Bumper bolt on Hitch

[rwoverman]

Has anyone bolted on a trailer hitch on your bumper. I want to do this so I can carry either my bike rack (up to 5 bikes) so I can carry my wife's and mine bike or a luggage carrier so I can carry my Blue tote or a little fire wood or my 3.5K Generator. About 100 to 150 lbs max for any application. If so....any issues?

Bob

 

[LCBoyer]

I don't have a bike rack, but I carry my porch on my back bumper

 

[rwoverman]

Looking forward to the replies. On my last trailer, I did the same thing and it messed the frame up and I had to talk Lippert into fixing the frame. If you can't hang a few things on the bumper like bikes and stuff, what the heck good is it. They came out and fixed it.

 

[Namlehse]

I think I read somewhere 100 lbs max on the bumper. Two bikes max. Might be worth a call to GD to see what they say.

If you need more, it would probably be worthwhile to pay a welding shop to attach a hitch to the frame. The bumper on the front of my truck has a 2" receiver, so I carry most everything I need off of it.

 

[rwoverman]

I have the same set up. I've already talked to a shop about welding a new bumper to replace what we have. They want $850, but believe me, the bumper would be stout!

 

[rwoverman]

If I remember correctly, I was told by a sales manager that the bumper was rated for 300 lbs. Heck, if it were rated for only a 100 lbs, I would not be able to stand on it getting to the ladder to go up on the roof. I'm around 250 lbs. I guess I will give people a call so I can find out.

 

[Paul & Deb]

I didn't realize GD was still putting bumpers on any of their trailers so that's a surprize. Anyway, on my last trailer I ignored the bumper and had a shop weld an actual receiver to the frame. They ran the receiver through the bumper for appearance and to keep it from being too low. It came out great and worked very well. I could hold more than 300 lbs if I wanted to but I used it for a bike rack.

Not to complicate my answer but I actually had them weld three (3) receivers on because I used the other 2 to carry small racks they also built for me to carry my Honda generators and a fuel can.

I would so much rather have this kind of job done than either attaching one to the bumper or even redoing a beefier bumper but that's my personal preference. BTW, this cost close to $900.

 

[Namlehse]

If I remember correctly, I was told by a sales manager that the bumper was rated for 300 lbs. Heck, if it were rated for only a 100 lbs, I would not be able to stand on it getting to the ladder to go up on the roof. I'm around 250 lbs. I guess I will give people a call so I can find out.

I'm 280, it crossed my mind a few times installing my camera. My Ladder's on the side, so I have to use a stool to get to it.

Like Poppy, I was under the impression GD dropped the bumpers all together on the later years. That may have just been on the Reflection, it also could have caused a bit of an uproar that made them reconsider.

I thought I would also add, that 100 lb limit is a "Working Load". Think of it like ratchet straps. You have a breaking limit, and a working limit. Working limit is generally 1/4 breaking limit. That's the maximum weight of a "Jerk" while bouncing or during a wreck to keep things attached. The straps I use to haul vehicles are rated for 10,000 each, however working load tends to be more in the 2,500-3,000 range as an example.

 

[The coach]

It is rated for 300 pounds. It has a sticker on the hitch and i talked to JD at Grand Design. we put a rack on the back and carried our 3100 generator to Talladega and back, and took a full a Yeti cooler and two blowup kayaks to Ft Walton and back. The rack weighs about 47 pounds and I try to stay around 200 - 225 pounds total to be safe. the rack has been a top notch investment so far.

 

[cleazenby]

The Lippert frame # on the Solitude is 3810001. 74 1/4" receiver. I think its Lippert part number 343452. It has a 150lb weight limit.

 

[The coach]

Mine is on a 29rs reflection


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[huntr70]

To the OP, you already experienced a bumper failure on a previous rig and "talked" your way into getting it fixed.


Why would you do it on another one? It is just asking for trouble to clamp those hitches to the mild steel bumpers.

Put a few bucks into a real receiver hitch that is mounted to the frame.

 

[rwoverman]

It wasn't a bumper failure on the 5th wheel, it was the frame coming out of camber. Lippert wanted to not fix it due to me using a bolted on hitch to the bumper. logic of putting bikes on the bumper should not have bent the frame of the trailer. The bumper should have failed first. So they fixed the frame. No issues ever since, thus I think the frame was bad from the get go.