I have seen mixed reviews on traveling with Bicycles on the rear rack on the new 13's. I have a Very solid Yakima 4 bike rack that bolts to the rear 2inch hitch tube thru the pin hole. making it more steady. I plan to take two bikes mounted as far forward as possible on the rack and then cross tie the rack fom the top to the corners of the bumper for more solid mount. I weighed the tongue before and after adding the bikes. 222 lb without and 184 lb with. This is still well within the 10% minimum of gross weight and I am concerned about sway and stability.
Wed, 06/12/2019 - 12:42
#1
bikes on rack Woes
We also plan on putting our bike rack and two bikes on the back of our 13 footer. I just ordered a dual tank tray, Marshall Excelsior ME-RVTANK-KIT18 Rack Dual 20# Complete through Amazon, which appears to be the identical tray that Scamp sells but without the $31.00 shipping fee. The second tank will add about 40 lbs. to the front hitch area and we will move some of our gear from the truck to the bunk area. I'm thinking that if we can equalize the weight, we should be o.k. with the two bikes on the back. Will see how this works!
Anthony Memoli
We traveled 600 miles last weekend, anywhere between 55 and 70 MPH in wind, dry and rain. The roads were in very good condition for a change and the trailer and bikes performed great with no issues. I again need to mention that we had sufficient Tongue weight of 184lb at the ball. . I purposely tested the stability by wiggiling the steering wheel side to side enough to look like it was swaying.. Without the bikes and loaded to 186 lb the Scamp would settle down with two wiggles back and forth, and with the two bikes and reloaded to 185 lb it would wiggle 4 or more back and forth before settling perfectly steady. So the bikes made a difference . I tried this at 55 and 60 and 65 and even 70 MPH and at 70 it was more than 4 oscillations before it settled and was a bit unnerving. . So speed and tongue weight does make a big difference
2019 Scamp 13 standard
Has anybody tried one of those bike bunks that mounts on the Scamp tongue? I've been looking at one from e-trailer that looks doable. We have used the receiver on the back of our '17 16' Scamp several times, and although it is noticeable (especially over tough railroad tracks!), as long as I keep in mind that it's back there and go a bit slower (62mph tops), I'm not suffering any angst. I make it a point to check the receiver periodically and don't see any cracking or separating at the welds (yet). I just wonder whether a bike bunk like the one below - which attaches to your tongue, then add your bike rack (in our case a pretty hefty old Thule rack) to the receiver that's part of the bike bunk, THEN add your bikes - might add too much tongue weight. I don't mind this as a solution, but the bike bunk costs just under $200, and I thought I'd see if anyone out there in Scamp World has experience with it. Most of the reviews on etrailer are quite positive, but most of them also seem to be from folks who tow somewhat bigger trailers. thanks for any comments.
https://www.etrailer.com/RV-and-Camper-Bike-Racks/Stromberg-Carlson/CC-275.html
Jonathan Rockey
Check reviews from other users of the mount system at the website you reference and Amazon. Several comments about clearance between bikes and tow vehicles--some of the pictures looked like longer frame for mounting than a Scamp. Also comments about adding tongue weight.
thanks, Harv, I did read most of the reviews on the website and they were almost universally positive, and a few from smaller trailers (popups and teardrop types), but haven't seen any mentioning Scamps, so was hoping to hear from folks with direct experience. The text on the website says this particular bike bunk adjusts to quite a range of tongue widths (I want to say as narrow as inches in the teens to a widest in the 50-inches).
Jonathan Rockey