How much weight on the bumper hitch?

My family and I are travelling around the country right now (just left Bahia Honda in the Florida Keys, now we're in Naples).

We have 3 kids so that's a total of 5 bikes. 2 adult bikes and 3 kids bikes. I have a bike rack on the back hitch I bought at walmart a few years ago but it's falling apart and it's time for a new one. We've been strapping my wife and my TREKs on to the hitch with some zip lock plastic ties and then putting my kids bikes into the bed of the truck.

Besides being a real hassle every time we move, I want that space back in my bed. I would like to put all 5 bikes on the back of the RV. However, the kids bikes are actually pretty heavy, heavier than my large bike. I guess the material is just heavier.

How much weight can I put on that back hitch? I was considering buying a half cage to put on the hitch instead of an actual bike rack and then putting all the bikes in the cage. Or, maybe I'll just buy a large bike rack that can accomdate at least 4 bikes, and maybe the 5th. I'm just afraid of being on teh interstate and it falling off when I hit a big bump or something.

I have a 2007 32QBBS

If you have the original factory hitch and, if it is like mine, I would be worried. Five bikes is a lot of weight. The real problem is the leverage of the bike rack; it probably sticks above the hitch about 4 feet and can put a lot of torque on it. My factory hitch (1 1/2" receiver) was welded to the bumper, not the frame. Driving down the interstate dragging your bikes is not going to be pleasant.

I cut the whole thing off and replaced it with a 2" receiver welded to the frame.

Photos of my hitch

Hitch Topic

What do you mean by a half cage?

You would be better off getting a platform with tire holders instead of the L shaped bike rack. As Scott said, lots of torque on the hitch when you use the L shaped racks. Although I don't know if they have the platforms to hold that many bikes.

I'm with the others...two bikes is probably too much weight. I'm convinced Forest River never intended those hitches to be functional. But, it sounds good when you're doing a sales walk-thru.

Do what ScottZ did or something similar if you ever want to put any real weight on the back.

TC

I wouldn't haul anything on the early units with OE Lippert hitch. I can flex mine by hand. Scary! The late model trailers are coming with real hitches with real ratings. 300/3000 if I remember from the brochures and such.

Earl

Mopar_Earl wrote:I wouldn't haul anything on the early units with OE Lippert hitch. I can flex mine by hand. Scary! The late model trailers are coming with real hitches with real ratings. 300/3000 if I remember from the brochures and such.

Earl

Well, THAT would be a definite improvement!! Even at that, 300 lbs. probably still wouldn't handle that many bikes.

TC

Good Morning Everyone, This is Wildcat Steve from the Dallas, Oregon Factory. The 2" receiver hitches on the Wildcat and Sterling Editions are rated for a towing weight of #3000lbs and a tongue weight of #300lbs.

Wildcat Steve wrote:Good Morning Everyone, This is Wildcat Steve from the Dallas, Oregon Factory. The 2" receiver hitches on the Wildcat and Sterling Editions are rated for a towing weight of #3000lbs and a tongue weight of #300lbs.

I'll second this! There's a decal from Lippert stating the same on each hitch. We've got this setup on every fifth wheel we build.

For the record, Steve is another Wildcat representative who's been following along here and on other forums for years. We recently spoke and I asked him to check in here every once and a while since the Oregon facility builds somewhat differently than the Elkhart plant.

Wildcat Steve. Glad yur here.

TC

Thanks TC! I actually hail from Omaha and most of my family is still back there. I am sure we will have many conversations in the future so I look forward to chatting with you.
In the meantime, GO BIG RED!

Wildcat Steve wrote:Thanks TC! I actually hail from Omaha and most of my family is still back there. I am sure we will have many conversations in the future so I look forward to chatting with you.
In the meantime, GO BIG RED!

Looking forward to it...HUSKER POWER!!

TC

Wildcat Steve wrote:Good Morning Everyone, This is Wildcat Steve from the Dallas, Oregon Factory. The 2" receiver hitches on the Wildcat and Sterling Editions are rated for a towing weight of #3000lbs and a tongue weight of #300lbs.

Earl

TC wrote:

Wildcat Steve wrote:In the meantime, GO BIG RED!

Looking forward to it...HUSKER POWER!!

TC

Nebraska fans need to remember the welcome they received to the Big 10 courtesy of the REAL BIG RED - Wisconsin!

Although I'm sure that Chris and Steve will not be able to say it for liability reasons (and rightly so) I have had my local well-known hitch shop beef up the stock Wildcat 2" receiver to handle a tongue weight of 500#.

I hang 400# of motorcycle rack and Honda scooter on it and have no problems with handling performance.

I will say however, that if anyone does this they should make sure that the hitch shop they use is reputable and knowledgeable. You don't want to play around with this and make mistakes.

Kim, I think you're smart in beefing up the hitch. Better to be safe than sorry. A few dollars of prevention is worth much more than thousands of dollars in cure.

I wouldn't hesitate pulling something behind the Cat, but I would be really concerned having something substantial hanging from the back of the Cat. If you hang 300# of "stuff" from a receiver rated for 300#, then hit a bad chuck hole or something similar, the downward g-force turns that 300# of "stuff" into a lot more weight than 300#; enough to possibly break welds because there's nothing to stop that whiplash, quick down and back up movement exerted on the stinger. And that's compunded by how far away the receiver is from the back axle which will amplify that whiplash movement. Long story short, if I was to hang something from the back of the Cat, I would never load the hitch with anything close to its maximum rated weight capacity.

As for beefing things up...I'm not certain how common this is in other areas; but in our area, we have a couple of hitch shops that do custom fabrication and repair work.

TC

A few dollars of prevention is worth much more than thousands of dollars in cure.

When I was farming, my motto was: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of parts." And John Deere parts were very expensive. I still find this true today in whatever I work on.

Welcome Wildcat Steve

It's great to finally have a west coast rep on here. Did you take Beverly's place ??