Re: About to purchase a 2013 North Trail 24RBS . . .
Enjoy your new RV!
We have a 2013 Trail Runner (sister to the North Trail line) with the rear pull-out bumper.
The bumper is great . . . but is not without issues.
First off . . . I believe that it can only hold up to 250 pounds (and don't forget to include the weight of the spare tire, which is mounted to the rear bumper)!
The day we picked up our trailer at the dealership there was a Heartland 5th-wheeler parked next to it with that rear bumper laying on the ground under the back end . . .
The guy that was doing our PDI told us that the owners of that trailer had too much weight on it and it broke off while they were on the highway!
Apparently they also lost their generator as that was what they had on it . . .
On our first outing with our new trailer, the weight of our two mountain bikes not only deformed the plastic tray (due to the heat of the hot sun), but also popped loose the only four screws that holds that tray down.
The tray reformed itself after taking the bikes off and leaving the tray in the hot sun, but I advise you to remove the mounting screws from the bumper and not only replace them with better screws, but drill more holes and really anchor that tray down good to the bumper!
I used those self-tapping screws with the built-on rubber washers instead of the drywall-like screws that came from the factory.
Also, drill a few small holes in key places to allow for drainage as that tray fills up with water easily.
I also now store the bike post in the cubby hole as it was starting to rust when I left it where it is supposed to be stored under the spare tire, which is also mounted to the rear bumper.
One thing I wish would have been done at the factory was to have drilled another set of holes in the slide-out braces of the rear bumper so that it could be used at a half-way out position as well as all the way out as once the two bikes are placed and locked down, it could easily be slid halfway back so that the bumper doesn't stick out so far while traveling.
Buy a bunch of 18-inch bungie cords (not the black rubber ones) and use those to strap down the bikes in as many places as it takes to make you feel safe (I use about 12 of them to hold both bikes - I bungie the tires down and also the center/seat posts to the upright), and then I bought a very tough cable lock to make sure that nobody can steal them easily by wrapping it around both bikes, and then through the spare tire mount.
By the by . . . I also bought a three pack of cable locks to lock down both batteries and the gas tanks!
One last thing about carrying bikes on that rear bumper rack . . . try to avoid dirt roads with bikes back there as they will get extremely dirty!
I have some pictures of the screws . . . I'll find them and post them later!
GO BRONCOS!
