rear platform on 5ver

[Christen]

i want to put my 800# motorcycle on the back of my 31ft 5ver. has anybody done this or hauled any amount of weight on the back of there 5ver. my rig is to long to put a trailer behind her so what to do . the platform would be about 3ft wide. what do ya think????

 

[Fireman]

Christen,



I've seen it done. there are several manufacturers who make lifts for motorcoaches and rvs. the lifts weigh 250-300#. Iwould be very concerned about hangig that much weight off the rear of a 5w. You might call the manufacturer of your trailer and talk to an engineer about the feazibility of doing this. I own a 5w designed to haul a bike in the rear and the axles are set farther back on the trailer than usual to compensate for the additional weight in the rear. Anothre concern would be if the frame of your trailer could support that much additional weight at the very end of the frame rails.



FWIW

Fireman

 

[TowPro]

My last 5er was a 30' Rockwood Wildwood that weighed around 6500 lbs.



I used to have a carrying ramp on the back that I used to carry a KTM dirtbike on. 250-300 lbs depending on how much mud was on it. It only stuck out about 24" behind the back of the camper.



I noticed that as long as I had a full tank of water (which was in front of the axles) the camper handled fine, but if the water tank was empty (like on the way home from a racing weekend) the camper would sway almost as bad as towing a normal travel trailer. I think it was lightning up the hitch pin weight to much.



I called Fleetwood about mounting on on my 2000 Terry, They said the frame will support 500 lbs of weight hanging off the back, but instead I bought a pickup camper for when me and the bike go away

 

[RustyJC]

Two main concerns:



1. Will the 5ver frame handle this much cantilever load? I'd go to the manufacturer with this question.



2. 800 pounds of bike plus 200 pounds of platform & mounts will probably lighten up your pin weight by approximately 1000 pounds (depending on axle location). That's probably going to be far too light for good towing stability. You want at least 15% of the 5ver's GVW on the pin - most run 18% to 20% or more.



I really wish it were possible - I have Harley fever. One thing holding me back in buying it is that I have no way to transport one with our truck & 5ver.



Rusty

 

[Matt42]

Originally posted by Christen

i want to put my 800# motorcycle on the back of my 31ft 5ver. has anybody done this or hauled any amount of weight on the back of there 5ver. my rig is to long to put a trailer behind her so what to do . the platform would be about 3ft wide. what do ya think????

I've seen this done as well. I've also seen several along the road where the platform to frame connector let loose. (A scene on MO I-44 between Springfield and Sarcoxie jumps to mind. ) The owners manual for my present and past RV stated that the rear frame wasn't up to anything more than a spare tire.

 

[RustyJC]

Another thing to consider is, if you hang 1000 lbs off the back, you may increase tire and axle loading by 2000 lbs. Doing the math:



Stock configuration:



Total weight - 10,000 lbs

Pin weight - 2,000 lbs

Axle weight (total - pin weight) - 8,000 lbs





With platform & bike:



Total weight - 11,000 lbs

Pin weight - 1,000 lbs

Axle weight (total - pin weight) - 10,000 lbs



Rusty