Bicycle Racks

[zeroland]

I have a UK version of the Swedish Skarosser brand and would like to add a bike rack to the unit. It's the small ECO 200 mounted to a Ford Ranger double cab 2.5TD.

In my hard-to-find research on bicycle racks for demountables, truck camper, or pop-up campers, I am starting to run out of ideas. Here are few options I found.
Anyone have any suggestions?

A German company offer a bike rack that fits onto the rear of my camper but costs about $1500!


After reading the latest article on the Truck Camper magazine website, I spotted an alternative carrier for bicycles.
See http://www.truckcampermagazine.com/mountains-or-coast?--whazoo's-funudrum/

I noticed Hallmark RV offer an alternative bike rack - Truck Camper Article

The bike rack system is neat but prevents access into the rear door and guaranteed that you will need access as soon as you load the bikes. The article did mention the carrier swings clear but I presume its without the bikes loaded.

I like the verticle mounted solution but unsure how strong the mounting points would be.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[ThomD]

Hitch mounted racks that swing down are intended to do so with the bikes attached. We use a Draftmaster for our tandem. it swings down leaving enough room to open and access the back of the LX470.

Draftmaster

 

[fisher205]

I have a receiver hitch mounted Thule that swings out. It will haul 4 bikes. Yakima has a similar hitch.

Both of these images are with rack open

 

[knobbytracks]

I don't have a picture, but what I use is a receiver hitch cargo carrier with bike mounts like those shown in the picture of the couple in back of their Hallmark. The bikes are in the way to access the camper but I just release the rear wheel from its tie-down and swing the back end around, leaving the forks in the mount.

Check out my thread concerning Northstar's excellent customer service. http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=46334
I sent them a picture from the truckcamper.com article of Hallmark employees mounting the rack for that same couple. I want to do the same type of mount. Rory sent me a video of a camper similar to mine being built so I could see the location of the wood framing. :victory:

 

[billy bee]

We went low tech with our bikes. Rather than figuring some elaborate contraption that we'd have to remove to get in and out of the back of our (now sold) van. We mounted them on the front.

See:

This rack was about $75 bucks...

A concern I had was for the cooling. I think there is plenty of airflow into the radiator. The other concern might have been with bugs splats on the bikes. I am not a bike-riding enthusiast; so, I wasn't concerned about splats and don't recall them being a problem...

bb

 

[kerry]

Front mount receiver hitch with a hitch rack would be my choice.

 

[Northern Explorer]

I would also agree with a front hitch mount rack. Here's a picture of someone elses camper. Picture

 

[austintaco]

something to consider

Depending on how much money you have into your bikes, making them the first thing that would be hit in a collision or even a minor backing incident doesn't make sense. If the bike is a throwdown $150 mongoose (not vintage 80's era stuff) then it might not be an issue. However, if its something you care about, I would want to mount them out of the way of bumper to bumper contact.

There's nothing worse than seeing a $$$ carbon bike crushed by another car's bumper or hitting a parking garage entrance because the driver forgot his bike was on top.

 

[zeroland]

Good suggestions

thanks for the replies and suggestions. Upon further investigation, my truck won't handle the swing-away mounted units as the tailgate needs to be dropped for the camper to be mounted.

The only option is the vertical mounted solution so I will give Hallmark a call to confirm if the units are strong enough to support a bike on a bumpy road.

 

[MakersTeleMark]

I use the verticle mount as pictured above, but I bolted a locked QR to the outside of the bumper and have the rear tire supported up top. I wanted the weight and force of the bike to be on the truck, not pulling down on the camper. I only lost about 3" of fully opened door clearance. Additionally, with the QR down below, I just flip the bike upside down on the ground and only have to lift it a few inches to get it connected as opposed to having to heft the whole bike up 8'.

I went way overboard on the camper side of the mount, but I wanted to make sure it was bomber. I might also bolt on a step to that location at some point in the future.

 

[Jasonixulee]

What kinds of racks fit on a Pinnacle Ouray bicycle?

The Avenir Disc rack and all other racks that require connection at the dropout (near the rear wheel) and on the seat stay (up towards the seat post) are intended only for hardtail frames- without rear suspension.