First impressions: T@B 400 Boondock and Arvika bike carrier

Jay_and_Kat

Today we went by our camper to mount our shiny new Arvika 2 bike carrier.  Assembly went fairly easy, other than grabbing the wrong bolt for a piece (easy to catch, the wrong bolt was FAR too short)  It feels quite solid, it came with the support arms for the front of the rack which we used.  Said arms are what give it a maximum weight load of 200(!!)lbs.

Now, the one bad point is, at the height we currently have the rack and because of how the rear arms have to be positioned, the top of the storage tub won't open all the way.  We can get in enough to turn on the propane, but I think getting out the leveling blocks will be a bit of a challenge.  As I see it, we've got a couple options:

1. Move the leveling blocks and chocks out of the storage tub and go back to keeping the stinky slinky gear in the tub (because it'll be easier to get that out)
2. Every time, after getting the bikes off, take the carrier off the camper by loosening the "handles" that lock it in place and lifting the top section off (PITA)
3. Move the carrier up more, to the maximum it can be set per the manual

Needless to say, no "perfect" options, but we'll see how things go, considering next weekend we're going to be using it for real for a trip!

SLJ

Thanks for the info. Would like to see a photo.

Jay_and_Kat

So, as requested, a photo of the rack on the camper, with bikes on. 

Tongue weight loaded like that is 500lbs

tcherke

Hi there, 
Thanks for posting on this product! I just assembled mine on our Boondock. It was much more of an adventure than your experience and I will provide that explanation in a subsequent post along with pictures when I get there (I will say that Arvika was amazing on customer service and support). For now, however, would you mind advising how it worked for you? And your thoughts on keeping it mounted on a continuous basis or removal when not in use?
Thanks so much in advance. 
Teri

Jay_and_Kat

@tcherke, after hauling the camper with both our bikes on it about 500 miles round trip, here's our thoughts on it:

• We noticed that the rack "turned" a little bit off parallel with the camper on the drive up.  After reviewing the installation instructions from the Arvika site, we realized we hadn't tightened down the metal screws that keep the brackets on the uprights in place.  So we tightened them down on the camp site which helped.  Paranoid me, as there's two more holes that are RIGHT up against the side of the bracket, is going to buy a pack of the same size screws and use 4 screws
• Getting the bikes on it was pleasantly easier than getting the same bikes on our old Jack-It rack.  I was thinking of getting the "ramp" Arvika sells, but I don't think we'll need it.
• The front support arms do get a touch in the way of the crank handle for the tongue jack, but I think that was mostly because the rack had shifted on the drive (see the first point)
• Paranoid me opted to wrap a ratchet strap around the top bar and the top bar of the front-most bike, as well, I didn't / don't entirely trust just the arms
• We also learned, with the wife's wide seat cruiser bike, we should either raise her seat higher to clear the top bar, or just remove the seat and post, so it stands closer to the back / top bar of the rack
• Realizing that they have 3 different size gutters for the wheels, I think we're going to need to up-size to the 3" gutters (both our bikes are about 2.2-2.5" tires)
• We still need to tweak the height of the rack, as if you set it as low as it goes, you are GOING to have problems getting anything thicker than your arm in and out of the storage tub.  And, going back to my previously mentioned paranoia, I may gin up a "support" to go in under the rear support tubes and down to the platforms.  I figure a piece of 1/8" or 1/4" bar stock and just the width of the tubes on the mounting brackets will do the trick.

As for the coming months with fall and winter coming on, we're planning to leave it on the camper.  We took off the longer of the two "restraint" arms to store in the camper to avoid snow / water on the spring, I may revisit leaving the short one on as well (the plastic cap didn't want to slip off the nut on the end and I didn't feel like fighting with it.)

So, would we recommend the Arvika?
Pretty much without reservations, yes.

Next year, we're going to be hauling two, count them, TWO e-bikes and to do that?  Yeah, probably going to remove the camper's spare tire and chuck it in the bed of the Jeep or in the storage tote we bought for camper stuff that we sit on the bed of the camper, if it'll fit in there.

CatDaddy

Newbie Question: Why not mount a bike carrier to the rear rack on those trailers that have them?

Jay_and_Kat

The 400 doesn't have a test rack or hitch to put a carrier on, unfortunately. 

I don't think any of the nuCamp campers do.

CatDaddy

Jay_and_Kat said:

The 400 doesn't have a test rack or hitch to put a carrier on, unfortunately. 

I don't think any of the nuCamp campers do.

I was referring to the Yakima rack on the back of the 320S, not a hitch.