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Old 03-19-2011, 01:57 PM   #1
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campingne
t2075 bumper upgrade

Hello everyone,
I have a 2075 and I would like to upgrade the bumper. I have a length of 3"x3"x3/16" square tubing that I would like to replace my factory bumper with. I would remove the bumber and the bumper brackets that are welded onto the ends of the frame. I would have 2 pcs. of 3" angle iron welded onto the tubing. I would then drill thru the angle iron and frame so I could bolt the new bumper to the frame of the trailer. The reason I want to do this is because I want to weld a 2" receiver to this bumper. This would allow me to use a bike rack or small platform off the rear of the camper. I wouldn't want to carry a large amount of gear on the platform. The new bumper would weight about 60 lbs.
I am open to any input on this subject.
I want to thank you in advance for any assistance that you could give me.
Chris
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Old 03-19-2011, 06:18 PM   #2
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My thinking is forget using the bumper at all. Get a receiver hitch installed to the frame of the Sunline. I "think" that would be the strongest way to go.

I'm sure some of the guys will be along soon and have better advise for you.

Kitty
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Old 03-20-2011, 06:49 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kanyonkitty View Post
My thinking is forget using the bumper at all. Get a receiver hitch installed to the frame of the Sunline. I "think" that would be the strongest way to go.

Kitty
We had the receiver welded to the frame.....one thing to remember is the weight you put onto the rear will come off the front and you want to keep your tongue weight in balance.......

Now I know for sure thee guys will be chiming in.....
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Old 03-20-2011, 09:45 AM   #4
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HUM, so far the guys have left it up to us gals
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Old 03-20-2011, 04:34 PM   #5
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Well Kitty I guess they think we know what were talking about.....LOL but I know John B is out camping....wait until later Sunday night or Monday and I'm sure he'll be here to reinforce our comments. But where is everyone else????
LOL!!!!
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Old 03-20-2011, 07:17 PM   #6
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Hi Chris

I'll try to help. What year is your T2075? And by any chance do you know your loaded tongue weight and TT gross loaded weight?

What I'm up to is doing a quick calculation on reduced tongue weight that will come from adding bikes on the back.

Will there be 1 or 2 adult bikes or how many?

I know hauling bikes can be a problem on where to put them. Pending what truck you have it can limit your options. I know I have been thru 3 bike hauling locations across 2 TT's and 3 TV's. They all have pro's can con's.

I also need 2 measurements.

Distance from tow ball to end of rear TT bumper.
Distance from tow ball to center of rear TT axle.

Let me know the camper year, measurements and how many bikes, adult or child and I'll get back to you with some info to help you sort thru this.

Thanks

John
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Old 03-21-2011, 09:45 AM   #7
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I found that two adult bikes lashed together with a tiedown and leaning on a peice of foam on the counter in the TT worked great. Securing them together stopped them from jiggling around and I was able to put them right over the Axles.
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Old 03-21-2011, 04:51 PM   #8
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I want to take a second to thank everyone for their response. This is a great site for Sunline owners to gather very useful info. This is my second Sunline TT because I love the quality and craftsmanship of this product line.

Hi John
My camper is a 2006
The distance from the ball to the end of rear TT bumper is 21'-10"
The distance from the ball to the center of the rear TT axle is 16'-6"
2 adult bikes

Thank you
Chris
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Old 03-21-2011, 06:27 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kanyonkitty View Post
HUM, so far the guys have left it up to us gals
Quote:
Originally Posted by Poppy & Nana View Post
Well Kitty I guess they think we know what were talking about......
Yes and Yes.
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Old 03-21-2011, 08:47 PM   #10
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Chris

Here is what I have come up with.

My Swagmen bottom tire holding bike rack weighs 109# with 2 adult bikes on it. Looks like this. The main bike rack is Swagmen but I made the stand it mounts too. They call them platform racks. Mine had a 2” straight tube shank. The ones on line I searched tonight seems to have a smaller size and an adapter. Don’t know if they all do or not. Maybe something new. For this setup, the 2" straight is a better option if you can get it.





Here is one place you can buy them
Amazon.com: Swagman XC Cross-Country 2-Bike Hitch Mount Rack (2-Inch Receiver): Sports & Outdoors


I also estimated that the center of the bikes weight was 12” behind the rear bumper or 274” from the tow ball and 76” behind the rear axle on the TT.

Using 109# of bike and rack at the dimensions you gave me and adding the 12” over hang comes out to:

109# bike and rack
Adds 151# weight to the TT rear axle
Removes 42# weight off of the tongue weight.

Now let’s look at how Sunline made this unit. A 2006 T2075 is listed as having a dry weight of 3,910# with a dray tongue of 570# on a 5,500# GVWR TT. Sunline did a good job in the weight and balance area.

That 570# dry tongue on a 3,910# dry TT is 14.6% dry tongue weight which makes a good stable towing TT empty.

Now not putting any gear in the camper yet, Lets add 109# of bikes and rack up’ing the GVW to 3,910# + 109# = 4,019# On that GVW you will loose 42# of tongue dropping the 570# - 42# = 528# or 13.1% tongue weight. Which is still OK. Basically you will loose 1.5% tongue weight from where ever you are today with the bikes on the back.

Looking at the floor plan there is storage under the bed, side and top cabinets in the front bed room and a pass thru cargo hole. That front storage adds tongue weight.

The kitchen is over the axles to the fridge being maybe slightly behind the rear axle.

The rear ward in the bath room allows storage to offset the tongue weight.

By the floor plan, not talking about the fresh water tank, loading the camper the tongue weight is going up and could be by 250 maybe 350#. How much depends on what is up front and what you have in the rear ward cabinet.

Don’t know if you haul fresh water to camp. That 32 gallon fresh tank is ~ 266# by itself. If you do haul fresh water, what is the dimension of the tank center to the tow ball? We can add that to the mix to see if there are any issues or not.

Now to the 2” bike receiver. Your right, the Sunline bumper is not going to take much of anything. Even the spare tire can cause havoc and should be over next to the frame support.

Hanging bikes 76” behind the rear axle creates a fair amount of bounce on every bump the TT goes over. If you are going to go to a rear mount, it really has to be solid.

By using the 3” tube with the angles welded to it and to the frame it creates sort of a torque tube. Then the 2” pin box on the torque tube. This creates a flexing situation again 76” behind the rear axle.

If you want to go the 3” tube route I suggest the 2” pin box be about 2 to 2 ½ feet long inward to the TT. Then do another cross member to tie the end of the 2” tube from twisting the 3” bumper your going to make.

OR leave the Sunline bumper and go to the frame with a heavy support at the end and then again 2 1/2' feet inward again to stop that heavy twisting action.

EMAM here on the forum had a custom receiver hitch made on the back of his T2499. He has pics on here somewhere showing what I can describing. Poppy and Nana’s looks similar as I have seen theirs.

If you have not bought your bike rack yet, I recommend going for the type like I showed that holds the bikes by the tires verses the type that hangs by the center bar of the bike frame way up high. Those top type carriers create about a 5 to 6 foot lever twisting into the receiver. The bottom racks that hold by the tires do not have that same leverage.

I would also recommend before doing the bike rack, get the camper weighed and a known tongue weight. Then you know what your tongue weight % is in relation to the loaded GVW. The bikes on the back will lower that by approx 1.5% and the added frame will reduce it a little more too.

I do not see the heavy heads up with your floor plan like some others are but the bikes do take a bouncing back there. Cable them to the frame some how in case they let loose, at least you are dragging them.

You will be the one who has to make the final decision. I had them back there once. Did not have the heavy frame under the camper but I learned what not to do.

Hope this helps and good luck

I’ll see if I can find that EMAM bike rack pic.

John
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Old 03-21-2011, 09:08 PM   #11
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Chris

Here is Pat's (EMAM)'s reciever.

This is the one under the camper that shows the 2" tube going way in under the camper. Scroll down a few posts
http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f7...mper-7771.html

Here is the outside of it. More then a bicycle
http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f6...rack-8379.html
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Old 08-01-2011, 07:50 AM   #12
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On my '87 T-2153, I just attached a cargo rack and u-bolted a bike rack to it. Although the cargo rack is rated at 500 lb capacity, I will never load it anywhere near that. I mounted the receiver on top of the bumper instead of underneath which gives me an extra 4" ground clearance. I reinforced the stock bumper with angle iron and u-bolts to prevent the bumper welds from letting loose. This works out pretty well providing you keep the weight down. I used an old axle bolt to hold the spare tire behind the bike rack. Haven't left anything on the road behind me yet.
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