Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
Sunline RV Forum
Sunline User Photos

Go Back   Sunline Coach Owner's Club > Technical Forums > Modifications
Click Here to Login

Join Sunline Club Forums Today


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 02-27-2008, 03:41 PM   #1
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Florida
Posts: 211
SUN #287
nickster60
Motorcycle Rack

I would like to put a motorcycle rack on the back of the sunline. Antone have any advice , pic or info. I will be carrying a Kawasaki klr650.
__________________

__________________
2006 T-1950
1999 Dodge 2500 8.0l V10
2005 F150
nickster60 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-29-2008, 02:41 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 280
SUN #382
Mooney
Here's a link to Pat & Cindy's (emam) site....

You just may find what you're looking for there....


http://www.everymilesamemory.com/mot..._&_carrier.htm
__________________

__________________
Kelly & Greg Southeast MA
https://i249.photobucket.com/albums/g...hotos006-1.jpg
'04 2500HD Silverado
'05 2380s Solaris Lite, axles flipped
Mooney is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-29-2008, 08:12 PM   #3
Moderator
 
JohnB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Ohio
Posts: 12,643
SUN #89
JohnB is on a distinguished road
Hi Nickster60

This might help you some or at least give you some things to think about. I have not added an actual motor scooter but I have added rear storage boxes to 2 of my TT’s.

Adding things to the back of the camper comes with a level of caution. What I did on mine, while it works on mine, may not work on yours or other TT layouts.

See here on what I did.

On the T2499:


On the T310SR:


Each TT layout is different. Both of my TT’s are rear living area campers. The back of the TT is almost empty. Here see on my T310SR. It’s all carpet back there….


Now let’s look at the floor plan as this makes a big difference on adding anything to the back of a camper.
The T310SR:


The T2499:


Both of these floor plans have mid kitchens over the axle. And other gear storage loads towards the front. Weight of gear beyond the kitchen adds to the front tongue. There is not a lot of gear space or camper components aft of the axles. Other then carpet and a swivel rocker

Tongue weight can go up and fast pending what gear you have, especially in the front bed room and pass thur cargo hole. The T2499 in 2004 was built and weighed empty with close to 14.5 - 15% tongue weight dry. The 2004 T310SR was built and weighed empty with close to 13.5% ~ 14% tongue. When you add gear to that layout tongue weights can go up most of the time and fast. My T2499 went to 18% tongue (1,200#) with no fresh water with the gear I had in it. It went to 1,400 with fresh water and I still had a good 850# of cargo weight left before reaching the GVWR.

In my case this is what prompted me to add my rear boxes. Not to add more cargo, but to rearrange what I had. My ¾ Suburban could not take any more then the 1,200#. I was fortune then Sunline was still in business. After 6 months of figuring, checking and refiguring, I wrote Sunline a very detailed letter explaining my problem. After review of my calculations they allowed me to add the boxes. And only in my case.

In my case I was able to drop the tongue weight down to 14.5 - 15% with no fresh water and 16.5% with fresh (1,200#)

There are a host of things to watch out for.

Frame attachment. The attachment must be rigid and go deep up into the frame to become almost one with it.

I had to make sure the rear TT axle was not overloaded.

I had to make sure I was within the DOT rear lighting standards.

Make sure tongue weight did not decrease to low.

And then there is frame flexing. This one is the hardest. And is what can cause my fix to not work on many floor plans. See page 7 of this Dexter PDF. http://i.b5z.net/i/u/1080235/f/Appli...te_Catalog.pdf

In my case the maximum added weight of the boxes and frame only added 132# to the GVW. And I could only add a max of 250# in the boxes to keep my tongue weight where I wanted it. I’m actually only at 200# of gear back there. Remember I only used this to rearrange the weight in the camper. Not to add more gear to it.

Now let’s look at your T1950: Sorry I could not find a larger image to link in.


Your back wall area is not carpet. There is a bed with probably storage under it, a shower, a toilet and a sink cabinet where gear can be added. And what looks like some kind of pantry next to the bath area. These areas adds weight behind the axles. A 2006 1950 comes from Sunline as a 3770# dry weight with a 420# tongue. That is 11.1% dry tongue. When you add gear this will go up and you may end up 13 -14% tongue when all balanced out. This is great for towing stability.

The GVWR of a 2006 1950 is 5500# so that means 1,730# of options and gear before reaching the limit. My T2499 (7000 GVWR) had 2,215# of cargo capacity and the T310SR (10,000# GVWR) has 2,850# of cargo capacity.

In my case I was after loosing tongue weight, 15% to 16% tongue is enough, and I had ample cargo capacity.

The cautions I see on your floor plan are.

Rear of camper already has a good load at the rear wall due to floor plan. This raises frame flexing concerns that have to be proven out they are OK if you add more weight back there.

Tongue weight in the dry configuration is near 12% which is very common but it is not on the high end to start with. Rear scooters will decrease the tongue.

You cargo capacity is less then mine.

You really do not want to go much below 12% loaded tongue weight from my experiences. Yes 10% will work but it does not take much to shift 10% to 9% with 1 wrong gear move in the camper. Sway instability can then come pending towing conditions.

I do not know what your scooter weighs, 250# of scooter maybe, 350# with frame maybe, could be a guess. This much back there says, you have to do all your home work and then some.

I pretty conservative on towing setup’s so keep that in mind. If your going to add the scooter, make sure you check out at least the all the areas I showed you here.

Hope this helps and good luck

John
__________________
Current Sunlines: 2004 T310SR, 2004 T1950, 2004 T2475, 2007 T2499, 2004 T317SR
Prior Sunlines: 2004 T2499 - Fern Blue
2005 Ford F350 Lariat, 6.8L V10 W/ 4.10 rear axle, CC, Short Bed, SRW. Reese HP trunnion bar hitch W/ HP DC

Google Custom Search For Sunline Owners Club
JohnB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-01-2008, 07:49 AM   #4
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 280
SUN #382
Mooney
Fantastic reply, and I really like the boxes! I was wondering what you had back there in your camper1 photo...now I know!

I am always amazed at this forum.

There had also previously been a discussion where someone had a photo of a 1-wheeled cart that attached to the back of a coach...so the frame would not be carrying all the weight.
http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/ph...ht=one+wheeler

The company's website does specify that it is for a 5'er application, but it (might) be able to be worked out if you have a regular TT.
__________________
Kelly & Greg Southeast MA
https://i249.photobucket.com/albums/g...hotos006-1.jpg
'04 2500HD Silverado
'05 2380s Solaris Lite, axles flipped
Mooney is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-01-2008, 01:05 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Florida
Posts: 211
SUN #287
nickster60
That is a great reply. I have decided to just put the bike in the back of the truck. The bike weighs 400lbs and I think that would be to much to hang of the back off the trailer. But the old Dodge will hardly know it is there.
__________________
2006 T-1950
1999 Dodge 2500 8.0l V10
2005 F150
nickster60 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-01-2008, 03:08 PM   #6
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: New York
Posts: 95
SUN #296
RPierce
John that looks like a great set up. Do you have any pictures of how you extended the frame? I would like to do something similar on the back of my T2670. I want to extend bumper about 20", enough to put a small poly box in the center. It would also allow me to store my sewer tote on the rear.

I am just looking for a little additional light storage for items like hoses, extension cords and tarps.
__________________
Bob & Jen
Very UpState NY

1994 Sunline Solaris T2670
2002 2500HD Chev D-max

https://img266.imageshack.us/img266/1...gely005pm5.jpg
RPierce is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-03-2008, 07:53 PM   #7
Moderator
 
JohnB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Ohio
Posts: 12,643
SUN #89
JohnB is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by RPierce
John that looks like a great set up. Do you have any pictures of how you extended the frame? I would like to do something similar on the back of my T2670. I want to extend bumper about 20", enough to put a small poly box in the center. It would also allow me to store my sewer tote on the rear.

I am just looking for a little additional light storage for items like hoses, extension cords and tarps.
Bob

I will pull a post togehter on this as it might help others that have a floor plan that will allow the rear adder. I already typed 1/2 the post here. I used 3 x 3 x 1/4" angle iron and bolted it on with 4, 1/2" bolts each side. It went 24" up into the frame.

A friendly heads up, know your tongue weight before and after any of this and keep it above 12% of the GVW of the TT. And know the GVW of the TT and rear axle loads. You really need to know your weights when doing this. Not all TT's can take the loads/frame flex and I express caution.

Here are some quick pics of the actual frame










Hope this helps

John
__________________
Current Sunlines: 2004 T310SR, 2004 T1950, 2004 T2475, 2007 T2499, 2004 T317SR
Prior Sunlines: 2004 T2499 - Fern Blue
2005 Ford F350 Lariat, 6.8L V10 W/ 4.10 rear axle, CC, Short Bed, SRW. Reese HP trunnion bar hitch W/ HP DC

Google Custom Search For Sunline Owners Club
JohnB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-03-2008, 07:57 PM   #8
Moderator
 
JohnB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Ohio
Posts: 12,643
SUN #89
JohnB is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by nickster60
That is a great reply. I have decided to just put the bike in the back of the truck. The bike weighs 400lbs and I think that would be to much to hang of the back off the trailer. But the old Dodge will hardly know it is there.
Thanks for the the kind words. I hoped it help expalin some of this what to look out for.

Yes you are 110% right. A 400# bike 24 inches off the back with a 150# frame to hold it = To much.

You 2500 truck will have a lot better chance at this. I'm not much help on how to get it up there but I have seen some quad ramps others have used.

Good luck and happy camping

John
__________________

__________________
Current Sunlines: 2004 T310SR, 2004 T1950, 2004 T2475, 2007 T2499, 2004 T317SR
Prior Sunlines: 2004 T2499 - Fern Blue
2005 Ford F350 Lariat, 6.8L V10 W/ 4.10 rear axle, CC, Short Bed, SRW. Reese HP trunnion bar hitch W/ HP DC

Google Custom Search For Sunline Owners Club
JohnB is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Bike rack Irishcamper Towing and Tow Vehicles 5 06-06-2009 09:39 AM
Custom Fabricated Bike Rack emam Modifications 4 10-01-2007 08:36 AM
Custom Bike Rack emam Sunline Community 0 08-14-2007 03:23 PM
Bike rack on Hitch? has anyone done it? precorguy Modifications 4 02-17-2007 09:03 AM
bike rack Richard Modifications 4 11-26-2006 04:18 PM


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sunline RV or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 01:14 AM.


×