Bike Rack Recommendation for Use on Back of 2012 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Class B Motor Home  

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Expert Reply:

Bike racks designed and intended for use on motor homes are built more ruggedly than racks for use on typical passenger cars. This heavy-duty build is necessary because of the length of motor homes; the further the carrier is behind the rear axle of the motor home the stronger the vertical and horizontal forces applied to it. If a standard passenger car type bike carrier were used on a motor home it would probably suffer damage from these extreme forces. (Think of how the ride quality in a bus varies from the front to the rear seats; this is the type of force that will be applied to a bike rack at the rear of a motor home.)

We do offer bike racks built to withstand the forces found on motor homes. These come in a variety of types including bumper-mount, ladder-mount and hitch mount. You also have a choice of hanging-style or platform style racks. The link provided will take you to our main page for motor home bike racks that will fit a 2-inch hitch.

In terms of clearance for your rear spare tire, you can measure from the center of the hitch pin hole to the rear-most part of the spare tire to determine how much clearance you will need from your choice of bike rack. I often suggest the Curt # C18085 rack, due to its light weight and long clearance. Please refer to the linked video illustrating this item. For a lock to secure the carrier use # 63232 and for a cable lock to secure the bikes use # e98891. The linked article includes a list of carriers with the hitch-pin-to-carrier clearance for each.

It is also a good idea to check your hitch safety sticker or Sprinter owners manual for the hitch tongue weight capacity. Hitches have a tongue weight rating; you need to be sure that the combined weight of your bike carrier plus bikes does not exceed the hitch rating.

expert reply by: Adam R

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