E Bikes cary

[Macheco]

Hello,, I just got a used Casita Heritage deluxe 2009
Wil get Hitch receiver installed and would like to carry two 50 lb e bikes on a proper e bike rack.
Any comments or advise regarding sway or frame fatigue.
I have also installed an Andersen weight distribution kit
Thank You

[Jon in AZ]

Is yours a 16' or 17'?

The maker of the hitch receiver and/or Casita may have a maximum weight rating. Check with both. Don't forget to include the weight of the rack in making your determination. Check whether the rack is rated for RV use; many aren't.

I do have concerns. The back of a trailer is pretty bouncy, and the rack and contents will experience some pretty severe dynamic stresses under certain road conditions. You might look into a shock absorber kit- I recall LHC used to sell one for 17'ers. That would help.

The other issue is tongue weight.The recommended range is 10-15% of gross trailer weight. Casita 17's typically run high so you'll probably be okay, but you'll need to check before you tow at speed. The Anderson WDH does help with sway control but it is not a substitute for maintaining tongue weight in the safe range.

[Mike Magee]

I'll add that some folks have had their rear window bash out from a handlebar strike. Bikes on the back of a trailer can really get bounced hard. And you'd probably need a good cover on those ebikes (to protect from rain and dirt), but one that won't block your tail lights.



Sounds like you'd be adding 200 lbs behind the bumper, and that will really change the balance. You might be okay with a front bath 17' since they are already very hitch heavy, but you would definitely want to weigh the tongue after adding that stuff to make sure you still have at least 10% of the trailer weight on the hitch.


So far I've been hauling my ebike in the back of my SUV, even though I have a strong enough receiver on the rear of my trailer.

[Sunnyfalls]

Fully agree with previous responses.

To enable supporting our RV bicycle rack (and our lightweight gravel bicycles), our Starlink Internet satellite dish 20' telescoping mast and our UHF/VHF/HF radio communication antenna 25' mast, we added three Bolt-on Rear Bumper 2 Inch Hitch Receivers on each side and on the center of our 2023 Casita Liberty trailer rear bumper which is a light weight, low cost and non-invasive approach (i.e., doesn’t require bolting or welding a heavy rear hitch structure/receiver to the trailer frame) to accomplish this project.

It should be noted that 150 pounds is the maximum recommended load to place on the Casita trailer rear bumper to avoid creating a sway issue and potential accident. Each hitch receiver is rated for 200 pounds of load and each hitch receiver weighs 11.44 pounds. So three of these bolt-on hitch receivers increases our Casita trailer weight by 34.3 pounds, increases our trailer axle load by 50.9 pounds and reduces our tongue weight by 16.6 pounds. And adding an additional 115.7 pounds (i.e., 150 pounds minus 34.3 pounds) to reach the maximum recommended 150 pounds of total rear bumper load would increase our Casita trailer weight by 150 pounds, increase our trailer axle load by 222.5 pounds and reduce our tongue weight by 72.5 pounds.

It should also be noted that older Casita trailers apparently had an inadequate bumper structure to support this approach. However, our 2023 Casita trailer doesn't have this limitation as it has a 4 inch square steel tube having a 0.125 inch thickness that is securely welded to the Casita frame. And personally, I would remove and replace an inadequate bumper structure with an adequate bumper structure before going the more invasive, heavy and expensive Band-Aid approach.

We developed and use these calculators to ensure that we stay within all limits and reduce trips to the certified scales:

https://www.borstengineeringconstruc...alculator.html

https://www.borstengineeringconstruc...alculator.html

And finally, when we take our eBikes, they are relatively lightweight and are foldable enabling them to go into our truck bed.

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

[Macheco]

Hi, my Casita is a 17' 2009 , I was planning on installing a Casita Works hitch receiver, which is bolted to the frame underneath ion four points.
The weight limit on this unit is 150 lbs. would take off the batteries to lighten up the load to make sure I don't exceed the limit.
I also have the shock absorber kit installed, which reduces bouncing considerably.
The tow vehicle is a 4 Runner, so I can't put the e bikes on it

I could weight the trailer loaded with bikes and all to determine total weight and tongue weight.

[Jon in AZ]

Originally Posted by Macheco

Hi, my Casita is a 17' 2009 , I was planning on installing a Casita Works hitch receiver, which is bolted to the frame underneath ion four points.
The weight limit on this unit is 150 lbs. would take off the batteries to lighten up the load to make sure I don't exceed the limit.
I also have the shock absorber kit installed, which reduces bouncing considerably.
The tow vehicle is a 4 Runner, so I can't put the e bikes on it

I could weight the trailer loaded with bikes and all to determine total weight and tongue weight.

Sounds like you have thought this through and have the bases covered. I like the idea of removing batteries. I was going to suggest that, but I don’t have any experience with e-bikes to know how convenient that is. So is the 50# you mentioned with or without the batteries?

[jerrybob]

Whatever you do....just make sure it is extremely strong. If your bikes fall off.....that's a risk you assume. If they fall off and hurt or kill someone behind you.....you got bigger issues. Be safe....make sure all risks are considered.

[Jon in AZ]

Originally Posted by jerrybob

Whatever you do....just make sure it is extremely strong. If your bikes fall off.....that's a risk you assume. If they fall off and hurt or kill someone behind you.....you got bigger issues. Be safe....make sure all risks are considered.

When I carried bikes on the back of our Scamp, I looped a very thick cable lock through all the frames and around the bumper, which on a Scamp is very robust L-channel. Besides securing the bikes against theft, it also provided a last-ditch safety measure. If a single bicycle, the whole rack, or even the hitch itself were to separate from the trailer, the whole mess would be dragged along behind me rather than left behind to cause an accident.

Fortunately, it was never tested, and in the end I decided carrying bikes on the back was unsatisfactory: too much work, hard on the bikes, partially obscured taillights, and (even without sway) handled poorly. We carried them inside for a while. That was better: easier to load, protected and secure, and centered weight improved trailer handling markedly. But I grew tired of not being able to use the trailer without unloading the bikes, so I think my next iteration might be folding bikes in the tow vehicle.

[Perryb67]

In the winter we put Terry's folding Tern Vectron behind the drivers seat of our F150. The Tern with it's Bosch motor/500 watt battery gets over 100 miles on a charge for Terry and about 80 miles with my fat ass. We don't carry much in the bed of the truck, so my trike rides in the truck bed underneath a tonneau cover protected from salt. The Tern only weighs 47 pounds with the Bosch battery attached or 39 pounds with the battery removed.

We have a F150 with the 400 watt inverter, so all bike battery charging is done driving down the road. We can charge up to 3 batteries at a time when driving (have yet to try 4 batteries).

Since 2004, in the non- salt seasons, we carry Terry's ICE TNT e-trike on the back of the camper(s) with an overbuilt Hitchrider trike rack that we purchased used in 2004. That rack has 10's of thousands of miles down the road and still is tight.

Food for thought,

Perry

[Sunnyfalls]

Yep, that is another Pro for the truck bed...we also use our Honda Ridgeline 120VAC outlet in the bed to charge our folding Ebikes too. The other Pro is that it is easier and quicker to use lightweight folding Ebikes placed in the bed than placing a rack and having to load/secure/unsecure/unload the heavier Ebikes from a rack. Not nearly as bad for lightweight bicycles. Or so we think...

And if you recall F=MA...the more mass being accelerated and bounced around, the more force and associated cyclic loading the structure has to handle without failing.

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

[K Swales]

We have an Arvika front mount bike rack that also has an adapter to insert it into the receiver of the tow vehicle. If it doesn’t place too much weight on the front of your camper I would highly recommend one. We had sway issues until we moved the bike rack to the front on our 2024 L’air Heritage aTrillium 4500

[Guide Guy]

We have a 2007 Casita SD and 2 E-bikes that we take everywhere, but we don’t mount the bikes on the trailer. Instead, we hang the front tires aver the tailgate of our Honda Ridgeline on a soft tailgate “rack”, with most of the bikes in the truck bed. Then we pack around the bikes, and store extra stuff in the trailer while driving. Of course you couldn’t have a shell on your TV, but it solved the weight and balance issues with mounting the bikes on our Casita. And it works great. We’ve towed from Oregon to Colorado several times with no problems.

[Lynn Eberhardt]

We carry our folding electric scooter on the floor of our Scamp. No problem.
I also run 110 AC to the trailer from an inverter in the car, mainly to run the fridge on AC but it also charges the scooter when needed.

[Macheco]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

Sounds like you have thought this through and have the bases covered. I like the idea of removing batteries. I was going to suggest that, but I don’t have any experience with e-bikes to know how convenient that is. So is the 50# you mentioned with or without the batteries?

Yes, thanks. The bikes are actually 55 lbs., each WITH THE BATTERIES. I have to verify, but figure that the batteries are 25-30 lbs. each

[Mike Magee]

Originally Posted by Macheco

Yes, thanks. The bikes are actually 55 lbs., each WITH THE BATTERIES. I have to verify, but figure that the batteries are 25-30 lbs. each

Probably each ebike battery is in the neighborhood of 6 to 8 lbs.

[computerspook]

My preferred way of hauling these would be inside the camper if you can. I also would consider a way to lock them to the camper when it is parked. I have seen people have their not e bikes stolen in campgrounds.

[Sunnyfalls]

Originally Posted by Mike Magee

Probably each ebike battery is in the neighborhood of 6 to 8 lbs.

Yep, that is what our batteries weigh... BTW, you can put folding Ebikes in the cargo hold of airplanes if you pull the batteries and take them as carry-on.

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

[Perryb67]

The 500 watt Bosch batteries on our Tern Vectrons weight closer to 8 pounds weighed on our mail scale that's good up to 50 pounds and quite accurate. The 21Ah batteries on our TSDZ2 equipped ICE Trikes weigh 13 pounds.

We remove our batteries before lifting the bikes/trikes into our F150.

Enjoy,

Perry

[Jon in AZ]

Originally Posted by Sunnyfalls

Yep, that is what our batteries weigh... BTW, you can put folding Ebikes in the cargo hold of airplanes if you pull the batteries and take them as carry-on.

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

We’re a bit off topic, but check the battery specs. There are limits on the size of lithium batteries you can carry on an airplane. The limits are based on storage capacity, not dimensions or weight. I think this is a developing issue the industry and/or the FAA is going to be watching closely with additional restrictions likely.

[Bill in Pittsburgh]

Just went through the dilemma this past year with how to carry two ebikes while tugging my trailer. We used to have a Jeep Cherokee and carried one tandem (no electric) bike on the roof. Acquiring two ebikes put us in the position of needing a new tug. our trailer has the door in the back and that amongst other reasons made a rear hitch rack on the trailer unthinkable.
Our solution was to replace our Cherokee with a double cab pick-up. Our first inclination was to get a midsize truck like a Frontier or a Tacoma but instead ended up with a Silverado. While a Frontier or Tacoma was our preference it is very difficult to find one that doesn't have one of those teeny beds. The average bicycle is 68 inches long. Also, if you do manage to find a mid size truck with a 6 foot plus bed finding a used cap is nearly impossible.
The Silverado does a nice job towing, I can carry two ebikes in the bed under a used cap we acquired, and we get the same fuel mileage reported to me by owners of the midsize trucks. The downside is it is big and even when not towing parking in an urban area is not often easy. Plus and minuses!