Ideas on how to mount bike rack for 2 (60lbs) ebikes?8.0 quicksilver tent camper

[dmazzei]

Does anyone have ideas on how best to travel with 2 ebikes?  Reinforce the back bumper?
Thank you

[DavidM]

That is a fair amount of weight. I assume the 60 lbs is each. So with the bikes and the rack you are talking about 180 lbs. Will your GVRW handle that much more?

Years, well many years ago I adapted a station wagon bike rack to a pop up trailer. I epoxied a couple of clips on the top of the roof which was aluminum to take most of the cantilevered load. But this was only a 25-30 lb bike. You have four times that much load. With that much load I would also pop rivet the clips in place but also epoxy underneath.

It will take a 4 bike rack to carry enough load with only two ebikes loaded. This one will carry 140 lbs of bikes: https://www.amazon.com/Allen-Sports-Deluxe-4-Bike-Trunk/dp/B00TRTS5Z2/ref=sr_1_9?dchild=1&keywords=four+bike+rack+for+car&qid=1611264285&sr=8-9

A better way would be to add a 2" bolt on receiver to your bumper but you would have to reinforce the bumper for both the dead load and the torque on the receiver. I am not sure that is feasible.

Others have reinforced the bumper but on larger CLs I think.

Good luck.

David

[dmazzei]

Thank you so much for your prompt response. Each bike is 60 pounds, so a little bit lighter

[Merlin]

For all things towing/carrying, my go-to source is etrailer. Here is a response on their site to someone who asked a similar question. I would give them a call to see if they have safe way to carry that weight on your camper.

https://www.etrailer.com/question-253805.html

[dlscott]

I built my own rack from 1 1/2" lightweight steel angle. (see attached picture) It required no modification to bumper, uses 2 - 3/8" bolts to clamp in place and can be installed or removed in minutes.  It has been towed all over the country since 2011, approx 100,000 miles.  No problems.

[Merlin]

Welcome to the forum. Nice rack!

[dlscott]

Thankyou Merlin.  I expect dmazzei has long since resolved his questions.  Just thought I'd share my experience.  I wanted to mount 2 bikes as close to the camper body as possible and this rack accomplished this with minimal materials and effort, assuming one has access to a welder or a local fab shop.

We love the Quicksilver popup.  We are retired, and up until the pandemic hit, we travelled 6-8 weeks, twice a year, in the spring and fall.  We have made numerous small modifications including mounting a couple of exterior aluminum utility boxes, a solar charging system, and a wood heat stove.  We ditched the sink and grey water system - just to simplify life a bit.

We bought our Quicksilver, built-to-order in Aug-Sept of 2010 in Wakarusa.  We have a deep respect for Scott Tuttle's original concept: Make it light, simple and built to last.  We have casually kept in touch with the up and down path traversed by the LivinLite team over the years, through a major factory fire, to relocations, to mergers and buyouts through Thor, Ford and K-Z.

I like happy endings in my stories.  I don't know Scott Tuttle, but I came to know some of his team during the build of our Quicksilver 8.0.  They were dedicated craftsmen and camping enthusiasts.  I would have liked to see the company grow steady and slow while staying focused on the original concepts.  I hope Scott and the crew I worked with landed on their feet and are doing things which are rewarding.  Their products have made my family richer in the things that count.

[Merlin]

We also visited the factory in Wakausa while our Camplite was being built. Subsequently one of the staff there sent us a nice gift basket from Das Essenhaus, an Amish store in Middlebury not far from the factory. We had mentioned during our visit that the store/restaurant was one of our favorites and they remembered that! Personal touches are a lost art now, sadly.

Anyway, nice story on your part. Scott did land with another aluminum camper company and I saw one at a dealer recently. Nice unit, but not as complete as the Camplite line. ]

I hope you get back on the road and tell some travel stories on here. I noticed you have an Outback; one of our favorite vehicles and when we were done with ours, we gave it to our son. They run forever.

[Chappy133]

FYI Scott Tuttle is with Intech RV now:

http://www.intechrv.com

Nice units. Pricey and sold out before they leave the factory.

[GrampaKilt]

We also visited the factory in Wakausa while our Camplite was being built. Subsequently one of the staff there sent us a nice gift basket from Das Essenhaus, an Amish store in Middlebury not far from the factory. We had mentioned during our visit that the store/restaurant was one of our favorites and they remembered that! Personal touches are a lost art now

Thanks for the memories dlscott and Merlin. I picked up my CL at the factory in Wakarusa in fall of 2013. So many fond, lifetime memories of this Canadian from BC, buying a TT through a dealership in Mississippi, crossing the border into the US (You're going where? Picking up a trailer with that? Good thing you have sliced tomatoes in your sandwich, if they were whole...), driving east on endless interstates (not even one in Canada, sad to say) for a few days to that quintessential mid-west town with an awesome name, being met by the personable Dan?, the bosses including Scott milling around and snapping photos as I hooked up my 14DB to a VW Jetta TDI equipped with a WDH (and rookie me, nearly lifted the back end off the ground--the laughter/more photos...). Alas, no gift basket, but the memories are priceless. GK

[EdAbbey]

I installed a rear cargo deck on our quicksilver 10.0. It's a Curt 18100 Aluminum Cargo deck I ordered on amazon.  I assembled it without the 2" folding receiver tubes so it would sit flat on my bumper. Without the receiver tube, I used a couple pieces of 1/2" conduit as spacers when attaching the support brackets. To attach it, I removed the 2 support-pole brackets from the camper. I drilled matching holes in the rack and then reinstalled the brackets through the side of the rack, bolting it firmly to the frame. I also bolted the rack to the bumper.  I temporarily removed the taillights and drilled the bolt hole right above the electrical access so I could install the washer and nut on the bolt. I installed a couple of fork mount blocks on the base of the cargo rack so I can transport bikes. We've only transported normal bikes, not e-bikes but everything seems very sturdy. We've put on about 2000km with bikes on the rack. Everything is still tight and nothing has bent.

[Merlin]

Nice job on the rack, EdAbbey. I may consider that myself since the wood rack I bolted on a few years ago is looking shabby.