Bike racks

rbell

Member
I've been told that bolting a receiver type hitch for a bicycle rack voids the frame warranty on some trailers. Is this the case with yours and what would be a acceptable way to carry bicycles?
 

Two Hands

Well-known member
I just got a ladder mount bike rack from Camping World but won't be trying it out until Thanksgiving. Wife and I are both a little worried about it thinking a handlebar might bump and break that great big picture window. Do a search on here like I did and you will find different ideas and comments on how to carry bikes without the hitch receiver. I'll let you know how ours worked after the trip.
 

jpmorgan37

Well-known member
Many folks have added a receiver type hitch to their coach. You can search the threads here to see some of the results, as well as answers from the factory. It will not void your warranty if properly done. Check post #6 in this thread. //heartlandowners.org/showthread.php?t=710

John
 

dbarnard

Active Member
We have a ladder mount and carried 2 bikes on our last trip, (1000 miles) with no problems. I did have to strap the front tires of the bikes to the ladder to keep the handle bars from bumping the lower part of the 3055.
 

Two Hands

Well-known member
Ladder Bike Rack Update

I connected the ladder mounted bike rack today in preparation for a trip to Sacramento tomorrow. The handle bar on the inside bike was right against the rear cap on my Big Horn. I flipped it over, but that made it worse with the pedal against the cap. I strapped the bike every way I could think of, but could not keep it from touching the cap. I finally gave up and pulled the rack off. Parts of the I-5 are very rough. I'm afraid those bikes would be bouncing around enough to put a hole in the end cap. I sure wanted to take those bikes, Sacramento has some great paved bike paths. I don't know what I will do now.
 

medic9016

Active Member
I don't think any of the North Trails have a ladder. The two options for a bike rack is the A frame over the battery box or adding a receiver to the rear. With the setup of the rear roll pan type bumper, I think we are going to put a bike rack over the front A frame. The last time I was under ours, I think I seen the rear bumper is rolled under a few inches, so you would have to use some type of spacer to drop the receiver to clear the bumper.
 

Tom of Ypsi

Well-known member
We used to have the ladder rack and the way we solved the handle bars hitting the rear was to run a bungee cord through the rear tire to the ladder making sure to pull it tight. This will bring the handles away from the rear of the coach with no problems ever. We did this until last year then we bought the folding bikes and carry them in our basement with no problems.
 

theharveys

Active Member
We also bought folding bikes which we keep in the storage bay. But we used to pack full size bikes in the pickup bed when we pulled a travel trailer and I have always found it helpful to loosen the stem bolt and turn the handle bars to the same plane as the front tire, (90 degrees), then retighten the stem bolt just enough to hold the bar in place. Once the bikes come off the rack at your destination, it is an easy thing to move the handle bars back into position and retighten the stem bolt.
 

dmille3

Member
I use the ladder with a bike rack from camping world and it worked great. I used additional straps with some foam to keep the bikes from rubbing against each other or the fifth wheel
 
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