# Anyone Use One Of These?



## Matthew (Oct 22, 2008)

With the new bumpers being frame welded I was considering one of these:
My link 
to put a bike rack on the back of the trailer. Anyone have any luck or mis-luck with this set up? It would be nice, as we store our trailer about 30 minutes away, to load the bikes on the truck on a rack, pull the whole rack off and throw it on the trailer, hook up and go. Otherwise the bikes take up so much space in the truck when we are getting other gear, and dogs, to the trailer.
Just concerned about it bouncing around to much.


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## CA-NYCamper (Mar 30, 2009)

We have one and on a reinforced bumper, it works like a charm. My carbon fiber triathlon bike rides inside though


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## mike (Dec 17, 2006)

out of curiosity how do u put ur carbon fiber bike in the outback, Do u just lay it down or do something special? I just got into tri's and picked up a carbon fiber bike also


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## golfduke (Mar 6, 2010)

mike said:


> out of curiosity how do u put ur carbon fiber bike in the outback, Do u just lay it down or do something special? I just got into tri's and picked up a carbon fiber bike also


I put mine on the bed with a junk sheet under it. One very loose fabric corded bungee around it just to keep it honest and I'm ready to rock.


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## hautevue (Mar 8, 2009)

Matthew; bike racks on the bumper are generally a bad idea. The photo shows the receiver mounted on the bumper. Then your bike rack goes into the receiver. My bike carrier is curved like the letter "L" with the top of the "L" about 36" - 40" above the bumper and aft of the bumper by 6" to 8". Yours will be quite high relative to the bumper.

The weight of the bike carrier and the bikes will cause lots of torque on the bumper. I have a 2009 with a black, not chromed, bumper. My bumper is very thin steel and carries only two things--the black drain hose inside, and the spare tire.

The bumper is not capable of handling much torque. While it will look ok, when you're going down the road at 40 or 50, with two bikes on it, and hit a nice bump, the slamming torque can bend your bumper.

Most folks who need to carry stuff on the tail just get two crossbars welded or bolted to the TT frame. These bars of angle iron are really strong. Then the new receiver is positioned, and the receiver welded to the cross bars. This site has several sets of great pictures of this mod; just search in the Mods forum for bike racks, etc., on the rear. If I do it (and I probably will for my wife's Bike Across America in April 2011), I'll just move the spare tire left or right to get it out of the way of the bike rack.

Guys tow trailers carrying motorbikes. They put flat carry-alls there; one guy has a four bike carrier, one guy carries a 3500 watt generator there (and those weigh upwards of 150#). All note that with the crossbars of steel, the load is steady as a rock.

IMHO, don't trust your bike to a bumper carrier. It will be really discouraging to have the folks behind you honking their horn to tell you that you've lost the bike rack and your bike(s), and that the bumper is twisted. You don't want people behind you playing dodge-em with your bike(s).


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## Lacy286 (Apr 15, 2010)

hautevue said:


> Matthew; bike racks on the bumper are generally a bad idea. The photo shows the receiver mounted on the bumper. Then your bike rack goes into the receiver. My bike carrier is curved like the letter "L" with the top of the "L" about 36" - 40" above the bumper and aft of the bumper by 6" to 8". Yours will be quite high relative to the bumper.
> 
> The weight of the bike carrier and the bikes will cause lots of torque on the bumper. I have a 2009 with a black, not chromed, bumper. My bumper is very thin steel and carries only two things--the black drain hose inside, and the spare tire.
> 
> ...


X2


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## egregg57 (Feb 13, 2006)

I have a stock bumper that I mounted a bike rack on. The reciever is identical to the one pictured. My bikes go into the camper while traveling. In crowded/busy areas, the bikes go on the rack and they get locked to it.

I have seen one too many (actually only one) bike rack dragging behind an RV. And thankfully it wasn't mine!

I do know that several people have had thier bumpers re-enforced and or hitches installed and they have had success with a loaded bike rack.

Eric


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## CA-NYCamper (Mar 30, 2009)

golfduke said:


> out of curiosity how do u put ur carbon fiber bike in the outback, Do u just lay it down or do something special? I just got into tri's and picked up a carbon fiber bike also


I put mine on the bed with a junk sheet under it. One very loose fabric corded bungee around it just to keep it honest and I'm ready to rock.
[/quote]

Same - it goes on the bed under the covers. I've seen mods where people install a quick release clamp into a block on the floor and that holds their bikes securely.


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## fourwalls (Sep 21, 2007)

We have that very bike rack adapter on our fiver and It is a joke. My DH had to weld alot of extra support to make it work. I followed him down the road the trial trip and was afraid I was going to have the bikes on the hood of my car. I was really disappointed it the unit. My DH is handy and revamped it to make a usable hitch for our bikes out of it. So good luck! I hope you have better luck than we did.


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## Matthew (Oct 22, 2008)

Looks like I'll do the safe thing and add a hitch to the trailer....was just looking for the easy way out, should have known better! Still want the set up so I'll do it the right way. What is sad is the dealer said, "The new bumpers are plenty strong for that, you should have no problem" for some reason I didn't believe him so that is why I asked! Thanks all!


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## Up State NY Camper (Apr 7, 2010)

Matthew said:


> Looks like I'll do the safe thing and add a hitch to the trailer....was just looking for the easy way out, should have known better! Still want the set up so I'll do it the right way. What is sad is the dealer said, "The new bumpers are plenty strong for that, you should have no problem" for some reason I didn't believe him so that is why I asked! Thanks all!


That's called common sense. Good for you. My dealer told me the same thing. He even got on the bumper and started jumping on it. He told me that I could mount the tire on the bottom of the trailer on the bumper to make room for the grill and the bikerack. What a mess that would have been.







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## wolverine (Mar 5, 2009)

I would not put a bumper hitch on the existing 4" tube without reinforcing the way it attaches to the frame. I welded some angle iron to the frame and then used bolts to secure the 4" tube. Mine will never come off the trailer. I use some straps that run from the bike rack to the latches for the rear slide to keep the bike rack from bouncing. I went on a 1,000 mi trip last year with 3 bikes on the rack and the bumper is still straight.

I will agree that a custom made hitch attached to the frame would be the best option, but this was cheap and it works for my use.

Here are some pictures of my modifications to the bumper.

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae115/wolverinefans/2004%20Outback%2021RS/P7260378.jpg

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae115/wolverinefans/2004%20Outback%2021RS/P7260379.jpg

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae115/wolverinefans/2004%20Outback%2021RS/P7260380.jpg

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae115/wolverinefans/2004%20Outback%2021RS/P7260381.jpg


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## forceten (Nov 14, 2008)

I had the dealer weld a hitch to the frame of the outback. Nice and strong and i don't have to worry about the bumper. I carry my scooter using a rail/ramp back there no problems. You could do bikes easy if you go that route.

I had to raise up my scooter rail so it wouldn't bottom out anymore but after that it was cake.


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## Wayne-o (Oct 14, 2009)

I've never tried it. I have seen many who have. I generally don't like driving behind them because the bikes bounce around so much. When I purchased my first Outback (26RS) it really wasn't an option because of the rear slide would require me to take the bikes off before pulling out the slide. The dealer also advised against it. I bought roof racks for my SUV. They never failed. Good luck.


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

Wayne-o said:


> I've never tried it. I have seen many who have. I generally don't like driving behind them because the bikes bounce around so much. When I purchased my first Outback (26RS) it really wasn't an option because of the rear slide would require me to take the bikes off before pulling out the slide. The dealer also advised against it. I bought roof racks for my SUV. They never failed. Good luck.


We have a 250RS with the same - a rear slide.... We have a side cargo door that is big enough to slide bikes into - or - just put in the back of the RAM.


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