3 places I carried my bikes and the back of the trailer wasn't one of them.

inside my scamp 13

inside my tug

behind the tug between the trailer. welded on extra receiver on top of the receiver hitch on my tug.

then I got smart and got a pick-up much less hassles.

[Campingbliss]

It is rated for back of trailer. I did a ton of research. The Scamp factory told me that the rear hitch is rated for 400#’s.

[stevebaz]

keep the heavy weight over the tires t words the front of the trailer. this creates down force on the tires designed to carry load and the trailer hitch designed to carry load. everything aft of the tires levers against the weight of the hitch load. upset this balance too much gets you in trouble. For me on my Scamp 13 the edge of the bed is the balance point. so anything under or on top f the bed must be light. side closet it on the wheel center and carry a fair amount of weight it is also offset by the weight of equipment and loaded fridge across from it on the other side of the trailer. the floor space is balanced between the trailer and the hitch so pretty much anything goes.
the front of the trailer is where I carry sensitive stuff electronics or solar panels. much less road bounce between the trailer tires and the hitch so allot less shock load in the front. bounce the tires an inch and at the hitch its 0 at the wheels its 1 at the back wall of the trailer it could be close to 1/2 a foot not a good thing having stuff you care about bouncing around that much. now think about your bikes and stuff bouncing around back out on your hitch. the weight, inertia and momentum building up back there.
160 lbs may be OK but with leverage and momentum 160 lbs is not just 160 lbs any more. be sure to try with one bike and add the other after your sure things are OK when bad things happen they happen very fast.

so be aware if stuff starts getting out of control learn to use your trailer. brakes independent of your car brakes.

[tomgwitt]

I have 13footer with factory hitch. Bike carrier weight is 25 lb. Two bikes at 35 lb each. I got away with carrying both bikes a couple o trips and then I didn’t. Its get real scary really fast, when things go bad. One bike is all I can carry.

[Ken Morton]

2 conventional bicycles and a rack - no more than 120 pounds total - on the back of our Scamp 16 resulted a noticable sway. Bikes are in the tow vehicle now.

[Alex Adams]

Robin, watch this video to see why this is not a good idea even if you balance the weight:

https://youtu.be/PFzrWHTG5e8

[alan H]

I would definitely avoid mounting this on back
I had a 17’ freedom deluxe
I could never get the swaying to stop... tried wdh( 2x 2 kinds) no matter how I loaded trailer
I’m kind of surprised with casita comment

[mm2670]

Interesting video! However, I would have liked to see the demo with only the front weight moving forward (like more tongue weight).

[Alex Adams]

Originally Posted by mm2670

Interesting video! However, I would have liked to see the demo with only the front weight moving forward (like more tongue weight).

Here is a web page that talks about the physics:
https://practicalmotoring.com.au/car...eavy-trailers/

[mm2670]

Good link on where the weight is. Seems as long at your TV can handle the tongue weight, the better situation is with the center of gravity forward of the trailer axle. I would have guessed that but the link really pointed it out.

[mm2670]

Also, I seen some mention that bike rack manufacturers don't warrant their racks on the back of trailers because of the excessive bouncing. Anyone heard that?

[ZachO]

See the second post

[gordon2]

What I dont see in the below post mention is any mention of getting the trailer axle and tongue weights, either before or after adding the bikes. Thats a rather critical piece of information.

I will note that in my Scamp 16 (Layout four, single propane tank, no water in tank) tongue weight was close to the low end of the recommended 10-15%, so any weight added rear of the axle was not a good idea.

Originally Posted by Campingbliss

I purchased an e-bike bike carrier that attaches to the frame welded hitch on the back of my 16ft Scamp. The carrier weighs about 40#’s and each bike weighs 55-60#’s, so all together I am looking at about 160#’s of added weight off the back end. I am worried about possible sway. Any suggestions or packing tips for proper weight distribution? I usually travel with a bit of water in the fresh water tank (not full) and a full 6 gallon water container that I store in side bathroom. I do not have a sway hitch. Do any of you also carry 2 bikes in back and what is your experience doing so? Thanks.

[Radar1]

Although it's possible to counteract the front to back weight of bikes on the back by adding weight to the front, having all that weight at the very back of the trailer still creates a lot of extra momentum in a side to side wiggle situation that can contribute to unrecoverable sway.
Think of a small dog wagging it's tail. If you added a lead weight to the end of the tail, and the dog started wagging it, it would probably flip the dog over. A big dog might be able to handle it, but our Scamps are like little dogs.

[Doug in Sacramento]

On our first trip we added a bike rack and two relatively light weight bikes on the factory installed rear bumper receiver . Got on the freeway and immediately got off at the first exit, drove home, and got rid of the rack and bikes. It was scary. Never again. Now they’re mounted on the roof of the TV.

[Jon in AZ]

I successfully carried two lightweight bikes on the back of a 13’er for years without a hint of sway. Rack and bikes were under 100# total, and we compensated with a lot of heavy weight at the front of the trailer. Couldn’t imagine going much over that, and it was hard on the bikes due to extreme bouncing (think back seat of the school bus, only worse).

A few years ago I got tired of the worry and damage and switched to this set-up. Much more stable, and trailer handling was vastly improved.

[thrifty bill]

Key word above: lightweight. E-bikes are the opposite of lightweight. Porky is more like it. Beware serious sway.

Most racks are NOT rated for RV trailer service due to the severe bouncing they endure. Check with the manufacturer of the rack you have chosen. Some well known high quality brands refuse to rate a single one of their racks for RV trailer service.

[Campingbliss]

Thank you so much for the great info and personal experiences. This begs the question though, what are those rear mounted hitches for then if it’s problematic for carrying rack and bikes? I will do a short test run with only one bike on back and lighten the load by taking the seat and battery off, making the whole set up around 70#’s. I will fill 2- 6 gallon Jugs of water to store up front along with my heavier items and try to fit the 2nd bike inside the camper somehow. I wish I had reached out to this group before buying the $$$ hitch bike rack set up, sigh...
But better safe than rolled over on the side of the highway.