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My Bike Rack
Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 3:51 pm
by quadzilla
A friend of mine and I came up with this for a bike rack. The rack is solid on the bumper, but to be safe, the top eyes are to attach a strap from the top of the bike rack to the hatch. Others are to bungie bikes to the rack. Removal is a cinch - just remove cotter and pin and pull the rack out of the steel sleeves. The aluminum tubing makes for a super-light and strong rack.
Happy trails...
Re: My Bike Rack
Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 7:24 pm
by Green1
The rack is solid on the bumper
just a word of warning, that's not the bumper, that's the rear nudge-bar, and it has almost no strength, I wouldn't want weight bouncing up and down on that for very long, it's quite likely to break the nudge-bar...
Re: My Bike Rack
Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 8:09 pm
by nishby
Don't want to be a party pooper, but I'm inclined to agree with Green1. I own a bike shop and have seen every "I-was-just-driving-along-and-my-bike-rack-sheared-off" catastrophe that you could think of.
Keep an eye on that nudge bar and NEVER EVER use it without the straps or you'll be dropping your precious cargo in the middle of some highway somewhere.
Cheers.
Re: My Bike Rack
Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 6:30 am
by mararmeisto
Green1 wrote:The rack is solid on the bumper
just a word of warning, that's not the bumper, that's the rear nudge-bar, and it has almost no strength, I wouldn't want weight bouncing up and down on that for very long, it's quite likely to break the nudge-bar...
That's not the original bumper, is it?
Re: My Bike Rack
Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:20 am
by jessef
It's more of a 'show bar'. Not much strength in it.
The stock bumper (part of the body trim) is not much of a true bumper either.
Plastic and very, very thin tin-like metal is what protects the rear end.
Bolting to multiple parts along the unibody frame lengthwise is the best option. Most hidden hitch bumpers are made like that for the Delica's for strength.
Great idea though. Looks clean and light
Re: My Bike Rack
Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:06 pm
by quadzilla
What you can't see is the reinforcement underneath - definitely considered the potential of a mishap. I am over 200 lbs and I have jumped up and down on that 'nudge bar' for minutes at a time without it moving. The weight of the bumper coupled with the straps has me convinced that this will work just fine. I have a few modifications in mind, including an additional mounting point.