Modified installation of "Jack-It" bike racks for our smaller trailers - Caution!

MrGGBrown

(“Caution” added to title to draw attention to findings of frame crack 10/20/21. Moderator)

When we got our T@G, one of the first things I tried to figure out was how to haul our bikes. I found a lot of articles/blogposts saying don't carry them on the back of a trailer, which was my initial plan. I then thought about putting them on top of the T@G, but we don't have roof racks, so that wasn't going to be straight-forward. I really didn't want them up that high anyway because of the difficulty in getting them up/down. Then I found the "Jack-It" bike carrier, which mounts on the front along with the jack, so I bought one. When I first installed it and loaded the bikes, I wasn't too happy because it held the bikes way up above both our TV and the T@G.

Then I got the idea to install the middle piece - they call it the "stinger" - upside down. I verified it would work that way, and being an engineer, it seemed to me like the loads would all be equivalent and it should work just fine. My wife needed a little more verification, so I traded emails with the company and they confirmed it writing that it was completely fine to use it in that alternate configuration. I will admit it takes a little more "adjusting" to get the bikes loaded, but the result now is that they're no higher than our TV or T@G.

It's as simple as installing the "stinger" upside down. You'll notice I also took the labels off the stinger because they end up being upside down. I think they still have adequate product representation with the remaining labels.

michelevaneyken

It looks as if it doesn't interfere with opening the tool box either. I think we must have installed our Jack-it so the same way you did, but by accident! It is both not too high and just right for the box. We did have to purchase a front-cranking jack, however, our first one cranked from the top and wouldn't work with the Jack-It tower on either side. Good mod!

martijn

Ha! I just saw this post and I've made this exact same journey. Works great, and the bikes are nicely tucked between the TV and the T@G. In our case, if I properly position the pedals on the bike closest to the trailer, I can still open the tongue box.

MrGGBrown

I don't mean to concern anyone, but I think it best to let people know of a potential problem to watch for with the Jack-It bike rack installation on the T@G.

We just returned from a 4,300 mile 3-week trip in which we carried our 2 -relatively light- street bikes on the rack. The last couple days of the trip I noticed the jack/bike rack were a little loose, and upon checking I found the front bolt was stripped and wouldn't tighten. Today I took it apart and found that the triangular sheet metal area of the trailer tongue was warped up and cracked, in addition to the front hole being stripped.

It's not too surprising the thread stripped because all they did was thread the sheet metal, with no actual nut on the bottom. That may be enough for the front jack as originally designed, but not really enough for the additional leverage applied by the bike rack. I don't think the trailer was really in jeopardy of failing, but a crack in the steel is obviously not desirable.

There are several ways you can go about fixing this. The simplest is to install a washer and nut on the bottom of that front bolt to provide better threads and distribute the load a bit more. Even better would be to replace the bolt with a grade 8 bolt/nut which is a lot stronger, and use a heavy-duty washer. This will fix the thread issue, but only somewhat alleviate the warping/cracking potential.

I went a little bit farther and cut/drilled a 1/4-inch piece of steel that just fits between the frame rails to distribute the load a bit more.

I also welded the crack in the sheet metal, and used a grade 8 bolt when reassembling.
Hopefully this will be sufficient.

LuckyJ

Wow, thanks, I think many will like the heads up on this. I am curious, how much tongue weight to you have? Curiois as to how much weight is on the jack when parked.

But for sure, the bike being high and side ways in front of tge trailer do ofer a lot of resistance that must put a lot of force on the jack plate.

MrGGBrown

I haven't measured the tongue weight, but I'd guess that with just the bike rack installed, it's not much more than it was coming out of the factory, since I replaced the very heavy lead-acid battery with a LiFePo battery which only weighs 23 lbs. Add to that the weight of the bikes, which isn't too much as one is carbon fiber and the other aluminum framed. That little black box has an ice maker in it, which is also relatively light. I can still pick the tongue up by hand.
I think the real issue is the design of the bike rack puts a lot of upward force on the front bolt, due to the moment arm effect. Those forces are then amplified by driving on bumpy roads, which cause the bikes to want to bounce.

Michigan_Mike

Sounds more like a fishing pole, pendulum effect and is creating stress/metal fatigue at the bolt pattern holes. Very interesting that you found it and were able to easily correct it before something happened. It always scares me to see RV’s carrying bikes and gear off the back of their rigs. Lots of stressing going on with the whipsaw effect, bouncing, going from side to side, fishing pole action, etc.

We almost lost bikes out in the Black Hills on Needles Highway about 6 years ago. Very scary and it was because I had a bike rack to the rear of the trailer as others were doing. Mounting bikes between the tow vehicle and trailer is the optimum spot, but consideration and thought should go into this process as things can happen. I know a lady that lost her bikes on the road out in Glacier National Park.

I know that bike racks can be expensive but Arvika makes a nice bike rack that attaches to the tubular part of the frame. Always check out these bike racks before and after you travel as they do crack from the constant bouncing and motion/movement encountered along the roadway.

Better safe than sorry! ☠️👍🏻