Rear Bumper Hitch Receiver for Bike Rack

[Seaheart]

I would like to somehow attach a tow hitch receiver to the rear bumper of my 25' Safari and am wondering if anyone has done that and HOW did they do it? What brand of hitch receiver did they use? I would like to mount a bicycle carrier back there and then be able to move the carrier to my tow vehicle when I am not towing my Airstream. Any help would be appreciated.

[Road Ruler]

I did what you are suggesting.

It was on a pop up and I built a very nice receiver that bolted on.

The bike rack could then be transfered to the van.

My problem was two fold. The receiver at the time was a class II. The rack when installed on the back of the pop up bounced when on the road. After driving for 5 days and 1,000's of micro bounces the ball mount failed. We did have a safety strap on the rack/bikes but we still had damage when we dragged them on the highway through Pittsburg.

The lesson learned was the rack needs to be supported to the trailer in a second position to prevent bounce (metal fatigue) and in this case with two bikes (50lbs) a class III receiver would be best.

[mojo]

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f206...ers-86424.html

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f227...kes-93660.html

[Seaheart]

Thanks for your reply about the failed bike rack. Since I started researching putting a hitch receiver on the back of my Airstream (25' Safari) to carry bikes I have talked to many RV dealers and a few Airstream dealers and RV shop personel. They ALL have said 'don't do it'. The hitches inevitably fail because of the vibrations and other factors involved - even when the hitch receiver is welded to the frame of the trailer - which involves removing the belly pan (drill out the rivets et al....). By the time you do all that AND install a custom made receiver you are well into big money. The carrier designed by Fiamma and sold by Airstream, although expensive, is cheaper that doing all that. I wonder if anyone has used that Fiamma unit? Hmmm, fodder for another Thread.