RV Bike Racks – What Are Your Options?

Tech Tips, Repairs, & Maintenance

May 17, 2009

It seems this question comes up quite often: How can I safely carry my bikes on my RV? While there are products on the market that claim to make carrying your bikes easy, they are geared more toward cars and trucks rather than an RV. The typical bike carrier uses the vehicle’s receiver hitch as a mounting point. Simply insert the bike carrier’s shank in to the receiver, secure the pin, clamp on the bikes, and go. But if you don’t have a receiver on your RV, you need to either mod your RV to add one, or secure your bikes inside the RV or truck bed. Adding a receiver to your RV is not as simple as it sounds, and if you tow a 5th wheel, it’s not possible to carry your bikes in the truck bed. So here are some options that will help you mod your RV with a receiver hitch to safely and securely carry your bikes using most any bike rack out there.

Option 1: Bolt-on receiver

This perhaps the most misunderstood way of modifying your RV to carry bikes. There are 2 types of bolt on receivers: bumper-mount and frame-mount.

The bumper-mount receiver bolts to your RV’s square tube rear bumper. It uses U-shaped bolts to secure it, much like your spare tire carrier. This sounds simple enough but there are a couple of things to keep in mind when going this route. The typical square tube bumper on a towable RV is not made to carry any substantial weight. The tubing is thin and the welds where the bumper meets the frame are usually not very strong. When adding a bike rack with more than a few bikes, the leverage caused by the bikes hanging out away from the bumper can cause great twisting forces. This can cause the bumper or the welds to crack over time. If you go this route, be sure the bumper welds are good quality and get them reinforced by a welder if necessary. Carry no more than 2 bikes and make sure they are secured in a way that eliminates any bouncing.

The second type of bolt-on receiver is an adjustable width automotive receiver. This type of receiver bolts to the frame of your RV. It’s width is adjustable so it can fit many different frame widths. Since it is secured to the frame rather than the thin tube bumper, it is much stronger. Depending on how your RV’s rear bumper is mounted, the adjustable receiver can either be mounted under or over the bumper. Under the bumper seems more common but keep in mind your ground clearance when going the route. Most hitch manufacturers offer this kind of universal fit receiver so check with the common brands such as Draw-Tite, Curtis, and others.

Option 2: Weld-on receiver

The weld-on receiver is perhaps the best option to go with. It is by far the strongest and allows you to carry more than 2 bikes safely. Since this receiver hitch is permanently welded to your RV, you don’t ever have to worry about it again. A good welder will ask you how much weight you want to carry and then build a hitch setup to suit your needs. He will add reinforcement where necessary, usually to the bumper or frame. Or maybe he will replace your RV’s bumper with a thicker piece of steel tubing. Either way, you will have a very strong and worry-free receiver. Going this route will cost you a bit of money but if you carry your bikes with you a lot, this is the preferred way to go.

Option 3: Tongue-mount

If you have a travel trailer or tent trailer, or any other kind of “bumper pull” RV, then the tongue mount bike rack is worth a look. This type of bike rack does not use a receiver hitch in the traditional way. Instead, it uses a carrier that either bolts or welds to your RV’s tongue frame. This arrangement places the bikes over the top of the propane tanks. You can carry up to 2 bikes this way. There are a couple of things to keep in mind though. If you are concerned with tongue weight, this type of carrier might not work for you. 2 bikes and the carrier weight could add up to 150 pounds, so keep that in mind. Another issue to think about is hefting the bikes up on to the channels that the bike tires rest on. For some, this might not be a problem. But keep in mind the carrier is much higher up than the “traditional” bumper-mount carriers.

Option 4: Ladder-mount

Finally, there is the often overlooked bike carrier that uses your RV’s roof ladder to carry up to 2 bikes. Now many would argue that at first glance, the ladder does not appear to be strong enough to carry a few bikes. In fact, most RV ladders are designed to support up to 250 pounds, and that is on a single step. The key is to ensure that the carrier is fastened correctly to the ladder and the bikes are secured properly to the carrier. As with the bumper-mount carriers, you need to make sure the bikes are not allowed to bounce in any way.

Other options

If none of these mods appeal to you, there are some other options. These include using a front-mount receiver hitch on your tow vehicle, or in the case you have your truck bed free, bed-mounted racks. And yet another option is to build a mount that attaches to the floor of your RV to secure the bikes inside. For more information and some examples of bike carriers on RVs, visit ModMyRV.com. If you have come up with your own solution or have an idea you would like to share, please feel free comment!