Fiamma Bike Rack for Jayco Camper Trailer: Installation and Review

In this article I’ll show you how I installed a Fiamma Carry Bike XL bike rack on our Jayco Swan Camper Trailer

(as well as review its pros and cons)

This was the option we went with after spending A LOT of time researching this topic

Read: Best Bike Rack for Jayco Camper Trailers: 4 Options [Pros, Cons, FAQs]

So how hard was it to install?

How did having bikes on the drawbar impact towing?

Let’s get started:

1. Fiamma Carry Bike XL Bike Rack: Preparing for installation

If you don’t already have one of these bike racks?

The best place I could find to get one from was here from Outback-Equip via their eBay store

At around $250 I thought this was a pretty good value solution to carrying 2 full-sized bikes.

It came with nearly everything needed for its installation and use:

• The bike rack itself
• Brackets to attach to the drawbar
• Adjustment knobs, and
• All required nuts and bolts

Now, although it did come with some pull tie-down straps, it was only after my installation was finished I realised these were way too short to secure the bikes:

You’ll need something like these Grunt 1m Pull Tie Down Straps from Bunnings

(these were $5.70 for a pair)

2. Gather up the tools you’ll need

It was pretty simple to install and didn’t need many specialised tools

The tools I used for installing the Fiamma Carry Bike XL were a:

• Drill with a 6 mm bit
• Driver with a standard no 2 Phillips head bit
• Tape measure
• Socket driver with extension, and
• 8 mm and 10 mm sockets

If you’re like us, we had a jerry can holder on the front of our Jayco Swan

(which we hardly used and were happy to sacrifice)

We also had a bolt-on flip-up jockey wheel which we had to take off

So to remove these we also used a:

• 13 mm open ended spanner, and a
• 13 mm socket for the jerry can holder, and
• 15 mm and 17 mm spanners for the jockey wheel

3. Making space to fit the Fiamma Carry Bike XL

One of the key considerations for the Fiamma Carry Bike XL:

What else do you have on the drawbar?

For us it was a case of first removing the jerry can holder

This was just a simple matter of just using a spanner and socket to undo four bolts…

…then it just lifted straight out.

We also had to use a socket to undo the the tech-screws that were holding in the drawbar tap

(so we could relocate it slightly)

And to remove the bolt-on jockey wheel I used the two spanners to undo the 4 bolts.

4. Assembling the Fiamma Carry Bike XL

The Fiamma Carry Bike XL is quite simple to assemble and only takes a few minutes. It consists of:

1. Joining the uprights

2. Bolting them together

3. Popping on this handly little ‘anti-scratch’ cover

4. Clipping on the 2-piece beveled adjustment brackets onto both the uprights and base then

5. Inserting a couple of bolts to join the base to the uprights, and

6. Winding on the adjustment knobs to hold it all together

Ready for installation.

5. Confirming the correct location and fit

First it was a case of making sure the bike rack was centred:

This was a simple case of using the tap measure to make sure it protruded evenly from the internal edge of the A-frame

So that it didn’t impact with the tow vehicle’s turning circle it was important to make sure the rack was as far back as it could go, but without:

1. Impacting on the boot operation, or
2. Insertion of the bed support poles for our Jayco Swan

Perfect.

6. Fixing the Fiamma Carry Bike XL to the A-frame

Fixing the Fiamma Carry Bike XL to the A-frame doesn’t require any drilling or welding.

This was simply a case of:

1. Placing the brackets on top of the base-tube
2. Pushing the u-bolts up from underneath
3. Screwing on the nuts with the socket
4. Drilling a pilot hole through the brackets into the tube
5. Driving the tech-screws into the base-tube

That completes the installation of the Fiamma Carry Bike XL.

Easy.

Note: We did need to shorten the handle of our jockey wheel bracket… this was an extended one someone had added to the original, we had to trim it back to clear the rack

7. Using the Fiamma Carry Bike XL

Winding out the adjustment knob makes it easy to move the upright back and forth

(and it’s pretty firm once done up)

Wheel-straps slide back and forth to adjust for different bike lengths:

8. Fitting a bike onto the Fiamma Carry Bike XL

This is a much easier option than lifting bikes up onto the roof of either the roof of our camper or our car.

Preparation involves:

1. Undoing the adjustment knobs which allows the upright to move forward out of the way, and
2. Undoing the wheel-straps and folding them out of the way

This means you can easily wheel the bike up into the channel of the bike rack…

…then fold the upright back and do-up the adjustment knobs

(a key point to note here is that I take the pedal off the bike so it won’t scratch the caravan)

Once the bike’s on, there’s a couple of foam pads that can be moved to stop the bike from getting scratched.

The bike needs to be fastened to the upright using a pull tie-down strap… and here’s a common complaint:

The pull tie-down straps that come with the Fiamma Carry Bike XL aren’t long enough to go around the upright and the bike frame

(no matter how many ways you try)

You could use both of the pull tie-downs that came with the rack to do one bike though…

…but either way, it means a trip to the hardware store to get more if you are planning on carrying 2 bikes!

Once the bike is attached to the upright of the bike rack then it’s time to strap in the wheels:

That’s not going anywhere.

(and here’s an example of showing how the wheel straps can be adjusted if you’ve got bikes of different sizes)

9. Using the Fiamma Carry Bike XL: How does it affect driving?

Here’s how the Fiamma Carry Bike XL looks when it’s:

• On a Jayco Swan, that’s
• The short drawer-bar version
• With 2 bikes on it, and
• Attached to a Mitsubishi Pajero

(the type that has the spare wheel mounted on the tailgate)

The bikes are far enough back so as to not interrupt the tailgate operation to much

(we could still easily get in and out of the boot)

The Hulk approves.

How does mounting bikes on a drawer bar using the Fiamma Carry Bike XL affect turning circle?

Even when there’s 2 bikes on the drawer bar I could drive normally:

There was no impact on cornering:

Even at full-lock when reversing the bikes weren’t close to touching the car…

Summary: Fiamma bike rack installation and review

The Fiamma Carry Bike XL bike rack was a perfect addition for our camping set-up:

• It was reasonably priced
• Easy to install, and
• Didn’t have any impact on driving performance

We got ours here from Outback-Equip via their eBay store

If you’re not sure how this compares to other bike carrying options for your camper trailer?

Read: Best Bike Rack for Jayco Camper Trailers: 4 Options [Pros, Cons, FAQs]

If you found this video helpful, check out this one…

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