Bike Rack Problem- Before & After Photos
Printed From: r-pod Nation
Category: Forest River r-pod
Forum Name: Maintenance Issues, Tips and Tricks
Forum Description: Have you ever wondered how something works? Found a good way to do something? Discovered the hard way what NOT to do? Share them here.
URL: http://www.rpodNation.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1465
Printed Date: 24 Apr 2024 at 6:15am
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Topic: Bike Rack Problem- Before & After Photos
Posted By: George
Subject: Bike Rack Problem- Before & After Photos
Date Posted: 24 May 2010 at 4:35am
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We took the Escape Pod out for its first real camping trip this past weekend. Everything went pretty well considering this is the first time my wife and I have ever camped in anything other than a tent. We also took our toys which included taking the bicycles. The Pod came with a short adapter welded onto the bottom rear end of the pod that accepted a 1 1/2 inch bike rack. We towed the R-pod up North about 250 miles away with the bike rack mounted in place and carrying two bikes. Everything went fine going to the campsite. But, on the way home after approximately 100 miles I heard some awful scraping coming from the rear. I pulled off to the side of the road and saw that the welded on bracket had failed and we were dragging the bikes on the pavement behind us. It only destroyed 1 wheel and two tires. So we were very lucky that it was very warm and were were traveling with the windows down so I heard the scraping sound. Had the windows been rolled up we would have destroyed both bikes and who knows what all we could have destroyed of the people following behind us if the bike rack had come loose. We'll call Couches and find out how something like this gets handled.
------------- I can't stop dreaming about June 15, 2013 when we get to permanently escape in our "Escape Pod" which is a 176T towed by a Chevy van with a 5.7L engine. |
Replies:
Posted By: jjbescher
Date Posted: 24 May 2010 at 7:39am
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When looking at the hitch on the back of my 173T, it says only 25 lbs to be inserted. I may have someone try to reinforce mine, just in case I need to use it.
------------- R-Pod 173T towed by a 2003 Honda Pilot Site # 164 Eastern Roundup |
Posted By: Ratdog
Date Posted: 24 May 2010 at 7:43am
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Are you talking about the receiver where the spare tire mounts? How much does the spare tire and its mounting post weigh? Less than 25 pounds?
-- Steve ------------- Steve, Anne, and Paige the Rat Terrier 2013 Lexus RX 450h Hybrid AWD 2011 RP-177 (aka: The Circus Wagon) |
Posted By: jjbescher
Date Posted: 24 May 2010 at 7:46am
On the "T" models, the receiver is not used for the Spare Tire. Our Spare tire is on the platform that gets folded down to make the bed of the Tent end. I do not know why they did not make this stronger. ------------- R-Pod 173T towed by a 2003 Honda Pilot Site # 164 Eastern Roundup |
Ratdog wrote:Posted By: Ratdog
Date Posted: 24 May 2010 at 8:08am
I just checked the caution label on my 177 spare tire hitch. It says 250 pounds.
With a maximum of 25 pounds you could carry virtually nothing. The bike rack or whatever you stick in the receiver would weigh almost that much.
-- Steve ------------- Steve, Anne, and Paige the Rat Terrier 2013 Lexus RX 450h Hybrid AWD 2011 RP-177 (aka: The Circus Wagon) |
Posted By: jjbescher
Date Posted: 24 May 2010 at 8:11am
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I will double check mine. I may have missed the "0". I am hoping that I did. I thought 25 seemed awfully low. It has been raining non-stop since Saturday and I have my tent end down, so I need it to dry out a little before I go outside and check. ------------- R-Pod 173T towed by a 2003 Honda Pilot Site # 164 Eastern Roundup |
Posted By: R&T's Pod
Date Posted: 24 May 2010 at 3:54pm
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I just checked our 175 and the sticker says 250 lbs. I hope that's correct because the DW has been wanting to buy a bicycle for her (and one me too) to take camping. So I was hoping to relocate the spare tire and add a bike rack. rob ------------- 2010 R-Pod 175 2007 F-150 Super Cab http://www.rtspod.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow - R&T's Podding Blog 
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Posted By: Butterfly_Lee
Date Posted: 24 May 2010 at 4:03pm
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I emailed FR last year to confirm weight in back, and they also said 250, but not for towing anything.
Check out r-pod owners on facebook. Someone has a picture of a rack in back. Also seem to remember someone having some kind of a frame over the battery and lp tank that held bikes. (Light trailer forum)
Lee  ------------- Still a work in progress, lots of pictures. http://podterfly.blogspot.com/ |
Posted By: pepperpod
Date Posted: 24 May 2010 at 4:19pm
------------- Pepper,Coach,and Henry (a very brave little Maltese) R Pod 172 The rewards of the journey far outweigh the risk of leaving the harbor...unknown |
Posted By: George
Date Posted: 29 May 2010 at 6:41am
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Update - We called Couch's and they said they would look into it. They got back to us quickly and said Forest River would not fix the problem because we used a different bike rack in the welded on adapter than theirs. Forest River told Couch's that the only way they would take care of problems with bike rack issues is if the R-Pod owner bought their bike rack from them. Couch's told us they had never said that before. We were never told that we needed to use their bike rack. Also, the tag near the adapter clearly says that it will support 250 pounds. So, we weighed the bikes we were carrying plus the bike rack that we already had and it came to 101 pounds total, well within the capacity. Couch's continued to pursue the issue on our behalf with Forest River. After many phone calls, emails, and photos sent Forest River gave us the name and number of their supplier that made and welded on the adapter to the rear end of our R-Pod. As soon as we sent pictures to the supplier they quickly got back to us that they would cover the damage to our bikes and pay for re-welding the adapter to our R-Pod. The bike damage only came to 85 dollars. However, we contacted a welding shop and they said the only way they would fix the problem is if they were allowed to weld in support brackets and the total cost to fix the bike rack adapter problem would be between 250 and 300 dollars. We are still waiting to hear from the Forest River supplier as to whether or not they will accept that bill. ------------- I can't stop dreaming about June 15, 2013 when we get to permanently escape in our "Escape Pod" which is a 176T towed by a Chevy van with a 5.7L engine. |
Posted By: HuronSailor
Date Posted: 31 May 2010 at 8:36am
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This issue sounds like a no-brainer to me, I can't imagine that it won't be resolved to your satisfaction. FR and/or Couch's should step up to the plate and fix the problem without passing the buck (and blame) onto their supplier. If you have a problem with your car while under the warranty period, the dealer/manufacturer fixes the issue, period. They don't give you the phone number of whichever one of their hundreds of suppliers furnished the particular problem component. That's ridiculous. By the way, I was interested to learn that FR had a bike rack, so I went to look at it online. I see it listed as an option under the rPod section, but no picture of it. Did they happen to furnish a link to a photo, or any more info on their bike rack during your many calls/emails? ------------- .: Mark & Beth :: Silverado 5.3L :: "arrrr"Pod 172 :: http://picasaweb.google.com/mark.a.mowery - My Albums :: http://ourrpod.blogspot.com/ - OurPod Blog :: |
Posted By: George
Date Posted: 31 May 2010 at 2:19pm
No, the first we ever heard that they had their own bike rack was when they asked us if we were using it when the adapter broke. ------------- I can't stop dreaming about June 15, 2013 when we get to permanently escape in our "Escape Pod" which is a 176T towed by a Chevy van with a 5.7L engine. |
Posted By: gmandual
Date Posted: 31 May 2010 at 2:59pm
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Where Forest River might have grounds to stand on is if the after market bike rack extends farther back from the hitch receiver then the one they sell. Trailer hitches are rated as a LB rating, but from an engineering standpoint they are actually rated at a moment of force at the hitch base. This is based on a LB load at a specific distance from the hitch receiver. If you think of your ball mount as a lever, the weight of the trailer is applied to the ball and the length of the ball mount causes a certain amount of torque to the hitch. The longer the ball mount the more torque applied to the hitch receiver for a given weight.
If you double the length of the lever, you cut your tow capacity and hitch capacity by half. So if you get a hitch extender to double the length of your ball mount to clear your spare tire you cut a 3500lb/300lb class 2 hitch down to being only able to tow 1750/150lb.
Same thing goes for bike rack. The longer the distance away from the trailer the more the bike weight it applified as torque on the hitch receiver. Which means a improperly designed (large) bike rack that extends back quite a ways, and carries 3-4 bikes can easily break a 250lb hitch when you hit a bump even if the bikes only way 100lb or so. The hitch on the rpod is in between a class1 and class2 hitch in weight capacity. Which in theory would put at carrying 4 bikes max. So your 2 bikes shouldn't have been a problem "unless" they weight alot or the bike rack sticks out farther then normal.
On a side note, the hitch "stack doubler" that allow you to use a hitch mount bike rack behind your vehicle and a ball mount to tow your trailer usually cut your tow/hitch capacity by 1/3->1/2 as well.
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Posted By: George
Date Posted: 01 Jun 2010 at 4:03am
 This is what the break looks like. Actually, the welding held, it was the frame that the adapter was welded to that broke. And no one ever said that we had to use their bike rack. ------------- I can't stop dreaming about June 15, 2013 when we get to permanently escape in our "Escape Pod" which is a 176T towed by a Chevy van with a 5.7L engine. |
Posted By: gmandual
Date Posted: 01 Jun 2010 at 11:53am
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Wow. Interesting point of failure. Where the metal "tore" does it look like more of a clean cut or does the metal appear crystalized?
There shouldn't be any reason why you can't you a different brand car carrier, as long as its properly sized and designed. By stating that they want people to use "their" bike carrier make/model is them just trying to avoid failures by people putting improperly sized bike racks on the back.
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Posted By: slvrst8steve
Date Posted: 01 Jun 2010 at 2:43pm
| Thanks, good info. A welder friend is going to help me fab up a bolt-on 2" class IV receiver. Nice and beefy and will certainly hold 4 bikes. I'll post some pics when finished. |
Posted By: George
Date Posted: 02 Jun 2010 at 3:27am
It looks like a clean cut. I don't see crystallized metal. We are taking our wounded Escape Pod to the welder today to have him look at it and figure out how to beef up the bike rack. It is looking like the FR supplier of the adapter is going to cover all the costs involved. ------------- I can't stop dreaming about June 15, 2013 when we get to permanently escape in our "Escape Pod" which is a 176T towed by a Chevy van with a 5.7L engine. |
Posted By: rpoders2
Date Posted: 02 Jun 2010 at 3:31pm
 After reading this thread, and sharing the posts with Taller Half, I am posting pictures of our setup with his bike on the back of Podcaster173. I am NOT thrilled with the way she tows when the bike rack is on. I have done all the driving on the three trips we've taken and the sway is still bothering me. I even called the company of the friction sway control I'm using to make sure I'm doing it correctly and if the expectations I have regarding how it is supposed to work are realistic. I put the pod spare tire in the back of the pod under the couch but I'm thinking I'll try it up front next time inside. I believe we have just too much weight, extended too far away from the pod, to make towing the enjoyable experience it could be. I will share some ideas with Taller Half regarding mounting the bike on the hitch or on top of the Pilot...or he can carry it himself next time :)
  ------------- Ellen, Dick (2 legs) Mo Chara (the camping cat) Dudley (the world's best camping dog) RPod 173 '07 Honda Pilot |
Posted By: George
Date Posted: 06 Jun 2010 at 12:20pm
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The bike rack adapter has been re-welded by a local welder and paid for by Lippertt, the Forest River supplier that originally welded the adapter on to our R-pod. I will try and post a before and after picture so that you can see how the welder beefed up the mount. Before:  After As you can see the welder added in a crossbar and added a couple heavy pieces of iron to beef it up. Total cost from the welder was 288 dollars. ------------- I can't stop dreaming about June 15, 2013 when we get to permanently escape in our "Escape Pod" which is a 176T towed by a Chevy van with a 5.7L engine. |
Posted By: HuronSailor
Date Posted: 06 Jun 2010 at 1:12pm
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Nicely done. That should make a big difference. ------------- .: Mark & Beth :: Silverado 5.3L :: "arrrr"Pod 172 :: http://picasaweb.google.com/mark.a.mowery - My Albums :: http://ourrpod.blogspot.com/ - OurPod Blog :: |
Posted By: gdfaini
Date Posted: 08 Sep 2010 at 7:33pm
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I just removed the spare tire hitch from our 173. I replaced it with a Thule Double Down hitch bike rack. Fits like a champ. Figured it's easier to put the spare in the pod than two bikes. The bikes and Thule probably weigh less than the spare did, so I don't think I should have a problem. ------------- Glenn Hyundai Santa Fe <-> RP 173 
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Posted By: gdfaini
Date Posted: 08 Sep 2010 at 7:39pm
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Correction, the rack is a Yakima, not a Thule. ------------- Glenn Hyundai Santa Fe <-> RP 173
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Posted By: tdrace
Date Posted: 08 Sep 2010 at 9:23pm
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I did the same with my 173.I put the wheel under the couch. Works great.
Happy Podding! ------------- Theresa's Seaside Cowgirl 2010 FORD F150 V-8 2010 R-POD 173 Sisters on the Fly #1569 |
Posted By: rgebhard
Date Posted: 01 Oct 2010 at 11:07pm
| Just bought "stack doubler" for holding bikes as well as tow hitch to pull pod...I am concerned now about hitch weight etc..with extended hitch tongue creating more torque than short hitch..has anyone use the stack doubler and pulled pod..tow vehicel is 3/4 chevy heavy duty van with v8 and tow capacity of 6,000lbs and hitch on back of van to match. I tried the bike rack on back of the pod in 1 1/2in receiver..did not like the bounce and sway on bikes and pod so thought I would try the stack doubler..Maybe I will just put the bikes inside the van and not have to worry about them... |
Posted By: rpoders2
Date Posted: 02 Oct 2010 at 8:57am
------------- Ellen, Dick (2 legs) Mo Chara (the camping cat) Dudley (the world's best camping dog) RPod 173 '07 Honda Pilot |
Posted By: rgebhard
Date Posted: 02 Oct 2010 at 7:16pm
| yah..I do not like things hanging outside..I keep thinking about it out there..thanks |
Posted By: dr*****k
Date Posted: 06 Oct 2010 at 7:22pm
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We are towing our 177 with our 2008 lexus 400 H too. have you had any problems. I am nervous because thew capacity is 3500 lbs. We are likely at 3000 lbs with equipment . George and Sue
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