At the risk of being too picky, you purchased a FOLDING trailer, not a travel
trailer.  They are also referred to as "popup" and "folddown".

I mounted a Yakima rack with five GT bike mounts to the top of our (bought
new) 1987 Starcraft Galaxy popup.  It was a GREAT way to transport bikes and
had virtually no effect on towing that I recall.

The installation, however, caused water to leak through the roof.  After 2-3
years, and water damage, I removed the rack and installed a rubber roof to
stop the leak.

I know that many popup campers are equipped with bike racks on top.  How they
are installed probably determines the potential for roof damage.  Obviously,
my DIY installation on my camper was not done properly since the roof
subsequently leaked.

If your camper is NEW, I highly recommend that you get a Rockwood dealer to
install a Rockwood-approved rack along with a warranty.

After removing the rack from our camper roof, we installed it (easily
removable between outings) on the station wagon luggage rack.  This worked
VERY well although not quite as convenient as atop the comparatively lower
camper roof.  Good luck!

<orourke.darren@gmail.com> om...

Hi there.  We have thought about this and right now we are doing a
different thing.  We have a Thule rear-hatch mounted bike carrier that we
clip onto our Sienna's way-back door.  Even with the 3 bikes on it (we
have actually fit 4 in a pinch with some extra lashing) it did not
interfere with the trailer at all.  We just need to be sure that we have
everything loaded in the back before we load on the bikes; one can open
it, but I can feel the pain of the hinges and my arms too.  This works OK
for us.  Almost all of the weight of the bikes sits on the rear bumper.

Likely the main reason (other than putting out more cash for another
accessory when this one is working) that I have not mounted them on the
popup roof is the fear of creating a leak.  When I researched this out
last year, I found one that strapped all the way around the popup.  Try to
find that one and see what you think.  I remember it being pricey though.
Google for bike carrier to see options.

Another thought I had was to weld a hitch mount onto the rear of the popup
and use a hitch mount carrier back there.  Then I stopped thinking about
that idea.
Hope this might help and let us know what you do, why and how it works
out.
Tomes

I would check out hitch-mount bike racks.  The bikes are then between
the car and the camper.  The good ones clamp OVER the hitch/ball mount,
without extending the shaft, and still allow for towing.  An example
which holds three bikes is at:

http://www.etrailer.com/pc-BRT~V91150.htm

I would not get a hitch rack which extends the shaft of the hitch (often
using a 'hitch adapter').  That decreases the weight the hitch can
carry, and changes the towing characteristics of the trailer (perhaps
more sway?).

This type avoids problems attaching the rack to the wide roof of the pop-up.

HTH

On Jul 16, 2:48 pm, orourke.dar...@gmail.com wrote:

Here's a real cheap but effective plan that has worked for me for
several years, and will accomodate six or seven bikes.  I cut two
2X4's as long as the width of the camper, and painted them to match. I
then measured the distance between the axle bolts on one bike, and
bored two holes about one inch deep and one inch in diameter in one of
the 2X4's the same distance apart as the axles, and equidistant from
the ends of one of the boards.  I screwed this board onto the top of
the camper about 6 inches from the back.  Take one of the pedals off
the bike, and loosen up the handlebar centerbolt and rotate the
handlebars 90 degrees.  Set the bike flat on top of the camper, on the
board, with the axle bolts in the holes you bored.  Place the other
2X4 about 12 inches or so in front of the rear one, in a location that
will support the top section of the bike, and screw it into place
(place the screws throught the trim, into the side panels of the top,
adding a little caulk to the bottom of the board where the screws come
through). Put a few screw hooks into the 2X4's in appropriate
locations, pile a few more bikes on top of the first one,(with the
handlebars rotated) and secure the whole pile with bungee cords hooked
onto the screw hooks. Then hang a 3-bike rack off the rear door of
your tow vehicle (if it's a van or SUV), and you're good to go!  I've
never had any towing or leaking problems with this setup, and you can
use this "Red-Neck Luggage Rack" for other things, if you won't be
carrying this many bikes. You can lash 2 or 3 footlockers onto it, for
instance, or several coolers, if you don't space the boards too far
apart.  It takes about 30 minutes to unload the bikes, replace the one
pedal (don't forget to take the pedal and the wrench!), and straighten
out the handlebars, then everyone has a ride!  I also made a support
column shaped like a side-ways H to place inside the camper between
the floor and roof while collapsed, as I reasoned that roof sag was
likely to be caused by the weight of the AC unit and the bikes
bouncing up and down while going down the road, and the AC weight when
the camper is stored, and not by anything that happens when the camper
is popped up.  So, this column supports the roof 90% or so of the
camper's life, and there is still no sag after 11 years. If you decide
later on that you don't need the rack, there are only 8 small screw
holes to fill with silicone.
I hope this lengthy saga helps, and happy camping!
Byron Wood