Rear bumper

After returning from a camping trip over the week-end, i noticed my bumper had cracked from the weight of a bike rack with two 26in mountain bikes on it. I have the 2 inch receiver that bolts to the 4 X 4 bumper. I was under the inpression that this bumper could handle this kind of load. has anyone else had this happen? What is the best, most cost effective way of installing a receiver for the bike carrier?

Thanks,

Chuck

There are no factory fit ones so I brought my cat to the local welder and he fabbed one up for me. The bumpers from what I understand are designed to only carry the sewer hose.

Ours did crack the weekend before last, lost the front wheels/tires of the bikes after when the bike rack came down (the welds didn't break, but the bumper tube itself did). I am in the process of building a new bumper to replace the old one. I had some 3-1/2"x2-1/2"x1/4" rectangular tubing, it's a little smaller, but I don't use the bumper for sewer hose storage (have a sewer hose carrier bolted to the frame). I'll post some photos once the job is completed.

These bumpers are not strong enough for 4 bikes. Plus they will rust some from the inside if you keep your sewer hose in it. Like the above reply, we too had the local welding/ fab shop build us a real hitch. It runs frame to frame, has a 2" receiver in the center which is also welded to the bumper. they also welded some gussets to the bumper. 3 each side of the center. they said this would also help if we ever got hit from behind. The current bumper would just fold up. I put the bike rack on and jumped on it. Nothing moved but the leaf springs. Very solid. Our Cat came with a small hitch that was useless.

azandy700 wrote:These bumpers are not strong enough for 4 bikes. Plus they will rust some from the inside if you keep your sewer hose in it. Like the above reply, we too had the local welding/ fab shop build us a real hitch. It runs frame to frame, has a 2" receiver in the center which is also welded to the bumper. they also welded some gussets to the bumper. 3 each side of the center. they said this would also help if we ever got hit from behind. The current bumper would just fold up. I put the bike rack on and jumped on it. Nothing moved but the leaf springs. Very solid. Our Cat came with a small hitch that was useless.

How much did they charge you for this kind of job, if you don't mind me asking?
thanks

Mine did the same thing with 2 bikes on the bumper. Had a welder put new gussets and weld a 3" x 3" L bracket to the back of the bumper. Cost about $250 and the bumper is good and strong now.

I have a 2010 Wildcat 25RL and the factory receiver is rated at 110# only. You'd think that would be enough for your two bikes but I guess not.

Like the folks above I took the 5th to my local hitch shop and they reinforced the receiver with new crossmembers frame-to-frame and have given it a roughly 250-300# rating (there is no real way to rate them exactly, they go by experience so make sure you get someone who knows what they're doing). It's enough for me to carry a generator on a cargo rack quite easily...price $150 plus taxes.

Unless you replace the factory bumper with a heavier gauge tube steel those bike rack adapters that bolt to the bumpers are just an accident waiting to happen. Been there done that with our last fiver. Heading down I-95 in Ct. someone waived us down. We started with three bikes and now had only two with one of them dragging on the ground. The bumpers are thin wall and tore away from the frame. We had a new heavier gauge bumper installed with gussets and additional support. When we purchased our cat we took it to a shop that installs hitches and had a hitch installed and welded to frame before ever bringing the cat home. Cost of the hitch was less than the bike we lost.

KH

I paid $150.00 to have this done. This may have been a deal too as we do some work for this company

Here is a link to just one of many posts about installing a receiver.

Thanks for all of the comments/help! I will deinitely have to get a permanent receiver installed