Carrying a dirt bike on the tongue of PUP

[carbondenali]

I've been thinking about adding a single motorcycle rail to the hitch of my Jayco 1207 to carry my dirt bike. Have a GMC Denali so no pickup box for me to work with. Does anyone see any problem with around 250 extra pounds being on there?

I realize it will increase the tongue weight but I don't really see that as being a problem.

I'm thinking of adding something like this:

http://www.sportutilitytrailers.com...rcycle_rail.htm

and maybe adding a narrow steel piece that runs about a foot from each side on the front tire end to attach the tie downs too.

Any thoughts of why this would be a bad idea?

[wavery]

I've been thinking about adding a single motorcycle rail to the hitch of my Jayco 1207 to carry my dirt bike. Have a GMC Denali so no pickup box for me to work with. Does anyone see any problem with around 250 extra pounds being on there?

I realize it will increase the tongue weight but I don't really see that as being a problem.

I'm thinking of adding something like this:

http://www.sportutilitytrailers.com...rcycle_rail.htm

and maybe adding a narrow steel piece that runs about a foot from each side on the front tire end to attach the tie downs too.

Any thoughts of why this would be a bad idea?

It will add about half of the weight to the trailer hitch and half to the trailer axle.

The only real problem that I see is being able to back without hitting the bike in a turn. The other issue may be the trailer's ability to handle that much weight in that spot. I'm not saying that it can't. I'm just saying that it wasn't designed to do it.

PU trailers are designed to very exacting (minimal) standards so that they can cut as much weight as possible from the trailer. After-all, that is the very essence of the PU camper (light weight/low profile). Weight carrying ability demands extra amounts of steel construction. I just can't believe that they would leave enough steel in the tongue to support an additional 250#.

[carbondenali]

Turning was one issue I've already thought of but its been raining/snowing today so I didn't get a chance after work to measure it out to see how that would work out. I'm thinking of mounting the rail right by the lp tank so its back as far as possible, maybe even removing the lp tank when the bike is on the rack to get it back even farther and just unloading the bike and replacing the take when I get to the campground. The bikes handle bars will be above the roof line so I should be able to put it pretty far back which will help turning some.

The hitch looks pretty heavy duty to me, but I'm no expert on steel or engineering so I may be way off base!!

I just like my 1207 and don't want to sell it and buy one of the pups that are made for carrying toys on the front rack. They seem to be more expensive and not as nice as a standard pup. So I'm just trying to figure out a way to make what I have work for me.

Thanks for the imput. I'm hoping someone on here has done this and can tell me how it worked out.

[carbondenali]

Another thing to remember is the weight of the bike will be spread across two spots on the frame, on each side of the hitch back before it comes to a single piece which should help some I'd guess.

[carbondenali]

Raining again today with talk of rain/snow for the next few days so I have not had a chance to size up if this is possible or not. Anyone out there done this already?
I've found a couple of used Jayco Baha's and Fleetwood E3's and I really don 't want to spend that much more just to be able to bring the bike along!

[carbondenali]

Another option:

http://www.allwebscooters.com/0084.asp

This will carry my dirt bike and has a reciever for hitch that is able to handle up to 3000 lbs of trailer.

The Jayco 1207 weighs 1870 lbs unloaded and has a hitch weight of 185 lbs. I don't usually carry too much in the camper when its going down the road. I have AC, that probably isn't included in that 1870 lbs. I'm sure I've got a ways to go to get to 3000 lbs but I don't want to be too close!

As far as the hitch weight is concerned I should be ok there too. 250 lbs for the bike, the carrier weighs 69 lbs (it says on that internet site) and I'll call the Jayco 200lbs to be safe so 519 lbs or so.

Any one have any experence with one of these?

I'd still favor my orignal idea first as it would be cheaper and I already have a three rail dirt bike trailer. My son has a 50cc, but I can fit that in the back of the truck easy enough if I go with this route or the rail on the camper hitch idea. My bike is the problem.

[wavery]

Another option:

http://www.allwebscooters.com/0084.asp

This will carry my dirt bike and has a reciever for hitch that is able to handle up to 3000 lbs of trailer.

The Jayco 1207 weighs 1870 lbs unloaded and has a hitch weight of 185 lbs. I don't usually carry too much in the camper when its going down the road. I have AC, that probably isn't included in that 1870 lbs. I'm sure I've got a ways to go to get to 3000 lbs but I don't want to be too close!

As far as the hitch weight is concerned I should be ok there too. 250 lbs for the bike, the carrier weighs 69 lbs (it says on that internet site) and I'll call the Jayco 200lbs to be safe so 519 lbs or so.

Any one have any experence with one of these?

I'd still favor my orignal idea first as it would be cheaper and I already have a three rail dirt bike trailer. My son has a 50cc, but I can fit that in the back of the truck easy enough if I go with this route or the rail on the camper hitch idea. My bike is the problem.

Check the "tongue weight rating" on your trailer hitch. It's usually 10% of the trailer towing rate. 519# is a lot of hitch weight. I doubt if you have a 5000# hitch on that vehicle.

If the hitch and TV "rear axle weight rating" will handle it, it looks like a good option. It moves the trailer back away from the TV and allows a better turning radius.

[mike4947]

I'll second weighing the trailer and tongue weight. Don't forget propane, battery, etc are not included in the published dry weights and contribute to the tongue weight.
Also check their carrying capacity link for your vehicle. Most listed do not go to the published 500 pound limit.
This is a nice unit, but you have to do some figuring and not just throw it on and drive away.
Since the unit will move the trailer farther back the moment arm of the trailer tongue weight will move rearward in comparison to the rear axle of the TV it will also increase any tendency to sway and sag. Which is my guess as to why they have the reduced weight limits for vehicles in their listings.