Bike Rack Warning

[GeneF]

If you put the ring forward and rest the bar of your bike against it to secure it, DON"T. I did it and travelling the many miles on this trip, the ring started to wear a hole in the frame of the bike. I tried putting a towel around the bar but the ring just wore through that. Finally occurred to me to face the ring away from the trailer. Another good thing from Heartland, no instructions or warnings on how to set the rack up properly. My bike rested against the ring because of the way it sits in the rack. I couldn't set the bike away from it. Never thought it would wear the frame.

 

[boatto5er]

I didn't know any Heartlands came with a bike rack. Was this something added by the dealer?


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[JohnD]

I didn't know any Heartlands came with a bike rack. Was this something added by the dealer?

Heartland does offer the slide-out rear bumper bike rack . . . we have one on our 2013 Trail Runner.

Here are a couple of shots of ours:



I want to drill some holes in the frame so that I can lock it in about halfway out as it doesn't need to be slid out all the way to hold our two mountain bikes.

 

[danemayer]

If you put the ring forward and rest the bar of your bike against it to secure it, DON"T. I did it and travelling the many miles on this trip, the ring started to wear a hole in the frame of the bike. I tried putting a towel around the bar but the ring just wore through that. Finally occurred to me to face the ring away from the trailer. Another good thing from Heartland, no instructions or warnings on how to set the rack up properly. My bike rested against the ring because of the way it sits in the rack. I couldn't set the bike away from it. Never thought it would wear the frame.

Hi GeneF,

It would probably help other owners a lot more if you could take a picture of the ring you're talking about, showing contact with the bike. A 2nd picture with your solution would also be helpful.

 

[JohnD]

In my photos above (I'll put them here again) you can see the post sticking up directly behind the spare tire that the bikes are leaning on.

There is an 'eye' bolt a few inches from the top that I guess is for padlocking the bikes to it.

I generally point the 'eye' bolt facing away from the back of the trailer when in use and use the 'eye' bolt for hooking bungee cords to hold the bikes in place.

I really have been considering removing they 'eye' bolt as it really doesn't have much use at all.

 

[pegmikef]

I didn't know any Heartlands came with a bike rack. Was this something added by the dealer?


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It is standard on several models of the TTs. My North Trail had one and I was one of the deciding factors when I bought it. I see in John's pictures that the spare is mounted on it. The weight limit was already only 200 pounds and the tire probably uses a quarter of that. Mine was under the tongue right under the batteries and worked fine. I used my rack to carry two Honda 2k generators and a utility box when we boondocked and just a utility box if not booddocking.

 

[Jamietfelts]

If you put the ring forward and rest the bar of your bike against it to secure it, DON"T. I did it and travelling the many miles on this trip, the ring started to wear a hole in the frame of the bike. I tried putting a towel around the bar but the ring just wore through that. Finally occurred to me to face the ring away from the trailer. Another good thing from Heartland, no instructions or warnings on how to set the rack up properly. My bike rested against the ring because of the way it sits in the rack. I couldn't set the bike away from it. Never thought it would wear the frame.

Thanks Gene! My husband and I have a 2015 NT 32BUDS and this is our first trailer with the pull out bumper We are using it for the first time this weekend and will be putting four bikes back there. We too immediately saw the issue with the eye bolt. I will suggest just turning the bar around to him. Another question, is it seriously just a straight bar for the bike rack or are we missing something or some piece? If it is just a straight bar, do you just cinch the fire out of them to get them to be still and not bang around?

 

[JohnD]

Thanks Gene! My husband and I have a 2015 NT 32BUDS and this is our first trailer with the pull out bumper We are using it for the first time this weekend and will be putting four bikes back there. We too immediately saw the issue with the eye bolt. I will suggest just turning the bar around to him. Another question, is it seriously just a straight bar for the bike rack or are we missing something or some piece? If it is just a straight bar, do you just cinch the fire out of them to get them to be still and not bang around?

Yes . . . face the eye bolt away from the back of the trailer . . .

As far as I'm concerned, that bar is just something to hold the bikes upright!

I'm not sure how the slideout bumper/bike rack will hold four bikes, but keep in mind that it is only rated to hold around 200 pounds!

I use a bunch of bungee straps to hold the bikes in place . . . most of them are strapped to the bottom of the slideout bike rack!

Plus, I also have a MasterLock cable lock that I run through the spare tire rack that is also mounted to the slideout bumper rack (don't forget to calculate the spare tire in the weight rating of your rear bumper).

To be honest . . . it is such a PITA (pain in the rear end) to put the bikes on this rear bumper bike rack that we almost always leave our bikes at home these days!

It seems that whenever we do carry the bikes on that rear bumper that we tend to not use them as it is such a pain in the rear to restrap them back down that we feel it is not worth the effort to even take them off of the bumper in the first place!

It is much easier to toss the bikes in the back of the truck!

I now have a large Rubbermaid Tote that we keep our firewood in that I put on that slideout bumper when we travel.