It would be easy to get the roof mounted components for your jeep from either Thule or Yakima. I use a roof mounted Yakima system on my Trailblazer. The primary reason for the roof rack is that the bikes are out of the way and can be left on the TV until it's time to use them. The bikes won't interfere with accessing the jeep or hooking up or unhooking the PUP and there is no danger of damaging them when turning corners or backing up when turning. I don't know how many times I've seen people struggling to get bikes on and off rear mounted racks with an odd assortment of straps and bungee cords. You don't have to buy new components, there are always racks for sale on Ebay and on Craigslist as long as you know what model parts to buy. There are also discount online rack suppliers that sell new components at reduced prices.
My Yakima roof rack with four bikes mounted.
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[quote author=BigDawgGang link=topic=692.msg4916#msg4916 date=1300798739]
I have seen some people mount a bike rack to the back bumper of the pup as well. I looks like it works ok.
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unless the pup has a bumper that is reinforced and braced to the frame, that setup will end up breaking the bumper off the back of the pup. since pups don't have shocks, the bouncing and flexing of the rack, with the bikes weight, will eventually cause a failure and the bikes/rack will be bouncing on the road.
Take a look at this rack.
It can be used whether or not you have a front storage box.
No holes need to be drilled in the roof.
http://www.discountramps.com/p.....e-rack.htm
(Edit: just realized this is an ancient thread that was resurrected)
I don't have a pic with it assembled and with bikes on it, but this is what we do when we bring the whole family's bikes.
I made two rails to sit in the stake pockets on my pickup's bed (this was the test fit, so it's not painted yet):
and I had an existing Thule rack that was on our old popup which had the tracks in the roof:
You can't quite see it in the second picture, but the Thule rack has "feet" that snap onto the attachment points which are bolted to the top of the rails. The whole things sits up just high enough that I can roll up my tonneau cover (maybe 5"). The only modification I think I could/should do to the design is put a middle "leg" in the center of the rail so it has some additional support. There's a small amount of flex currently and the leg would help get rid of that. Then again, the Thule rack also flexes a bit, so it's probably not really worth worrying about too much.
This setup took four bikes from the DC area to the Niagara rally and back, plus a few other trips, so I can say it definitely works.
ProRac also makes a commercial version (http://www.prorac.com/softtonneau.php), but since I already had the bike rack, just needed some rails to mount it to, I decided not to spend the extra money replacing parts I already had. Plus, it sits up higher than I wanted.
Yakima also has a similar mounting system, the Control Towers and Control Pads.
the Pads act like ski bindings and the Towers clip in them like a ski boot.
i've tinkered with the idea of putting them on my Avalanche's bed covers. Yakima makes different Pads, the ones i would use are for camper shells.
i already have a old Yakima rack system, just the cost of the Towers and Pads seem to not be worth it since i rarely need to need them mounted on top.
Depends on the number of bikes.....
This is the standard way.....
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Which normally can be mount to the awning rails
or add to the bumper of the trailer.
or using any car reciver mount rack using a bolt on receiver port (not for towing).
[img width=640 height=499]http://robertssales.com/images/options/rear_receiver_bike_rack.jpg[/img]
[img width=640 height=640]http://www.fermiwords.com/images/bolt-on-trailer-hitch-receivers.jpg[/img]
The best option I have seen is:
[img width=640 height=479]http://www.cargogear.com/imagelibrary/images/pctentbike1b.jpg[/img]
(Which anyone with moderate welding experience can make it them selves)
Most people recommend not going the bumper route. The bumpers on most popups (and a lot of travel trailers for that matter) aren't strong enough, and are usually just riveted on. I've even recently read some stories about 4" square bumpers welded onto late model travel trailers tearing off when the weight of bikes are added. Given that most trailer manufacturers (assemblers, really) all buy from a small number of component manufacturers, it's really an issue across the board and not necessarily just with certain brands.
If you can get something made up which welds or bolts onto the frame itself, you're much better off.
However, given the light weight of most popups, adding the weight of some bikes plus a rack to the back can easily put you in a situation where you have too little tongue weight and you'll actually be creating a situation where sway is likely.
I had the ProRac shown in the last picture on our popup. It worked well. The only problem is that you need to take care mounting and removing the bikes, because it's easy to have a bike tip over and dent or puncture the roof, and I had a few dents to show from that lesson.
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