Towbar mounted bike racks on trailer

[MudLark]

Doesn't work well for some bikes with steep top tubes and small internal triangle clearances though - eg Trek Superfly, Top Fuel models.

[DJR]

Doesn't work well for some bikes with steep top tubes and small internal triangle clearances though - eg Trek Superfly, Top Fuel models.

You always end up with one wheel too high and the other too low. 

[FirstV8]

Don't do it , the whiplash is to much and you end up losing the bikes and breaking a trailer .  

[Fleming]

A few months ago I was traveling on the N2 between Plett and Storms River and this guy passed me with a thule platform rack on the back of his camping trailer with 2 very expensive looking Specializeds on.

 

I remember thinking that doesn't look good. The bikes looked like they were being thrown around quite a bit.

 

About 20 minutes later I caught up with the guy on a uphill and the and the upper clamp on the back bike had failed with the bike basically only being held on by the wheel straps. It was horizontal with the bars only a few centimeters from the ground. The driver was oblivious to what was happening.  

 

I quickly passed him and indicated that there was a problem. He did stop but I am not sure what the damage was.

 

This was on smooth tar roads. I would think very carefully before trying this.

[The Ouzo]

you should never underestimate the forces on the rack, and they get amplified the further away from teh car you get.

 

Many years ago I built a bike rack. It was a 2 bike rack with an extension that could slide in for an extra 2 bikes.

 

The very first time I used it with 4 bikes on we nearly lost the bikes. The up and down forces exerted when navigating the old Brits road bent the bike rack, when I looked in the rear view mirror I noticed that the end bikes that used to sit higher than the ones closest to the car were now lower than the ones closest to the car.

When we stopped the end bikes were very close to touching the tar.

 

The story does have a happy ending though. We bent the rack as straight as possible and then when we got to Rustenburg we strengthened the bent pieces by adding sliding in more square tubing.

The end result was a rack that never bent again, but had a bend that was now just enough to allow the boot of the car to open with the rack in place.

[MphatiPyga]

Don't do it , the whiplash is to much and you end up losing the bikes and breaking a trailer .

Absolutely!! Don’t do it, I did this on my camp trailer a few years ago and it ended in a trip from hell! Nearly lost both bikes in the middle of Imfolozi Game Reserve!! It totally changes the balance of your trailer.

 

Rather try mounting on the front if you can or put roof type rack on the wheel arches if you can. My bikes now go in the bakkie when we use the trailer

[Sbloomer]

Thanks all for the feedback

 

I'm now working out if there is a way I can modify the existing car rack to be mounted on top of the trailer where the bikes currently sit

[MphatiPyga]

There are caravan mounts where there is an addition in front where you can mount the bikes on the towbar side, wouldn’t want to jackknife the trailer though

[Neville Bailey]

I mounted a tow bar on the A frame of our Oryx camper and the 3 bike Thule platform bike rack fits perfectly!

 

[MudLark]

Neat but on gravelled/stony roads isn't there a risk that those bikes could end up taking a real hammering from stones thrown up by the rear wheels of the towing vehicle, depending upn various factors?

[Sbloomer]

Neat but on gravelled/stony roads isn't there a risk that those bikes could end up taking a real hammering from stones thrown up by the rear wheels of the towing vehicle, depending upn various factors?

That’s easily sorted by mounting a stone guard on the tow vehicles towbar