Customers' Reviews:
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 Pro's and Con's of the Swagman RV Bumper Bike Rack!, October 17, 2010
By K. R. Merryman (Missouri)
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PRO'S:
The Swagman RV Bumper Bike Rack Adaptor is very well made with heavy duty material. It is very easy to install and looks great.
CON's
The (4) four nuts fit very, very tight and appeared to damage the threads of the bolts as you turn the nuts to tighten. You wouldn't have to worry about them falling off. However... I was concerned about getting them off if/when I wanted to move or remove the Swagman Adaptor. So I purchased (4) four new flat washers and (4) four new lock washers and (8) eight new nuts. (It takes "Metric" nuts). After putting the four bolts through the receiver and down through the bottom plate... I place the flat washer first, then the lock washer, then the first "Metric" nut and tightened all four nuts. The second Metric" nut was then placed and tightend up against the first nut. This is called double nutting. It may sound like an over kill but it works without any worry of the Swagman receiver comming loose on it's own. However... it is very easy to remove the Swagman without any of the threads on the (4) four bolts being damaged.
Caution! This is NOT THE FAULT OF THE SWAGMAN ADAPTOR! My Outback RV bumper is made of steel and is a continuous weld the full length of the bottom of the square bumper. It is covered on the top and front with aluminum for looks. The bumper is welded to the RV steel frame in (2) two places about 18" in from the left and right ends of the bumper. Our first trip with the Swagman Adaptor in place and a bike rack attached with (2) two bikes on board was nearly a disaster. We drove about 375 miles on our first leg of the trip and when we stopped for the night... the bumper was nearly torn off the RV frame. The bumper... spare tire... and bike rack with (2) two bikes were at a 45 degree angle. The steel bumper was ripping off the RV frame. A few more miles down the road and all would have been lost and perhaps caused an accident for following traffic. For the next 1,600 miles we had to load and unload the bikes from inside the RV each time we stopped. I now have to have a shop weld the bumper back on to hold the spare tire and then purchase a full receiver hitch that will bolt directly to the sides of the RV frame and locate it under the existing RV bumper!
UPDATE: Had a heavier gauge steel bumper welded on the rear of the travel trailer for $90 and all is perfect now!
12 of 12 people found this review helpful
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Pro's and Con's of the Swagman RV Bumper Bike Rack!, October 17, 2010
By K. R. Merryman (Missouri)
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|
PRO'S:
The Swagman RV Bumper Bike Rack Adaptor is very well made with heavy duty material. It is very easy to install and looks great.
CON's
The (4) four nuts fit very, very tight and appeared to damage the threads of the bolts as you turn the nuts to tighten. You wouldn't have to worry about them falling off. However... I was concerned about getting them off if/when I wanted to move or remove the Swagman Adaptor. So I purchased (4) four new flat washers and (4) four new lock washers and (8) eight new nuts. (It takes "Metric" nuts). After putting the four bolts through the receiver and down through the bottom plate... I place the flat washer first, then the lock washer, then the first "Metric" nut and tightened all four nuts. The second Metric" nut was then placed and tightend up against the first nut. This is called double nutting. It may sound like an over kill but it works without any worry of the Swagman receiver comming loose on it's own. However... it is very easy to remove the Swagman without any of the threads on the (4) four bolts being damaged.
Caution! This is NOT THE FAULT OF THE SWAGMAN ADAPTOR! My Outback RV bumper is made of steel and is a continuous weld the full length of the bottom of the square bumper. It is covered on the top and front with aluminum for looks. The bumper is welded to the RV steel frame in (2) two places about 18" in from the left and right ends of the bumper. Our first trip with the Swagman Adaptor in place and a bike rack attached with (2) two bikes on board was nearly a disaster. We drove about 375 miles on our first leg of the trip and when we stopped for the night... the bumper was nearly torn off the RV frame. The bumper... spare tire... and bike rack with (2) two bikes were at a 45 degree angle. The steel bumper was ripping off the RV frame. A few more miles down the road and all would have been lost and perhaps caused an accident for following traffic. For the next 1,600 miles we had to load and unload the bikes from inside the RV each time we stopped. I now have to have a shop weld the bumper back on to hold the spare tire and then purchase a full receiver hitch that will bolt directly to the sides of the RV frame and locate it under the existing RV bumper!
UPDATE: Had a heavier gauge steel bumper welded on the rear of the travel trailer for $90 and all is perfect now!
7 of 7 people found this review helpful
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Easy-to-install, heavy-duty, bike rack adapter, September 4, 2009
By Water Cop (South Alabama, USA)
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This is a well built, heavy duty accessory that just bolts right to a standard 4 inch travel trailer bumper. I took it on a 1,400 mile test run the last couple of weeks, and it performed perfectly.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
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 Needs a little work, but works., July 28, 2010
By Drew
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The adapter worked well and accepted my bike rack just fine, except the the holes through the adapter for the hitch pin were not quite big enough for a my standard size hitch pin, so in order to make it work I needed to drill the holes out to a larger size.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
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Works great! But suggest an added item to install on 4" bumper, October 26, 2011
By F.Fisch (Hayden, ID USA)
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Got this for our travel trailer with a 4" square bumper. I installed with receiver under the bumper and the bolt to snug up the bike rack when it is slipped into the receiver works great to reduce 'wobble'. There is a good deal of room between the bolts (about 4.5"), so to make it more snug and to disperse the weight and torsional twist along the whole bumper, I used a suggestion found on RV forum sites. I installed 4 steel angles, one on each edge of the bumper, 1/8" x 1 1/2" x 6'. Works great and solid unit, with no room for shifting on the bumper.
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Works great, easy to install, October 14, 2011
By Jemmie Wang (Carmel, IN)
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I installed this on the rear bumper of my camper to hold a bicycle rack. The installation took only a few minutes and is solid - it's tight and there's no play or movement. We have a four bicycle rack on it and it works fine. I highly recommend it.
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Excellent bike rack adapter., December 26, 2010
By C. Brown (Folsom, Ca)
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I've had this Swagman RV bumper bike rack adapter for 2 years. It is real sturdy and well built. 20 min. job to put it on. Your RV bumper HAS TO HAVE A CONTINUOUS weld on the bottom where the bumper comes together. Mine didn't and the welding shop suggested we have 6 inches of weld with a 3 inch gap before the next weld all the way down the bumper. That way if a weld starts to crack it won't go the full length of the bumper, it will only go 6 inches and the other welds will be ok. We always have a heavy tandum bike on it and some times another one person bike,not to mention a heavy full bike rack. This is a great product worthy of 5 stars. I highly recommend it.
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Swagman RV 2" Bumper Adaptor, January 17, 2012
By Rocky
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I received fast shipping on this bolt on bumper adaptor. I needed to have some way of installing a bike rack on the back of my travel trailer and I did not want to drill holes in the square iron bumper. This adaptor was the perfect idea and fit my bumper. All I had to do was add the receiver and put the bike rack on the receiver and I was ready to go camping.
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Swagman bumper hitch adapter, November 16, 2011
By RVer
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All that I expected and then some. No complaints. I would buy this product again. What more could I say?
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Installed in minutes, August 17, 2011
By Buzz Cut
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Very easy to install, fit perfect no problems.
I like the added set screw to help movement in the
hitch. Heavy duty well built hitch and bolt.
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No drilling needed!, April 23, 2012
By smred1
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Works great and we did not have to drill any holes in our new fifth wheel! We used this to attach our bike rack and it's a good product.
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Works great! But suggest an added item to install on 4" bumper, October 26, 2011
By F. Fischer (Hayden, ID USA)
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Got this for our travel trailer with a 4" square bumper. I installed with receiver under the bumper and the bolt to snug up the bike rack when it is slipped into the receiver works great to reduce 'wobble'. There is a good deal of room between the bolts (about 4.5"), so to make it more snug and to disperse the weight and torsional twist along the whole bumper, I used a suggestion found on RV forum sites. I installed 4 steel angles, one on each edge of the bumper, 1/8" x 1 1/2" x 6'. Works great and solid unit, with no room for shifting on the bumper.
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