Caution! Bell Bike Rack failed!

[caokgafamily]

Coming home from a great weekend we lost all our bikes. I use a 4ea Bell bike rack that slides into our 2" reciever on the back of our 3400 RL. The rack has worked great for the last 6 trips. It failed as soon as we got off the freeway. Thank God it didn't fail on the freeway some body could have been killed. The welds completely failed. I got hold of a Bell rep trying to get reinbursed for my bikes. The first thing she asked was it installed on a camper or a vehicle. She said that on page 6 of the manual there is a warning that say's not to be used on campers! She talked about how campers produce to much sway etc. I guess I feel like a idiot for not reading the manual. I guess you get what you pay for $96 at walmart made in china. I should have done more research. 2 alum adult bikes and 2 kids bikes apx weight 135 lb. If you are using a Bell bike rack Throw it away. Just my opinion. Thank God nobody got hurt.

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

Sorry to hear about your bikes. Thanks for the heads up on the rack. I can't believe Bell thinks the back of an RV has more motion than the back of a truck or large SUV. Maybe you can still get a refund from Walmart???

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

Sorry to hear about your bikes. Thanks for the heads up. I can't believe Bell would think the back of an RV would move or have more motion than the back of a truck or large SUV. Maybe Walmart will refund the purchase price. Better than nothing?

 

[Ken Washington]

Ray,
I have seen bike racks on the back of trailers sway and move up and down and wonder if the person driving knows that this is happening! Sometimes people just don't realize the stress that is put on welds if this is happening.

Ken