Rear Bike Rack for Dodge PleasureWay With Door-Mounted Spare

[GallenH]

Planning summer trips and I want to add a 2-bike rack on the back of my 1997 PleasureWay. It's on the Dodge 3500 chassis, has the single rear door, and the spare tire mounted on the door+hinges. Has anyone added a rack to a similar configuration? I remember seeing on on a similar RV in Utah somewhere and I believe the brand was Swagman. They sell several racks that they list as "RV approved"....whatever that means. But many of you must have been confronted with a similar issue and I'd appreciate any advice/recommendations that you might have. BTW: would be carrying standard bikes; not electric.

Thanks and Happy Holidays to all.
Glenn

 

[GeorgeRad]

Perhaps Yakima EXO system upper rack bike mount could clear your spare wheel if is high enough. I have EXO box on the swing hitch and it is top notch quality EXO

 

[otr]

We have a Thule swing away, it is good as it swings away to allow you to.open the back door. If you look on craigslist or FB marketplace you should be able to find one for less than half the new price. Ours left an inch or two between the rack amd spare.
Also we moved the spare ( on our 2000 RT 190V) from the rear door to a second receiver which we mounted on the hitch support to the left of the center receiver. Our single rear door had begun to sag from the weight of the spare over 25 years. I fabricated a receiver mount tilt down spare support

 

[Mike Bee-ClassB]

We have a 97 RT on the Dodge 2500 chassis with a single back door and the spare mounted on it. Very similar to your rig.

We have a bike rack that fits into the trailer hitch and carries two mountain bikes.

The rack is a Sportrack SR2901 which sells for $299.99 at Canadian Tire here in Canada.

It is a platform style rack which in my opinion is easy to use and more secure than those where you hang the bike by its tubes.
There is less lifting to put the tires into the wheel hoops and an adjustable bar is lowered over the frame to hold it in place.

The whole rack is foldable: platforms fold up against upright hoops when travelling and no bikes OR centre post folds flat so you can open the rear door when no bikes on.

Couple of things we learned was:
- when putting the first bike on between the post and van, lower the post so minimal lifting, raise the post, put it the clip to secure it than lower the hold down on bike frame.Outside bike loading I’d straight forward.
- our spare is on the drivers side so the inside bike’s rear tire goes there. The second bike has its handlebars on the spare tire size.
- because the bike rack is foldable it has a certain amount of flex in it and can move/bounce in transport. To minimize this I attach a rubber bungee from the centre post to the spare tire frame. No problems or metal fatigue in 9 years and we’ve been across Canada twice.

Good luck, bringing your bikes really opens up what you can access at many places.

Mike Bee

97 RT P170
Formerly 89 Westy

 

[bonnecavesman]

Are you sure the you want to mount the bike rack on the rear of your vehicle? Front mounting is also an option and may reduce rear overloading and suspension whipping causing grief by having rack failures on irregular road surfaces at highway speeds with regrettable results. It is relatively easy to have a 2" tow receptacle installed on the front of your vehicle without affecting your windshield vision and thereby preventing the aforementioned whip failure and potential overloading of various recommended/described rear mount options.

 

[MiddKid]

Just two thoughts -1. Definitely buy a swingaway model, and 2. make sure the rack will bear the weight of the bikes because ebikes (present or future) are much heavier than conventional bikes. Bonus point - if you have ebikes consider how you will load them, because their weight and awkward positioning on the rack can present a conundrum. Happy travels!

 

[DaveBad]

and if you have ebikes take the batteries off of them and store them in the van. It's easier to load the bikes and less weight hanging out there.

 

[booster]

And preferably store them in a lithium battery safety bag. It is almost like the e-bikes are going through the battery fire issues the hover boards had a few years ago.

 

[GallenH]

Thanks to all respondes. It's given me some excellent ideas. Happy NY to all.

 

[Blueboy1]

Thanks to all respondes. It's given me some excellent ideas. Happy NY to all.

Hi Gallen, I've had the Swagman XTC2 on my 96 PW Dodge for almost 10 years now and it works just fine for regular bikes and even for my beloved recumbent Stratus XP. The fact that the center post can be folded allows you to open the door without removing the rack. If you do encounter interference with the spare tire, just had an extension to your receiver or go for the mod I did on mine , relocate the spare tire and it's bracket to the front of the van. I think that I have posted those mods in my album on the forum. Happy new year

 

[GallenH]

Hey Blueboy. Nice to hear from you. Just got back from a month visiting my son and only looked at the forum now. I've been looking at the XTC2 also so it is nice to know that it has worked well for you over all those years. Will check out your album. Best always.