wolfcat1
near Beaumont, Texas
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Thinking about welding a receiver hitch to my Baysides back bumper to accomodate a two bike carrier. Would this weight on the back of my pup affect towing/sway etc ? Thanks for your help, wolfie
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old guy
Oregon (pronounced Or e gun)
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Joined: 03/15/2006
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yes it will and more than likely the bumper will fall off down the road. back bumpers are not the strong point on any TT or PU
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DutchmenSport
Between Anderson, Pendleton, & Lapel, Indiana
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I had a receiver hitch welded to my bumper and on under the frame of our pup. We carried 4 bicycles. No problem with the weld, the receiver hitch, or the bumper carrying that much weight. However, I did have A LOT of sway. I could only drive about 45 mph before the trailer started fishtailing to bad I thought it was going to flip over. I ended up getting a car carrier and put it on the front of the pup, on the roof and loaded everything heavy I could put in there. That stopped the uncontrollable fishtailing. After a while, we just quit taking the bicycles. It wasn't worth it. But the weld and bumper receiver hitch worked wonderful and not a hint o problem there. I had a good welder to it!
DutchmenSport
2005 Chevy Silverado 3500 Dually Duramax 6.6L V8 Turbo
Century Truck Cap Commercial /Toolboxes
Northeast Outfitters Canoe
2006 Keystone Springdale Model 263DBL
Weight 4985, Carrying Capacity 2575, Hitch 560, Length 30'
Width 8', Height 10' 6"
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skipnchar
Topeka Kansas USA
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Weld it to the frame instead. It'll make the guy following you much happier 
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OR 2004 F-150 HD (85,000 towing miles)
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Gunship Guy
Florida
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Depending on the tongue weight of your trailer, this might work for you and you can avoid welding to the rear of your camper. You can find this one online at Northern Tool.
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Caddywhompus
Southeast WI
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I welded a 2" receiver to the back of our old Bethany for exactly this purpose. Few of the newer units would have a strong enough frame or bumper material for this to work, but the old tank is made from serious steel.
Anyway, the receiver is definitely strong enough to handle the weight of 4 bikes and the carrier. I've also use it in conjunction with a hitch-haul platform to haul firewood and coolers as well. Strength is not the problem, balance is.
With 2 bikes on back, everything works pretty well. Certainly some tongue weight is coming off the ball, but not enough to cause problems. But put 4 bikes back there and the story changes quickly! The tongue weight goes way down, and the trailer that normally follows extremely well starts wandering all over the road. It's just too much weight behind the axle.
So I Haul the kids bikes sometimes back there, but never more than that. I wouldn't recommend people with newer trailers attempt this at all unless someone who knows what they are doing can reinforce the frame well-enough to support a hitch. Most of the newer units are designed to be LIGHT, rather than strong!
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TheGrinch
Western MD
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I had a 2" receiver welded on the back bumper of a Sante Fe I used to have. Had the guy weld some reinforcement across the frame for it and it worked great for my hitch-haul. But, like some of the others, I found I also inherited a sway when I loaded the hitch-haul with a couple of coolers. I readjusted my weight on the tongue and it performed beautifully. You just need to remember to have that tongue weight.
Now, having said that, I have also read in other forums about the bouncing bikes do when in certain bike carriers. I used the hitch-haul with the triple bike rack and found that to be more secure and less "bouncy" than a regular bike carrier. $30 from Masterbuilt. If/when I take bikes, I still use the triple bike rack - overwise, I take it off and use the hitch-haul for coolers, firewood or other items. I still like the versatility of using the hitch-haul and have had a receiver welded on my HTT - complete with reinforcement.
Bikes beside the HTT still on hitch-haul
Hitch-haul without the bikes
Receiver with reinforcement
Larry
* This post was
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edited 09/24/09 11:55am by TheGrinch *
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TheGrinch
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Beacher
Long Beach, CA
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Frame yes. Bumper no.
The bumper on all late model Fleetwood/Coleman PopUps is just for decoration. It has no real structural integrity. Even the bunk support bolts that appear to come out of the bumper are actually secured to the frame. Only the tubular steel frame underneath the PopUp can support weight.
You might get some reponses regarding sway and tongue weight issues. However, your Bayside with the big front storage box that you keep filled with stuff,(you do have a bunch of heavy stuff in there, right), is more than adequate for overcoming the balance offset caused by a rack and bicycles.
Topline manufactures a bike rack for the rear of a PopUp. It's designed to be BOLTED to the frame underneath the rear of the trailer. Even Fleetwood sold an OEM "rear bumper", (actually bolted to the frame), bike rack in 2004 for use on the heavy Highlander series that didn't have the Yakima roof rails. Peek at the very back cover of the 2004 brochure.
* This post was
edited 09/24/09 12:21pm by Beacher *
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mike4947
N. Syracuse, NY
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Not true Coleman, in it's infinite wisdom, only sets the tongue weight on the 2600+ dry weight trailer at 160 pounds. It's hard enough at the maximum trunk weight of 155 pounds, a battery, and twin propane cylinders to get the trailer up to 10% tongue weight. That's why you'll fine predrilled holes for friction sway control. A good dealer will sell you one when you buy the trailer so it won't sway on the way home. Add bikes off the back end and you'll even overload a sway control.
And the Highlander "bumper mount" was simply screwed into the flooring wood and was only supposed to be installed on the Saratoga which had extremely high tonue weight. Note that it was discontinued within a year due to warranty complaints.
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jlwardn
West Michigan
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I had my bumper welded on since it was only held on with rivets from the factory. I then added a hitch receiver to the bumper for my biker rack or a hitch cargo carrier. Both seem to hold up perfect.
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