Receiver on Rear Bumper ?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Jey

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 16, 2019
Posts
146
https://www.etrailer.com/RV-and-Camper-Hitch/Ultra-Fab-Products/UF35-946402.html


I?m a little confused. I thought the rear bumper of my Coachmen Clipper TT was strictly for holding the stinky hose and the spare tire? And that using a receiver on it was a no no?

I?m trying to find a way to attach my bike rack on the trailer. I looked into a TT receiver but I?m thinking my leveling jacks are going to be in the way where I would need to mount the receiver. I don?t a receiver in my possession to even measure it out but I don?t see how I would make it work.


I?m just confused as to how the reviews on this product include them using heavy cargo carriers and even hauling a boat with this bolt on receiver.  I do know pulling a trailer weight is different than dead weight.  My bike rack is around 40lbs and we have two heavy beach cruisers (45-50lbs each)

So it?s about a 150lb set up that I don?t want to lose on the highway and possibly hurt someone.

I don?t weld so I?m not sure what my options are?

Does anyone use a receiver that hooks onto their rear TT bumper?
 
I think the first question would be will your trailer bumper support that receiver?

I would suggest you contact the manufacture of the trailer and find out before mounting it to you bumper.

That said I hope I'm way off and your fine because I would like to do the same thing on my trailer.
 
I bought one exactly like that, and I have a bumper hitch bike rack.  I have not used it yet, but I am not worried.  (ok I am a little worried).  I have inspected my bumper and feel it is pretty secure.  I actually plan to mount an eyelet on the back of the camper, drill all the the way through, decent plate on the inside, so I can MacGyver a rope to the eyelet and bikes to lessen the bounciness of the bikes.  As you say though, I have once seen a car / trailer, pulled over by a popo, and their whole mess was dragging behind, but  it seemed they had one of those cargo containers on the back, cooler, bikes, probably a few hundred pounds. 
 
Some bumpers are stronger than others, so hard to say.  [Back in the day] My old '88 Wilderness Yukon 5E had its stabilizer screw-jacks mounted on the bumper, and the bumper brackets groaned badly if I had to crank the the jacks down very much.  The trailer frame was sturdy, though, so I had a welder install stiffer brackets and it was much better. Not up to towing 3500 lbs, of course, but nice and solid.  A bike rack or cargo box would have been OK, I think.

I doubt if anything useful would come of inquiring at Dutchmen. The lawyers are going to answer rather than the engineers. "It wasn't designed for that and we don't recommend that", or words to that effect.
 
As others have said, it all depends.  Some bumpers are substantial and welded to the frame.  Others look pretty.

Your best bet is to visit a welding shop for advise.  They can strengthen the bumper to hold the weight or install a hitch which is welded to the frame and can handle the load.  They can advise which is the better solution.
 
Thanks everyone!

After doing more research I came across these

Mount-n-Lock SafetyStruts Prevent RV Bumper Failure TM (SSN-Standard, Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071JM3GJD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_zDjOCb1K0PHJF

I think ?extra 400lb capacity? may be a stretch and I wouldn?t personally test it  but I think it would be a good peace  of mind with my 150lb bike setup.

I?ll contact a welder and see what they could come up with, If it isn?t much more than these brackets I might as well have it welded. But the brackets are a good option
 
Generally the rear bumper on a TT or 5er is ... Not worth much strength wise.

But there are execptions..  Yours I do not know so I can not tell.

One way to mount bicycles on the rear of a Trailer is to use a multi-point support. On one trailer I had I actually drilled through the body (it was a single layer not two walls with insulation) and put a backing plate inside the Trailer with a through bolt into the bicycle carrier.. Worked well.
 
A good welder has probably done the correct mod a number of times. On our TT we had a receiver hitch attached to the frame for our bikes. The guy did a good job, and nothing wiggled or rattled. Get it done right and don?t take a chance.
 
Back
Top Bottom