Hi everyone! We have a Diamond in the Rough and are looking forward to getting out to parks whenever they open. Our trailer has a hitch on the back. We've never used it but we'd like to bring bikes with us. Has anyone out there used that hitch to attach a bike rack? Any concerns or issue with extra weight load? Maybe securing a rack to the front of the trailer would be better for weight distribution (on top of the box or on the front of the tow frame). We haul the trailer with a 4-cylinder car so weight and safety is a concern. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.
top of page
1930's Replica
Modified
Your Journey Starts Here
bottom of page
From experience, make sure you get a RV Travel Trailer rated bike rack to mount at the back of your teardrop.
The trailer is light and the suspension is not as effective as a car. The trailer can bounce a little even on a rough road. This bounce + long-wheelbase (from car to trailer wheels) makes for a very bouncy environment at the back of the trailer.
A regular car bike rack may not survive this and break.
Thanks for the feedback, fellow teardroppers. Much appreciated!
Hi David, I have a Diamond in the Rough with a large box and I will recommend you place the bikes in the back. Here is why. The trailer is very well balanced by design: one adult can sit on the edge of the kitchen without unbalancing the trailer. Most importantly every car has, besides the towing limit, has a limit for the vertical load on the hitch. Do not confused this with the hitch device capability which is much higher in general. The limit has to do with the car chases and rear axel construction. For example my Tiguan has a vertical load max of 200 lbs. As you may already know due to excellent balance you can lift the trailer by hand. So you don't want to add more vertical load on the hitch with the bikes in the front. And also very important is the height of the hitch ball from the ground: make sure when attached the trailer sits as horizontal as possible. If I remember correctly about 19" for the ball height. I hope this helps. Iulian