Bikes and/or Kayaks on the roof???

[Jason Mankey]

Sooooo...

One of the purposes for buying our 2010 Expy last year was to tow our 12 foot pop up camper. This camper has about every single option a popup can have....Air Conditioning, Pressurized water system, 3 way fridge, furnace, water heater, bathroom, shower, bump out on the side in addition to the beds, solid door, outdoor shower, fully enclosed awning, you name it. That makes it heavy for a popup. Loaded it runs about 4,000lbs.

I say all of this because with all the vents and stuff on the roof of the camper, it does not allow for room to install a roof rack and bike mounts on the top of the camper.

Apparently because of the design and the bump out on the side, the rear of the frame of the camper is not sufficient enough to support mounting a 2" hitch for a normal bike rack on the back of the camper. This was tried in the past. The frame was partially reinforced and it still broke part of the frame and the camper had to be repaired.

And I am not fond of the racks that try to squeeze the bikes between the camper and truck. They almost always seem to compromise the hitch setup in some way and turn radius always seems to be an issue.

So I am thinking that getting a roof rack bike carrier might be the only reliable and safest option. My Expy does have the factory roof bars with 2 cross bars.

So I have 3 questions...

1. What roof top bike carriers have worked well for you guys that are under $300 for 3 bikes?

2. Would I need to replace any of the factory roof rack parts?

3. Would a roof basket be a better option? I was told by someone that some baskets have the ability to mount bikes using a small kit. I have not been able to find this as of yet. Having a basket would give me more options down the road and since my Expy is the shorty, having a place to put more cargo when using the 3rd row seat would be nice.



*****MORE INFO ON POST #5

 

[Waterlizard]

I found some on eBay that have worked for me. However, the cross beams will bend with weight(by design), which causes the bike to move significantly if only one bike is loaded I up. If there are two bikes on top there is no problem. But if only one if feels like it will fly off at every turn and bump. If I were to do it again I would make sure to get some solid cross beams.


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[John Kohler]

I've seen people have a receiver hitch welded to the front of a truck and carry bikes there. Those who do this swear it's a great solution.

 

[Jason Mankey]

I've seen people have a receiver hitch welded to the front of a truck and carry bikes there. Those who do this swear it's a great solution.

I had saw that option on some other forums. However, I have read that often the bikes get in the way of the headlights.

Also, I read that there are some states that now have declared front mounted bike racks as illegal. I guess it had to do with accidents where the bikes and rack itself hit a vehicle before the front bumper causing extra injuries to people.

That is why I am thinking the roof mount would be the most reliable and safest option.

 

[Jason Mankey]

Sooooo...

One of the purposes for buying our 2010 Expy last year was to tow our 12 foot pop up camper. This camper has about every single option a popup can have....Air Conditioning, Pressurized water system, 3 way fridge, furnace, water heater, bathroom, shower, bump out on the side in addition to the beds, solid door, outdoor shower, fully enclosed awning, you name it. That makes it heavy for a popup. Loaded it runs about 4,000lbs.

I say all of this because with all the vents and stuff on the roof of the camper, it does not allow for room to install a roof rack and bike mounts on the top of the camper.

Apparently because of the design and the bump out on the side, the rear of the frame of the camper is not sufficient enough to support mounting a 2" hitch for a normal bike rack on the back of the camper. This was tried in the past. The frame was partially reinforced and it still broke part of the frame and the camper had to be repaired.

And I am not fond of the racks that try to squeeze the bikes between the camper and truck. They almost always seem to compromise the hitch setup in some way and turn radius always seems to be an issue.

So I am thinking that getting a roof rack bike carrier might be the only reliable and safest option. My Expy does have the factory roof bars with 2 cross bars.

So I have 3 questions...

1. What roof top bike carriers have worked well for you guys that are under $300 for 3 bikes?

2. Would I need to replace any of the factory roof rack parts?

3. Would a roof basket be a better option? I was told by someone that some baskets have the ability to mount bikes using a small kit. I have not been able to find this as of yet. Having a basket would give me more options down the road and since my Expy is the shorty, having a place to put more cargo when using the 3rd row seat would be nice.

I also wanted to add.....in a conversation with my wife this morning I found out that she wants us to eventually buy some kayaks to take camping. I was pleasantly surprised as I didn't think she cared for Kayaking. Apparently she liked it more than she let on.

I am now wondering if a roof basket would be able to haul either bikes and/or kayaks. It would be nice to have one solution that could haul both.

 

[mjp2]

Skip the basket as you'll end up with less space for carrying stuff. Get some wide load bars (72") and you'll be able to fit what you want up there.

Make sure whatever bike mounts you get have all the controls at the base so you can reach stuff. I use 2 Thule ProRide mounts and they work pretty well up.

Get a vertical multi-kayak rack to fit them next to the bikes.

Thule makes good stuff but it's pricey. I recently bought some Inno rack products and have been really impressed by the quality and features and they're far cheaper (for what you get) than Thule.

 

[Flexpedition]

Any thought to having the trailer tongue extended to accommodate the bikes?

That same extended tongue could, in the hands of a creative welder, be a front mounting point for an overhead kayak rack, assuming something could be created for the rear of the camper to hold the back half of the kayaks. Some kind of field goal post looking things, nothing elaborate.

Thisaway your camper/bikes/kayaks can go anywhere with any tow vehicle. Sell, wreck, trade the Expedition and you are back to square one, so fix one, not the other.

 

[John D]

I have a pair of these on my roof with the factory crossbars, but it would be no problem to do 3. More than $300 bucks though!

https://www.1up-usa.com/product/roof-rack/

 

[rjdelp7]

How about putting the bikes in the camper.

 

[SomeENG]

It's a pop-up camper, the bikes wouldn't fit

 

[cbbco]

Whichever route you decide to take, keep an eye on your max payload. We are a family of four (two teenage kids), along with a 100 pound lab. When we finally calculated the tongue weight of the camper, the bikes, the passengers, and all the camping gear we were surprised at how close we were to the maximum limit.

 

[Kicknbak]

How about a rack built for the camper that stands above the ac, vents, antennas.
Given the full area then would allow you to carry bikes, kayaks, pet enclosures, etc. all at the same time with a well designed carrier. Would be the route I would take anyway. Weight would be a concern then.

 

[Naal6640]

I just got back from camping in Door County WI - 5 hrs there, 5 hrs back pulling 30 ft TT.

I did a lot of research on how to mount bikes, we have 4 full size bikes. I looked at putting on back of camper bumper, over spare tire or from the ladder. I looked at mounting on tongue of camper and finally and settled on putting three on the roof and one inside the camper. I was real hesitant to put anything on the rear bumper because the weight and over extending of rack would put a lot of stress on bumper welds.

I simply bought the OEM Ford roof rack cross bars (about $100) and attached three Swagman bike roof racks (about $40 each).

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000SL1AEG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They did just fine, weight was never an issue. I did add a few bungie straps for extra stabilizing. The trick to getting them up and off is to grab bike by front fork and the post above pedals then lift straight overhead to carry.

 

[FordFamily]

Had a similar situation a while back. Never figured out how to put both up top of the Expedition in a way we trusted. We ended up with kayak racks on the roof and then took the bikes partially apart. Front wheel off, steering tube loosened and turned 90 degrees, pedals off. Put in the cargo area wrapped in an old blanket we didn't care about. Took 15 minutes at each end of the trip.

Not really optimal and we only had two big box store bikes. Just another thought to consider. YMMV. We hang 'em on the back of a different camper now.

 

[JollyRoger]

How about a rack built for the camper that stands above the ac, vents, antennas.
Given the full area then would allow you to carry bikes, kayaks, pet enclosures, etc. all at the same time with a well designed carrier. Would be the route I would take anyway. Weight would be a concern then.

X2. By putting them on the roof of the popup, you also won't have to be as concerned with height, and it will be more aerodynamic. In addition, they will be WAY easier to load/unload. There are many options for pop up camper roof racks that would clear the obstructions. But yeah, keep an eye on the weight...Good Luck!

 

[Menard LaDouche]

Make a triple hitch set-up for the bikes to tow the trailer, and leave the Expedition at home.

 

[mjp2]

Make a triple hitch set-up for the bikes to tow the trailer, and leave the Expedition at home.

And wear the kayaks in place of helmets

 

[whizkid]

On our popup, I created a bracket that mounted to the front frame between the propane bottles and the front wall. Then, we put the bikes on fork mounts and the back wheels went on the top of the popup. Had a board under the back wheels to strap them all together and a cargo strap holding it all in place. Made a long trip to Florida with it and a couple of short trips around here in Oklahoma. Worked well every time.


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[chuck s]

When we brought bikes with our Coleman Bayside popup I used a bike rack on the back of my Explorer (this was pre-Expeditions). I "think" it clamped to the tow bar of the trailer hitch. It did cut the turning radius of the rig.

Roof storage on a popup is a good way to (1) overload the trailer and (2) damage the roof. While some have cross bars there is typically little available carrying capacity in the tires. Roof storage on top of an Expedition seems like it would require a forklift to bet anything up there and back down.

Rent kayaks. My adult daughter was crying for one and my wife came close to buying one for her and another for her husband. Moms will always be Moms! A couple years ago a nice used kayak appeared on a local list and my daughter wanted me to transport it home with my Expedition. No way we could get it on the roof. Put all the seats down and and stuck it in the back. Maybe a 30 minute drive...

May 2018. Kayak has been used two (2) times since she bought it. Stays on a rack at the lake. Rent them as you need them!

-- Chuck

 

[Dlsgap]

I'm picking up a new kayak with my expedition tomorrow morning.. Will take pics when it's up there