Scamp 13 towed by 4Runner. Where to add a bike?

[John in Santa Cruz]

I too carry a heavier bike plus my lighter one on the rear bumper of our E21 with a hotch rack.... the 100 lbs of bikes+rack take just about 100 lbs off the tongue weight, and yes, it makes it a bit squirrely, especially if I have a full tank of water because we are heading to a boondocking site. since I'm towing a 4500 lb Escape 21 with a 7000 lb F250 diesel, its not /that/ squirrely

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

since I'm towing a 4500 lb Escape 21 with a 7000 lb F250 diesel, its not /that/ squirrely

Even if the vehicle can handle it easily, isn't it a bit hard on the hitch?

[ZachO]

Sounds like his bike has electric assist. That accounts for the weight I guess.

My “issue” is that I need to carry the bike when I don’t have the trailer, too, but I’m not going to have multiple bike racks. I can store the bike inside the camper when I’m pulling it, but when I go somewhere without the trailer, I need a way to carry it.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

Even if the vehicle can handle it easily, isn't it a bit hard on the hitch?

the receiver on the back of the e21 is rated for 150 lbs, I believe, and my rack is rated for more than that and is RV rated.

the f250 is rated for a 6500 lb trailer w/o using WDH and 12500 lbs w/ WDH, and up to around 1500 lbs of tongue weight. my tow ball+bar is rated for a 6000 lb trailer.

we hauled those bikes on the back of the escape about 2000 miles on our Utah trip in may/june, and even had a near-disaster when the tow ball failed and the trailer was whiplashing around on the safety chains before I brought it under control and to a safe stop. bike rack doesn't show any strain from that.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by ZachO

Sounds like his bike has electric assist. That accounts for the weight I guess.

My “issue” is that I need to carry the bike when I don’t have the trailer, too, but I’m not going to have multiple bike racks. I can store the bike inside the camper when I’m pulling it, but when I go somewhere without the trailer, I need a way to carry it.

ah, yeah, an ebike .... the one I built from a kit for my wife weighs in at 60 lbs w/ its battery pack, but I remove the battery pack when its on the hitch rack, the pack weighs 12 lbs by itself, eeek.

same hitch rack fits on a truck hitch, you just have to remember its back there when you're parking !

[zack sc]

Originally Posted by herons

Wondering if anyone installs a front hitch with a bike rack? I have a 54 lb. e-bike that is too heavy for a rear hitch. Would love to hear pros and cons. This might be a solution, although a bit more money.

Thanks for the suggestion. I did that. Got a front mount receiver from Curt. TV is a 4Runner. Bike in front, Scamp13 behind.

[John in Santa Cruz]

I had a front hitch bike rack for our E150 van when we were pulling a tent trailer.... totally awful if you have to drive at night with bikes on the front... they obscure your headlights, and throw massive glare back at you. also the bikes get trashed with bugs and road debris.

[Doc.Kev]

IMHO the old-fangled roof rack w/ thru-axle adapter is the best solution then. The other options require a clamp on the downtube and you don’t want any contact with the frameset. There are roof rack options that let your front wheel stay bolted to the fork, but I prefer fork mounts on the roof. Just my 2 cents. I have seen several wrecked RV bumpers and damaged bikes that resulted from metal fatigue/failure; the subtle “shaking” & vibration that is applied to add-on bumper mounts will fail eventually. If your 42# bike is like our long-travel DH rigs then it’s probably worth more than the Scamp and should be secured properly. My Scamp has the factory rear bumper receiver (see photos), but I still inspect for cracks frequently. You can also see in my photos I only carry 2 bikes on the Scamp bumper and additional bikes are on the TV roof. We keep lighter trailbikes on the Scamp bumper; longer travel/AM-enduro & DH bikes on the roof. One more thing: we used to have a Scamp 13’r and it was a lot lower than our current 16’ - I would be concerned about a rear bike rack scraping over some terrain or bumps. We had a steep driveway and it would scrape going up it & backing out of it. Let us know what you decide; if there are alternatives I am interested to know. Thanks

[John in Santa Cruz]

the best hitch rack is the 1Up, this uses wheel clamps rather than frame clamps, you leave the wheels on the bike. 2nd best is probably the Swagman Escapee2. both of these have a healthy rise from the hitch tube, so they have plenty of ground clearance.

this is the swagman on my e21 with our bikes on it.

[ZachO]

Yeah that thing looks really nice but out of my price range!

[katidesc13]

I'm lucky enough to have welders in my family. My brother extended the tongue of my 13ft Scamp, added a rack for dual propane, and welded a 2in receiver that faced upright in between the propane tanks and the battery. I was able to purchase a Kuat hanging rack that he then modified to stick upright into the 2in receiver and carry three bikes. Because the tongue was extended, the only time I've rubbed the bikes on my truck is with super tight (near jackknife) turns. Here are some pics from August 2014.

[ZachO]

That looks great. So much is possible when you can weld...

[katidesc13]

Very true!

[LuckyPenny]

How did you secure the bikes so they didn’t fall over?

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by LuckyPenny

How did you secure the bikes so they didn’t fall over?

if you're asking about the rack I showed a few posts up, the bikes are securely clamped by the wheels by these padded hooks on swinging arms..

I've since dumped the Swagman and gotten the 1up superduty double, which is even nicer..... stock shots showing how a road bike is held to the single version, and double mountain bikes...

for bikes with very small wheels, you can move the 'spindle' on those vertical arms to a lower position. the arms lock in place with a nice positive ratchet mechanism, and nothing is touching the bike frame. they have a kit for very-fat tire bikes, too.