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