storing bikes in 5th wheel - RV-Dreams Community Forum

SkyJean · RV-Dreams Family Member

storing bikes in 5th wheel

Luvglass · RV-Dreams Family Member

We had a bike rack on the back of the trailer that was a take off from a hitch post. There are also racks that fit on the ladder I think. Unless the bikes fold, they will really take up a lot of precious basement space.

The Bear II · RV-Dreams Family Member

If you tow with a long bed truck, there will be room for bikes (laying on their sides) in front of and behind the hitch. Or use a bike rack like Fred suggested.

We try not to carry stuff inside the 5th wheel for a couple of reasons, don't like to have to unload and possible damage to the furniture, carpet or cabinets.

Our basement storage area is plenty big to hold a couple of bikes laying down. Some of the 5th wheels don't have as large of an area as ours or as in our case we end up caaying lots of stuff so there's no room left for bikes. If we had bikes we would use a rack attached to the back of the 5th wheel and several really good cables, chains and locks to try to prevent theft.

TxYellowRose · RV-Dreams Family Member

Hey there,

One of the reasons we chose our Montana was the abundant basement storage and the wide door access to the basement.

When we started out in July, we had all four bikes (three road bikes and a time trial bike) in the basement! They stood up with front wheels off; the wheels were in wheel bags.

In August we added a bike rack to the hitch on the back of the fiver that was already there. Now two of the bikes go on the rack when we're in transit and are stored locked together under the front bedroom overhang.

Works well for us!

Howard · Host

We started out hauling our two fairly large bikes in our "basement" of the fifth wheel. To make them fit properly, I had to remove the front wheels.

Needless to say removing the front wheels and putting them back on again got old. But more than that, transferring them in and out of the basement was really difficult and hard on my back - and I don't have a bad back. smile

As others have said, the bikes may or may not fit depending on RV and the compartment sizes. But even if they fit, they take up valuable cargo space and are very difficult to get in and out.

I would recommend getting a bike rack that fits into a receiver hitch on the back of the fifth wheel. That may require some welding on the frame for hitch installation for some fifth wheels.

There are bike racks that attach to RV ladders, but that wouldn't be my first choice. Some people report damage to the ladders from the weight of the bikes. Some report the bikes hang out to the side too much if the ladder is mounted too close to the edge of the RV. Some report the bikes are just more difficult to load on a ladder mount. Of course, many report they have no problems at all with a ladder mount. :)

There are other alternatives to check out as well. From our experience, I don't think you will be happy in the long run storing bikes in a compartment even if they fit (unless you go with a lightweight foldable model). smile

Froggi · RV-Dreams Family Member

We aren't hard core bicycle riders so we opted for two folding bikes. They fit on the back seat of our MDT (Freightliner) along with our two anti-gravity lounge chairs. We carry the bikes in bags.

janieD · RV-Dreams Family Member

I agree on the bike tack on the back of the fifth wheel. We already had a hitch reciever and bought the Thule bike rack that the bikes "sit "in rather than hang, it is a little easier on the bikes. It is a heavy rack but we think it will hold up well. It is not cheap but neither are our bikes so it has been a good investment. Here is a link to it. You may be able to find it for less somewhere else but this will show you which one we have.

Thule Bike Rack

pitbull · RV-Dreams Family Member

I saw a neat install on a fiver for 2 bikes. they welded a bracket to the front of the 5th hitch and installed a rack on that. The bikes were now sitting in front of the 5th wheel and to load you just stood in the box of the truck and set them on the rack.

They did this because they had 2 dogs and had a fence assembly attached to their rear receiver.

It was quite clever

Pitbull

TxYellowRose · RV-Dreams Family Member

The Thule Bike Rack mentioned by Janie above is what we have also.

Delaine and Lindy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Since we have a Mobile Suites and have huge basement storage we remove front tires and roll bikes inside and the forks are secured with fork locks. We didn't like the bikes being in the weather. Would never hang a bike on the rear ladder, as a matter of fact we hang nothing on the ladder. We also have a 2" receiver on the rear but use it to tow the HHR. We also have a Freightliner M2 but thats were the furr kid rides. If your towing with a Pick-up Truck I would have a 2" receiver on the front and get a Thule bike rack to carry the bikes. We have a Thule bike rack, however we never used it, I think its still in the out building?? Good Luck with your choice.

Paul and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

We need to get two bikes!

That's all I'm going to say about that!

Paul

Paul and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Paul and Jo wrote:
We need to get two bikes!

That's all I'm going to say about that!

Paul

OK, we got the bikes, and loving them.

Since we are parked here in CA until May, we currently transport the bikes in the back of our truck. They both stand upright, securely, due to the folding hard cover we have on our bed.

However, we now need to look at options for travelling down the road in our Montana. Reading other posts, we don't want to use a ladder rack, nor do we want to mess with our new rig by welding "extras" to the frame. But, we're a little concerned that the 1 and quarter inch connector on the back of the rig will be sturdy enough to hold two bikes without swivelling or bouncing. We've also seen mention of adding a 2 inch adapter that fits in the smaller connector.

So, two questions: Has anyone used the "small to large" adapter and is it really neccessary? Also, what would be a good 2-bike rack for the 1 and a quarter inch connector? Seems like the Thule model has received mixed reviews in terms of weight, clunkiness, and price.

Paul

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Paul,

Even the small receivers are designed to handle enough weight to be usable for a bike rack. From another website, with dialogue about trailering:

"Class I and Class II trailer hitches typically have the 1-1/4" x 1-1/4" receiver opening size. Class I trailer hitches are rated for 2,000 lbs. with a 200 lb. tongue weight capacity while Class II hitches are rated for 3,500 lbs. with 300 or 350 lbs. of tongue weight capability. These two hitch sizes are found most often on cars and smaller SUVs."

Even the Class I receiver is rated at 200 pounds of tongue weight. I doubt your two bikes are more than that, even with a rack added. If you are concerned about bounce or wobble, see if there is some way to attach a strap, or even a good, heavy bungee cord to run to the sides to help stableize your rack.

I don't know what fifth wheel you have or whether it has a separate bumper, but if you have a bumper, a couple of straps or cords ran to each end of the bumper might give you the stability you want.

Hope this helps you.

Terry

Edit: I've added a link to etrailer.com which has a whole bevy of different bike racks. Might be at least a place to get an education on the things. I'm like some of the others. As much as we've paid for our bikes, I think I want a rack that the wheels rest in instead of attaching to the cross bars.

http://www.etrailer.com/Bike-Rack.aspx

-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Wednesday 9th of February 2011 03:19:14 PM

sirwinston21 · RV-Dreams Family Member

I had a receiver welded on the the pin box on the 5er and attach my bike rack to it. I carry to bikes and with a long bed p/u I can do a full 90 degrees and the bikes do not come close to hitting the cab of the truck. This is the 2nd fifth wheel I have done this too. The first was time I welded on the pin box and when I traded it in on the new coach I had to do it all over again. This time I had the receiver tube welded to a steel plate and I bolted the plate to the pin box.

Born2bfree · RV-Dreams Community Member

Jesse, I would like to see pics of that set up. I was wondering how to transpot the bikes and that sounds like a good idea.

Walt

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Walt,

It sometimes depends on one's pin box. Our Mobile Suites has the Trail-Aire pin box with Tri-Glide plates. Because of the need to air up the bladder, I'm not sure we could mount one on our pin box. But, I did use an internet search engine (starts with "G") and came up with some links. Check these out:

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/22492520/gotomsg/22492914.cfm

http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/551110154GzilMe

(That one is definitely home made, as may many of the these.)

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f44/bike-hitch-rack-on-5th-wheel-ext-pin-hitch-8113.html

(I'll have to check that last one. It is installed on a Trail-Aire pin box.)

http://forums.woodalls.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/24029524/gotomsg/24033403.cfm

This is a manufacturer who makes them for different applications.

http://www.arvika.ca/

This link is Arvika's fifth wheel unit:

http://www.arvika.ca/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage_images.tpl&product_id=27&category_id=12&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=4&lang=en

That may get you started.

Terry

Born2bfree · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thanks Terry, that will help me out. I can add that to the list of things I need to research.

Walt