Bike Rack Between MH and Toad

[Old-RV'er]

Ok, this may not be made any longer, but if anyone knows of a bike rack which can mount on the tow bar, or an extension of the tow bar which will allow bikes to be carried. Please send links in reply. Found some years ago, think swagman is the only one, and theirs dont look heavy enough. Thank you in advance.

 

[Richpatty]

Yea....I have a swagman that attaches to the tow bar extension. It was only for 3 bikes though and did not handle that much weight. I used it for nearly 10 years on my gasser. I never saw one hold more than 3. But since I wanted one with more capacity and not have it right behind the DP engine, I bought a 4 bike model and put it on the hitch of my toad.

 

[Old-RV'er]

Thank you, will check them out.

 

[Scott201]

Advantage V-Rack 2 Bike Carrier | Bicycle Carrier

Heininger's Advantage V-Rack bike rack is the ultimate in space savings and convenience. It's unique V-shape enables folding into an easy-to-store size when not in use while still providing structural integrity to handle up to two bikes confidently.

www.heininger.biz

This may work.

 

[lostinfla]

I just switched to keeping the bikes behind the coach as opposed to having them on the toad. I used a Draw Tite double receiver with the Kuat NV 2.0 rack on top and a Blue Ox Ascent tow bar in the bottom receiver. I was worried about clearance and ordered an extension, but found I didn't need it. Much nicer not having to remove the rack and bikes to go anywhere in the toad. Wish I had a better pic, but here you are.

 

[Rich-MLsRV]

I use a Rigid towbar accessory receiver. Rigid has different drop/riser heights depending on what you need. I wish I had a picture of the bikes attached to the RV with the tow vehicle ( sorry).

 

[Old-RV'er]

Thank you all, my friend who asked me the question looked over all the suggestions. I did try to influence his decision, but believe your input helped him to make one. I appreciate all the thoughtful answers to this question. I even got ideas from it, but we are not sure the RV is for long in our future due to number of things facing us. So our current bike rack will have to work until we make other choices.

 

[MapNerd]

I have a similar problem except I have four bikes to carry. A 29” and 24” mountain bike, the wife’s beach cruiser and an 18” kids bike. Right now we have a Yakima Four Timer platform bike rack on the back of the truck which works fine but it would be nice to be able to put all of those bikes on the coach so that we don’t have the bike rack on the truck unless needed. Everyime I wash the truck, I have to remove the bike rack first and even though it folds up when not in use, the truck is already long enough when parking.

I have a dual hitch receiver on the truck already so that I can tow my tote tank if at a park with only a dump station without having to remove the bike rack. I thought about moving it to the coach but I am concerned that since it’s a platform bike rack, making tighter turns might bring the front corner of the toad in contact with outermost bike on the rack. I’m thinking I would need a hitch receiver that really launched those bike into the air high enough that the bottom of the bike rack would clear the hood of the road. Of course, then taking the bikes down and putting them up would be a major pain.

 

[B&T RVers]

I just switched to keeping the bikes behind the coach as opposed to having them on the toad. I used a Draw Tite double receiver with the Kuat NV 2.0 rack on top and a Blue Ox Ascent tow bar in the bottom receiver. I was worried about clearance and ordered an extension, but found I didn't need it. Much nicer not having to remove the rack and bikes to go anywhere in the toad. Wish I had a better pic, but here you are.View attachment 3787

I like your set-up. - how has it worked & do you ever use a bike cover? Thanks.

 

[lostinfla]

It has worked great. After going through TX and NM in the rain, I am thinking of a cover, but for now I just wash the bikes. Nice to have a place to store the bikes at the site too.

 

[MapNerd]

@lostinfla do you have enough clearance between the MH and toad to add the NV 2.0 2 bike extension?

 

[lostinfla]

I'm sure it could be done easily by adding a short hitch extension to move the toad back if more room was needed.

 

[MapNerd]

I’ve read (on etrailer i believe) that every hitch extension or accessory added reduces tow capacity by 50%.

I’m not sure I believe that, but consider if you took a 15k# hitch, added a dual hitch receiver with a 10k# capacity, that rule would mean you should only be pulling 7.5k#s. Then add a hitch extender to push the toad back, let’s say that also had a 10k# capacity, the 50% rule means you would only be able to pull 3.5k#s.

Has anyone else ever heard of this rule? Is there any truth to it?

 

["EZ"]

I’ve read (on etrailer i believe) that every hitch extension or accessory added reduces tow capacity by 50%.

I’m not sure I believe that, but consider if you took a 15k# hitch, added a dual hitch receiver with a 10k# capacity, that rule would mean you should only be pulling 7.5k#s. Then add a hitch extender to push the toad back, let’s say that also had a 10k# capacity, the 50% rule means you would only be able to pull 3.5k#s.

Has anyone else ever heard of this rule? Is there any truth to it?

Yes. I've heard it. I think 50% is a bit much to reduce the weight rating but I'm sure the manufacturers of these hitch extensions are covering their legal butts in case of an accident. The chance of a mistake or failure with a 2 piece hitch (hitch with an extension) is twice as high as a one piece hitch, correct? That's why they say a 50% reduction I'm sure. I would avoid bolt on hitch extensions at almost all cost. If you need a permanently longer hitch due to hauling a motorcycle or bicycle between the RV and the Toad, I would weld in a permanent extension to the square tube with a sleeve over it or a brace under it for support. This would be much better than sliding an extension in there to be held in place by a pin in my opinion..

 

[Golfer Guy]

IMHO I think the 1UpUSA rack is the best way to go. Easy to add a duel hitch riser for the tow bar and the bike rack above. The 1Up is very easy to use and secure. Have traveled a lot of miles with no issue at all.