# My DIY hitch rack.



## jetta_mike (Feb 26, 2007)

spent about 10 hrs on this set up. There was a lot of on the fly engineering. But it turned out well. No contact other than the tires, so no damage from rubbing!


----------



## nov0798 (Nov 27, 2005)

I think with some rough bumps, that things gonna bend and break. I have a feeling that the leverage of the bikes being that high are gonna bend that thing. I may be wrong??

How do you secure them to keep them from falling off?

Dont get me wrong, Im all for DIY engineering products, and I commend you for doing this, im just saying.


----------



## jetta_mike (Feb 26, 2007)

the rack bend? It's twice as beef cake as anything Thule or Yakima sells. This was built with shuttling 5 DH rigs up BC back roads ie, rough, ungraded decommisioned logging roads. I have no worries.


----------



## eurospek (Sep 15, 2007)

Serves its purpose well. But quick question, with a pickup bed, why not carry the bikes there?


----------



## jetta_mike (Feb 26, 2007)

eurospek said:


> Serves its purpose well. But quick question, with a pickup bed, why not carry the bikes there?


1) I have a canopy. This will allow me to carry more than 1 bike when it's on.

2) When we go on trips and the back of the truck is full of supplies there is no room in a 5ft box for bikes.


----------



## JohnJ80 (Oct 10, 2008)

How do you secure the bikes to the rack?

J.


----------



## pba123 (Jul 1, 2010)

How much does the setup weigh?


----------



## DWDW (Oct 7, 2005)

Nice work. It looks great.


----------



## Dawgprimo (Mar 7, 2004)

I think that your design puts more pressure on the front wheel/headset specially on a rough road compared to the North Shore rack. Which is pretty similar.....

But your design would accommodate a road or cross bike which the North Shore Rack is not as flexible in their design.

and yes I own a North Shore rack.

Just my 0.02 cents


----------



## T-Fish (Aug 22, 2011)

Pretty cool.


----------



## pimpbot (Dec 31, 2003)

*Sweet!*



jetta_mike said:


> spent about 10 hrs on this set up. There was a lot of on the fly engineering. But it turned out well. No contact other than the tires, so no damage from rubbing!


Came out looking nice! I might suggest some sort of red flag kinda thing if it's sticking out that far, but looks like you did a pro job with that thing. :thumbsup:

Makes for a sweet bike shuttle vehicle. 5 on the rack, you can easily get 4 more in the bed. Get a bud to haul up the riders in a wagon, and you got a day of fun.


----------



## mtec (Sep 23, 2010)

Dawgprimo said:


> I think that your design puts more pressure on the front wheel/headset specially on a rough road compared to the North Shore rack. Which is pretty similar.....


Riding puts exponentially more pressure on headsets and wheels than any rack setup ever will.


----------



## jetta_mike (Feb 26, 2007)

Two weeks ago I finished a 3200km road trip through northern BC with my wife, and the rack worked wonderfully. One problem I came across, which I will be repairing shortly, was that with the wheels turned the bikes were able to bounce from the combined wheel, tire and fork flex. The solution was to use compression straps to hold the front wheel inline with the rest of the bike. I'll be redesigning the front wheel hoop so that the wheel stands up.

Here's a pic from our trip.


----------



## BikingCivic (Aug 19, 2011)

looks cool....almost looks like a tv antenna...hehe


----------

