ATF: Gateway - Rear Bumper Bike Rack Options

kernst

Member
Will the rear bumper of a 2014 Gateway 3650BH support a bolt-on (u-bracket) hitch receiver and a receiver mounted bike rack? Keeping in mind there is a spare tire bolted onto the rear bumper as well. My concerns is the weight of both the spare tire and the bike rack mounted onto the rear bumper, is that too much weight/torque for the bumper itself?

I tried a spare tire mounted bike rack, and after only about 30 miles with 2 bikes attached the spare tire rack/mount started to bend down towards the rear due to the weight of the tire and bikes combined. Too much torque on the tire mount I assume. The rear bumper is fine, it was the spare tire rack/mount that began to fail. So that's not an option.

Thank you.
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
Last week on the way up north I saw two mangled up bikes in the ditch........still attached to a bumper.
Just sayin.

Peace
Dave

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kernst

Member
Just an update in case anyone runs across this thread in the future...
A Heartland rep contacted me directly last week. He contacted a rep from Lippert who advised against adding a bumper mounted bike rack to the rear bumper of the 3650BH. The Lippert rep also mention that since this was considered a "modification" (the bumper was not designed for this), that any bumper/frame issues that arose from it could potentially void any related warranty claims.

While not the answer I wanted, I was impressed that the Heartland rep took the time to contact Lippert to get the answer. One more plus for Heartland customer support.
 

jimpav

Well-known member
We just took delivery at the Bethpage rally of a new Gateway 3200, and comming from an Eagl Ridge with a rear room, we ended up putting the two bikes on the king size bed, over a sheet of plastic. It doesn't sound like a bumper rack is recommended. Does anyone else have any ideas for two bikes???
 

boatto5er

Founding VA Chap Ldr (Ret)
When we left BethPage today, I took the front wheels and pedals off ours, then put one in the bed of the truck and the other in the cargo bay.


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JohnD

Moved on to the next thing...
We have the slide-out bike rack bumper on our 2013 Heartland Trail Runner.

The day we picked it up from the dealer there was another Heartland (5th-wheel) parked next to ours with the rear bike-rack bumper like ours . . . only the bumper was laying on the ground behind the trailer.

I asked the guy that was doing our PDI what was up with that trailer and he told me that the owner was driving down the road and had his generator on it.

According to him . . . those rear bumper racks are only able to hold no more than 250 pounds!

I'm not sure how much a spare tire weighs . . . but I bet they are at least 50 pounds of that 250 pound limit!

SDCampsiteSmall-IMG_0548.jpg CamperSlideOutJacks-IMG_0510.jpg
 

jimpav

Well-known member
Just curious if anyone has added/welded a hitch to their frame. It seems like there's a variety of bike racks available for this configuration. Someone mentioned there are plans for a welded hitch on the forum someplace.
 

JohnD

Moved on to the next thing...
I'm thinking about having some holes drilled into that rear-bumper bike rack so that I can pull it out about halfway and lock it in place.

I think that it would be stronger not sticking out so far, not to mention that I don't need to slide it out all the way to fit two bikes on it.

I wish that Heartland would send them out of the factory this way (wink, wink, hint, hint ;) ).
 

swiftk77

Member
I was going to have a pinbox 2 inch receiver welded for me, but then I realized that I can fit 4 bikes in the bed of the long bed truck. As long as I alternate the direction of the bikes and align the handle bars and petals there is no issues with tight turns. I also use a long ratchet strap to tighten them down.

Ken


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