A Bike Rack for the Coach

[BPoland]

My wife wants to take a bike along on our trips for exercise. I would really like the rack to attach to the coach, as the Grand Cherokee is right at the max towing weight for the hitch. That being said, I'm using an Aventa LX tow bar, and I have a ladder on the back of the coach, so maybe there is something out there that will attach to the ladder. I would need something for two bikes, in case she thinks I need exercise as well (she will).

Anybody have any ideas? How did you solve this? Thanks in advance!

[OldBeaver]

I used a tow hitch splitter (double hitch receiver) to give me the ability to put a bike rack on the back of my class A.
I have had it for a couple of years and driven the RV cross country and back.
It works great with my Yakima bike rack.

[Oldmso54]

Anxiously wathing this as I'm in the same boat = want to bring a couple bikes along with us, towing a jeep cherokee and don't really want to put a bike rack on the jeep.

Wife suggested a roof rack for the jeep but I'm not to keen on the idea of loading bikes onto the roof.

Is there an attachement that one could add to the existing hitch on the coach to hold the bikes?

[twinboat]

Use the hitch spliter on the MH or add a bike rack to the toad.

I've done both, In case we need to drive the bikes to the place to ride them.

[Mooshaker]

Swagman makes a 2 bike carrier that mounts to the 2x2 part of the towbar. Have one on by Allegro Bus. It works great I can turn as sharp as possible with out the car hitting the bikes.

[mike625]

Originally Posted by twinboat

Use the hitch spliter on the MH or add a bike rack to the toad.

I've done both, In case we need to drive the bikes to the place to ride them.

using this for the last 3+ years on the RV & a rack for the toad or can move the thule depending on the toad we have with us.

Roadmaster (077-4 Dual Hitch Receiver -picked this one because it is well made
https://www.amazon.com/Roadmaster-07.../dp/B003VARGVM

Thule T2 Original Bike Rack
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[AnotherMike]

Originally Posted by BPoland

Anybody have any ideas? How did you solve this? Thanks in advance!

Stash the bikes inside the Jeep.

[TonyDi]

I also am using an Aventa LX tow bar and it is rated at 10k. Do you have that Grand Cherokee loaded down? The GC which I used to tow was nowhere near that weight.

[Ucbyrickg]

Here is my set up, works flawlessly.

Maybe just a rack on the jeep is the easiest.

[Mapnerd]

You said you’re concerned about being at or near the limit of your hitch. So any kind of hitch splitter or even using the toad’s hitch isn’t going to solve that problem.

I see two options:
1. Upgrade your hitch
2. Consider a front mounted hitch. I see city buses with these all the time. I would think you’d just need to get a 2” hitch mounted to the front, then you could mount a platform bike rack to that. Be sure to get one that folds up when not in use if you go this route.

Be aware that option 2 would alter your approach angle for climbing grades but I don’t think that would be that much of an issue.

Also do some investigation on how this might impact your forward lighting. I might add a light bar if I went this route.

Here’s some from a company called Sportworks:
https://www.sportworks.com/products/transit-bike-racks

[atroph]

Originally Posted by BPoland

My wife wants to take a bike along on our trips for exercise. I would really like the rack to attach to the coach, as the Grand Cherokee is right at the max towing weight for the hitch. That being said, I'm using an Aventa LX tow bar, and I have a ladder on the back of the coach, so maybe there is something out there that will attach to the ladder. I would need something for two bikes, in case she thinks I need exercise as well (she will).

Anybody have any ideas? How did you solve this? Thanks in advance!

There are plenty of racks that attach to the ladder on your MH. I have one, but have never used it as I attach a 4 bike carrier to the back of the toad.

It is similar to this one:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XRFFGQL..._G0RBDb49XD146

[jaearhart]

I put a four bike rack on the back of my jeep road, It is easy for me to carry two large bikes . There is a lot of motion during bumpy roads so i strap the rack with the bikes down to the jeeps spare and bumper. I didn't like the rack on the back of the DP , very hard to strap and stop all that shake rattle row going on . I'm over 70 so maybe I'm too conservative.

[mike625]

Originally Posted by jaearhart

I put a four bike rack on the back of my jeep road, It is easy for me to carry two large bikes . There is a lot of motion during bumpy roads so i strap the rack with the bikes down to the jeeps spare and bumper. I didn't like the rack on the back of the DP , very hard to strap and stop all that shake rattle row going on . I'm over 70 so maybe I'm too conservative.

These do a good job of stopping the rattling on tow bars or bike racks. Have been using them on my tow bar as my bike rack has a lock down bolt build in.

StowAway Hitch Tightener, Anti-Rattle Stabilizer for 2 Inch and 1.25 Inch Hitches

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[BPoland]

Originally Posted by atroph

There are plenty of racks that attach to the ladder on your MH. I have one, but have never used it as I attach a 4 bike carrier to the back of the toad.

It is similar to this one:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XRFFGQL..._G0RBDb49XD146

Thanks for all the suggestions and insight. I decided to try the Camco RV Ladder Mount Bike Rack. Since it mounts to the ladder, it will have no affect on the toad. I was worried about adding weight to a toad that is already hovering near the max load on the hitch. I also didn't want to introduce another point of possible failure in the toad setup. I do plan to add some insurance bungee cords and a cable lock to make sure that nobody "borrows" her bike while in transit. Thanks again!!!