Carrying bikes on xls 22mle

[Ynot4me2]

We've had a receiver hitch on our last 3 trailers. This is the second one I had to have welded on. Our 337 came from the factory with one. And we do carry 2 60# ebikes. They've ridden very well all around the country.

One thing I do for added safety, mostly for those behind us, is I run a steel cable through the bike frames and then under the rear to the welded cross member. The reality is that anything can fail so in case ours does, the bikes would drag and not cause a road hazard. We can also see them with our rear view camera while driving.

Our bikes are also tied back to the frame. Anything can happen. Plus they are visible in the RV camera.

[BigFish]

Than you everyone for your help. I think we are going to go with having a receiver welded on. We will also run a cable in case of failure.

[wudwork]

I chose to put heavy eBikes on front of truck. The receiver I installed is rated at 1k tongue. I still have thoughts about hooking trailer to FRONT hitch when trying to get into a real tight spot.

[DragonDriver]

One last tip: if you go with plugging a bike carrier into a receiver sticking out the back of the trailer, choose a trailer that allows you to sit the wheels into slots rather than the type where you just hang the bikes on a frame and let the wheels dangle. For one thing this type of carrier makes it easier to secure the bikes with cables and locks. Just as importantly, with all the vibrating and jarring you're hoping the front wheel won't come off while you're on the road. Within the past year I've seen TWO RVers get to camp (or home) and look real befuddled when they go to unpack their bikes.

[IBEW Sparky]

I chose to put heavy eBikes on front of truck. The receiver I installed is rated at 1k tongue. I still have thoughts about hooking trailer to FRONT hitch when trying to get into a real tight spot.

We also have a receiver on the front of our truck... It doesn't get used much anymore except for moving my daughter's TT around in my parking area for winter storage.

[Keebler]

Curious as to what rack folks are using that are RV rated for 60 pound bikes. I was looking at the Thule Easy Fold XT, that is rated for 65 pound bikes, however, the manual specifically states that it is not rated for an RV.

[FlyStar]

Suggest the Swagman eSpec. Rated for heavy eBikes even on rear of Trailer. I use on for my two 69 pound bikes on the back of my 312 bhts TT. Works great. Rock solid. Have to turn the handlebars on one of the bikes to clear the back of the trailer. I added lights to the Swagman cuz when the bikes are covered they mostly obscure the trailer taillights.

[Keebler]

Suggest the Swagman eSpec. Rated for heavy eBikes even on rear of Trailer. I use on for my two 69 pound bikes on the back of my 312 bhts TT. Works great. Rock solid. Have to turn the handlebars on one of the bikes to clear the back of the trailer. I added lights to the Swagman cuz when the bikes are covered they mostly obscure the trailer taillights.

Just looked that one up; they say it's rated for two 70 pound (each) bikes on an RV; that is excellent!

[wudwork]

I put the "Kuat NV Base 2.0 Hitch Bike Rack" rack on front of my truck. One byproduct of this rack location is I get to witness every single jolt that rack will ever see. I have (2) eBikes loaded, around 52lbs each and first time I hit a speedbump (maybe 10 mph) that rack jumped up and down and I thought for sure it had to be bent. Nope, it held up very well and has remained very solid for around 1k miles so far.

One very important thing to consider, if you get a rack with arms that hold down the front tire. With eBikes, we commonly have fenders. The racks arm is supposed to compress between tire and front post (frame part where handle bars attach). This position is critical as the arm is now past the apex of the tire. For that arm to come loose, it would have to go over the apex; which is not likely. Now along comes our fenders; they prevent that arm from going past the apex. Now as you bounce along road, the tire will jump up/down a smidge. Each time it will allow the arm to very slowly creep down and no longer hold the front of bike in position. Thats a bad thing, real bad. I "fixed" this by putting a velcro strap so the front tire is strapped down to the rack. There is no creep now, at all. I also put a ratchet strap from frontmost part of rack, over the bikes and down to the tow hook on my truck. Once I tighten that up, the bikes are VERY solid in position. HERE is the velcro strap I used; I like the color as its very easy to know its there or was forgotten.

Curious as to what rack folks are using that are RV rated for 60 pound bikes. I was looking at the Thule Easy Fold XT, that is rated for 65 pound bikes, however, the manual specifically states that it is not rated for an RV.

[M&Lcamping]

We chose to have a receiver welded to the frame by a certified welder. We also relocated the spare using an under-belly mount.

Nicely done, we had the same thing done on our TT