I hope someone can point me in a direction and recommend a vendor in Joondalup, WA area. The caravan is a 15ft Jayco Freedom poptop.
There is a rear mounted spare-wheel installed. I would like to mount a storage box at both sides of the wheel.
The front has a storage compartment lid that gets used often. It already has one gas bottle mounted on the drawbar/hitch but needs a 2nd gas bottle to be mounted.
a. Now unsure where will be the best place to mount the bicycle rack for 2x bicycles, which rack type to select and which vendor to approach for advice and installation
b. Unsure if the proposed 2x extra storage boxes should rather be one larger one and mounted at the front, which type to select and which vendor to approach for advice and installation
Thanks in advance for any ideas, pointers or experience.
Regards
Ottg
-- Edited by ottg on Monday 24th of September 2018 08:17:21 AM
Radar said
08:58 AM Sep 24, 2018
Hi Ottg and good day.
Just be very mineful of your weight and measures, caravans are NOT designed to place heavy items on them, 2 bikes equal 2 x 15 kgs plus the racking.
Caravans are built to store clothes, a bit of food, some kitchen gear, eat in and to sleep in and not much more.
Possibly mounting a bike rack on the A frame is the better choice, in my long years as a truck driver seen a few flapping in the breeze and laying on the road, just my thoughts only.
Generally with caravans they do not have much weight allowance with them to reach the caravan vin plate gross trailer mass.
With a small one like yours you won't have much allowance for clothes, food, cooking & other essentials. Not much if anything left over for toys & tools.
Distribution of the weight is another factor, especially if you have only one axle. Excess weight on the rear makes you a candidate for uncontrollable sway & the inevitable roll over, particularly as your speed increases. Any extra weight should be over the axle if possible & within legal limits.
Is your tug able to take even more tow ball weight from bikes, gas bottles or tool boxes? Same goes for the rear bumper assembly.
I too have seen lots of pushbikes that have broken off rear end carriers. But then sometimes bikes on the A frame impede the ability to do hard lock turns like when backing onto sites or even doing U turns in tight spots. Do you really need two bikes? A couple of light weight fold ups in your tug might be a better option.
We all have a tendency to fill up all the cupboards with stuff & then add more storage & fill it up too. Then rarely use it.
If you must have two gas bottles then perhaps two small ones, or maybe even a reserve small one as the second bottle. Unless you are going bush, gas is available almost everywhere & not too dear when compared to all of your traveling expenses.
edit .. I suggest that you have a close look at the post a couple before this one about 'Weight of Generator .. front or rear.' Some VERY good relevant advice in that
-- Edited by Cupie on Monday 24th of September 2018 10:41:56 AM
Kebbin said
01:34 PM Sep 24, 2018
Safety must come first, so make sure you look at every angle, how everything will be fitted.
How much weight all up do you think it's going to be?
swamp said
06:15 PM Sep 24, 2018
HI
Annex pole holders front and rear .
Spare tyre on rear.
Tool boxes front A frame .
bike carriers front or rear .
This above is pretty standard thru out most different models of van .
Peter_n_Margaret said
06:56 PM Sep 24, 2018
Putting weight at the ends of a van WILL increase its already inherent instability.
That is an undeniable fact.
Whether it is enough to make it dangerously unstable or not is not certain.
Cheers,
Peter
EJP said
07:52 PM Sep 24, 2018
I have a 17 ft Jayco Freedom, single axle pop top and had a similar dillema, where to mount a single bike rack and a second gas bottle. the spare tyre is stowed under the right side bed just aft of the axle and nothing on the rear bar. I have a 9 kg gas bottle on the left side of the drawbar and I fitted a 4.5 kg gas bottle on the right side of the drawbar next to the 9 kg bottle. My initial thoughts were to mount the bike rack on the rear bar but the advice I got, and visually confirmed, was that the rear bar was too light, including the mounting points, and would not support the weight, approximately 25 kg all up, particually when taking into account the movement incurred when under way. Fortunately I have a reasonably long drawbar and was able to incorporate the bike rack on the drawbar in front of the gas bottles. I still have enough room between the bike rack and and the coupling when manouvering the van. My towball weight has increased approximately 25 kg when the van is loaded and is well within vehicle and van specifications. I use a lightly loaded WDH and the van tows well. I am considering fitting a small, light stowage box, long and narrow, to the rear bar but that is still under consideration.
Regards EJP
Desert Dweller said
05:18 AM Sep 25, 2018
Make sure the rear bumper mounts are capable of carrying the extra cantilevered weight. We have just a rear mounted spare wheel & recently almost lost our whole rear bumper.
The weld on one side gave way on the bitumen Leichart Hwy undulations, luckily one side held.
The rear bumper on a caravan is not designed to carry extra weight.
swamp said
07:02 AM Sep 25, 2018
HI
All weight in theory should be as low as axle and equally placed either side as close as possible to it.
The reality is a single axle will see saw a lot more easily than a dual axle . Any heavy loading is bad when not in the ideal position .
Rod Mac said
05:17 PM Sep 26, 2018
Hi, I mounted 2 boxes on rear bar either side of spare wheel,(Jayco Freedom tandem axle) items inside are light weight (wood wheel ramps and water hoses) I needed to stop the front boot from being crowded, Aluminium boxes came from Bunnings plus some flat steel bar I shaped and bolted to support and hold the boxes against the rear bar.
Also mounted there are PVC pole holders with aluminium poles.
I would check your tow ball weight before changing anything to get an idea of what is possible with your set up.
I have one 9kg LP cyl on drawbar and carry a 4kg in the front boot plus a small BBQ and other light items and I have 200kg on the ball.
Bikes are difficult to carry as they need to be supported several ways to stop them moving around, good luck.
I hope someone can point me in a direction and recommend a vendor in Joondalup, WA area. The caravan is a 15ft Jayco Freedom poptop.
There is a rear mounted spare-wheel installed. I would like to mount a storage box at both sides of the wheel.
The front has a storage compartment lid that gets used often. It already has one gas bottle mounted on the drawbar/hitch but needs a 2nd gas bottle to be mounted.
a. Now unsure where will be the best place to mount the bicycle rack for 2x bicycles, which rack type to select and which vendor to approach for advice and installation
b. Unsure if the proposed 2x extra storage boxes should rather be one larger one and mounted at the front, which type to select and which vendor to approach for advice and installation
Thanks in advance for any ideas, pointers or experience.
Regards
Ottg
-- Edited by ottg on Monday 24th of September 2018 08:17:21 AM
Hi Ottg and good day.
Just be very mineful of your weight and measures, caravans are NOT designed to place heavy items on them, 2 bikes equal 2 x 15 kgs plus the racking.
Caravans are built to store clothes, a bit of food, some kitchen gear, eat in and to sleep in and not much more.
Possibly mounting a bike rack on the A frame is the better choice, in my long years as a truck driver seen a few flapping in the breeze and laying on the road, just my thoughts only.
Generally with caravans they do not have much weight allowance with them to reach the caravan vin plate gross trailer mass.
I'm with Radar on this.
Weight is the enemy of caravans.
With a small one like yours you won't have much allowance for clothes, food, cooking & other essentials. Not much if anything left over for toys & tools.
Distribution of the weight is another factor, especially if you have only one axle. Excess weight on the rear makes you a candidate for uncontrollable sway & the inevitable roll over, particularly as your speed increases. Any extra weight should be over the axle if possible & within legal limits.
Is your tug able to take even more tow ball weight from bikes, gas bottles or tool boxes? Same goes for the rear bumper assembly.
I too have seen lots of pushbikes that have broken off rear end carriers. But then sometimes bikes on the A frame impede the ability to do hard lock turns like when backing onto sites or even doing U turns in tight spots. Do you really need two bikes? A couple of light weight fold ups in your tug might be a better option.
We all have a tendency to fill up all the cupboards with stuff & then add more storage & fill it up too. Then rarely use it.
If you must have two gas bottles then perhaps two small ones, or maybe even a reserve small one as the second bottle. Unless you are going bush, gas is available almost everywhere & not too dear when compared to all of your traveling expenses.
edit .. I suggest that you have a close look at the post a couple before this one about 'Weight of Generator .. front or rear.' Some VERY good relevant advice in that
-- Edited by Cupie on Monday 24th of September 2018 10:41:56 AM
How much weight all up do you think it's going to be?
Annex pole holders front and rear .
Spare tyre on rear.
Tool boxes front A frame .
bike carriers front or rear .
This above is pretty standard thru out most different models of van .
That is an undeniable fact.
Whether it is enough to make it dangerously unstable or not is not certain.
Cheers,
Peter
Regards EJP
The weld on one side gave way on the bitumen Leichart Hwy undulations, luckily one side held.
The rear bumper on a caravan is not designed to carry extra weight.
All weight in theory should be as low as axle and equally placed either side as close as possible to it.
The reality is a single axle will see saw a lot more easily than a dual axle . Any heavy loading is bad when not in the ideal position .
Hi, I mounted 2 boxes on rear bar either side of spare wheel,(Jayco Freedom tandem axle) items inside are light weight (wood wheel ramps and water hoses) I needed to stop the front boot from being crowded, Aluminium boxes came from Bunnings plus some flat steel bar I shaped and bolted to support and hold the boxes against the rear bar.
Also mounted there are PVC pole holders with aluminium poles.
I would check your tow ball weight before changing anything to get an idea of what is possible with your set up.
I have one 9kg LP cyl on drawbar and carry a 4kg in the front boot plus a small BBQ and other light items and I have 200kg on the ball.
Bikes are difficult to carry as they need to be supported several ways to stop them moving around, good luck.
Very helpful and so much more to consider which I haven't even thought about.
Will let you know how it goes
Regards