Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hi there, im thinking of buying or making a removable bike rack for the front of my td,

I have a longish draw bar, made of 50mm box section. I cant buy a bolt-onto-towbar model as my towball is a removable one and hence doesn't have the 2 fixing bolts.

Anyone made one up before? It will be only ever holding 1 bike of 12kg so not bothered about extra nose weight.

Anyone seen one?, or any ideas for the best way to attach?
Maybe a bracket which sits over the draw bar and bolts on?

The object of mounting the bike rack on the front of the TD is clearance on sharp turns with TV.

Mike

I've built a couple of custom bike racks for my teardrops in the past ... what is your trailer's tongue arrangement - single bar, A-frame, modified A-frame or ???

CHEERS!

Single bar

I can't seem to find any pics of the ones I've built, so let me try to describe them to you:

Find or make a short section of steel "U" channel that will fit snugly down over your tongue/draw-bar, with the vertical legs extending about 1-1/2" past the bottom of the tongue (i.e.: 2-1/2" tongue = 4" sides of the "U"). Drill two holes in each leg where bolts will pass just under the tongue, so that when tightened they will "clamp" that piece to the tongue.

Cut & shape a piece of steel tubing to fit the front of the trailer, long enough to hold the bike off the tongue, then weld it and a short angle bracket to the top of the "U" piece.

Cut another, smaller diameter, piece of tubing to form a "T" on the top of the vertical tube ... the "T" should be narrow enough to fit the length of the backbone on your bicycle ... then cut a couple of short sections of the same size tubing to extend outward from the ends of the "T", that the backbone of the bike will hang on (you might want to give these pieces of tubing a bit of an upward curve, and if you want the rack to hold two bikes, make them a little longer).

Weld it all up, paint or powder-coat, then slip a couple of foam rubber "collars" over the fingers that the bike will rest on. Bolt the rack to the tongue, hang the bike, secure the bike, and motor on down the road to your destination! I have found that, depending on the shape of the front of your teardrop, you may need a bit of a "shield" to keep the pedal of the bike that is closest to the trailer body from making contact with said trailer body.

Pretty simple, really, and you have the option of removing the rack when you don't think you'll be taking the bike(s). Hope that helps! Good Luck, and in the meantime ...

CHEERS!

I use a SPORTRACK 2 , hitch mount, bike carrier on my car , around town, and on the A frame of the teardrop when we go camping. http://www.sportrack.com/a30901/

I like this bike carrier because you don't have to lift the bikes too high in the air and it keeps the center of gravity low unlike other carriers.

My teardrop is a "LITTLEGUY 5x7". I do not have batteries or gas cylinders on the tongue.

For use on the teardrop A frame I,

1- Remove the bar that is used to connect the bike rack to the hitch. (2 bolts)
2- Use U bolts to connect the horizontal bars of the bike rack to the A frame of the trailer. The U bolts extend thru 2 hardwood (50mm x 50mm) boards that span the A frame and thus clamp in place. The horizontal bike rack member sits on the upper piece of wood.
3- There is also a somewhat triangular bracket to provide forward/backward stability for the vertical post of the bike rack. Also bolted down.

This allows me to switch the carrier between hitch or trailer nount in 5 or so minutes. It is also very stable.

I will take some pictures and post them.

Thanks for the advice guys ill look into it once I sort my door seals first!