13 replies to this topic

[Adventurer]

Couldn't you put it on the roof of the camper, as I think with a Yakima or thule, etc., you have spare tire carrier options, or a front mounted hitch carrier?

[oldhotrod]

Look at which mounted tire carriers, they add little weight, are easily removed and adaptable to different needs...rigid, wilco and Westcott designs all have different takes on the hitch mount

[Your Mileage May Vary]

I'm not an engineer, but in one of my past lives I raced on track and in rally. Whenever we needed to add weight, we'd keep it as low as possible, as central as possible, and always between the wheels. Adding weight, in itself, is detrimental to handling, acceleration, deceleration, normal wear, and increases failures of various components. Placing added weight outside the wheels compounds issues with braking stability and handling, as it adds to the pendulum effect. One might not notice much difference in normal everyday driving, but would certainly notice the difference when approaching the limits of the vehicle, such as taking evasive maneuvers to prevent a crash or if they need to come a quick stop on a slippery curve. Everything else being equal, adding weight past the rear tires would lead to oversteering at lower speeds and increased chance of loss of control.

[Randonneur]

I have thought about this for a while myself since I often carry two mountain bikes on a 1-UPUSA rack attached to the receiver hitch on my 2017 Tacoma/ Fleet FWC. I would have preferred a swing arm system for the rack but the 1-UPUSA rack folds down out of the way to give access to the rear kinda sorta if you place the steps to the side. Somebody mentioned that they use the space along the side for mounting shovels and other recovery gear-- do you have any photos of this that you can share? Where did you drill into the camper and with what?

Thanks!