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Recumbent trike rack, home-built

Discussion in 'Gear and Equipment' started by Tadpole, Aug 29, 2011.  |  Print Topic

  1. Tadpole

    Tadpole Supporter

    Region:
    East
    State/Country:
    TN
    City:
    Sevierville
    Ride:
    ActionBent T1
    Name:
    Ed
    A quick overview of a wooden trike rack that simply mounts atop a standard hitch basket. Incorporates several features not found in typical commercial racks that generally only serve for transporting.

    Initially, this was to only see temporary service, but I'm continuing to discover what works, and what doesn't. Hard to beat the home-made price and the DIY sense of accomplishment. A couple of 2X4's could probably work as well for those who already have the hitch tray. Thought about painting it yellow to make it look more..................., Asian made!

     
  2. 10_TX_Wheels

    10_TX_Wheels

    Region:
    South
    State/Country:
    TX
    City:
    League City
    Ride:
    Felt F-85
    Name:
    Fred
    Nice rack.....does need paint...light grey to match the vehicle.
     
  3. altozwei

    altozwei

    Region:
    North
    State/Country:
    TX
    City:
    Oak Cliff
    Ride:
    Catrike
    Name:
    Patti
    That looks great. After looking at the cost of buying a rack for my trike (and/or my bike) building one myself seems to be the most cost effective route. This is a nice design. I have some really rough streets and would be concerned about the rack bouncing loose from the platform. I like the way the rack fits into the slots on the base to prevent sliding, but is there a way to actually fasten the rack to the base (or did I miss something) ?
     
  4. Tadpole

    Tadpole Supporter

    Region:
    East
    State/Country:
    TN
    City:
    Sevierville
    Ride:
    ActionBent T1
    Name:
    Ed
    Like!

    Flat, semi-gloss or gloss? The nice thing about paint is that if you don't like the color..., change it! I'll probably just get a spray can of Rust-Oleum. Will post 'after' pics.
     
  5. 10_TX_Wheels

    10_TX_Wheels

    Region:
    South
    State/Country:
    TX
    City:
    League City
    Ride:
    Felt F-85
    Name:
    Fred


    semi-gloss
     
  6. Tadpole

    Tadpole Supporter

    Region:
    East
    State/Country:
    TN
    City:
    Sevierville
    Ride:
    ActionBent T1
    Name:
    Ed
    Numerous options for attachment.

    I have been using a sliding cabinet door lock that hooks into the 'foot' closest to the vehicle and goes thru the basket mesh where a sliding lock-set snugs up against the bottom of the mesh.

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/170688644104?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

    A piece of heavy wire looped thru one of the holes in the forward-most lips of the basket will keep things intact. Bolts could be used for long hauls, etc. Velcro straps?

    Why not just have that heavy-set Mother-in law sit on the trike during transit? Cuts down on back-talk at the same time.
     
  7. laidback cyclist

    laidback cyclist Supporter

    Region:
    NorthEast
    State/Country:
    OK
    City:
    Broken Arrow
    Ride:
    Ti Rush/V-Rex
    Name:
    Mike
    Keep an eye on your homebuilt design often. I built my own rack once using a 4 channel aluminum section for the main tube. This was sturdy stuff (we used it at work to build rails for the machines) and I used steel for the mounting plates. This allowed maximum flexibility for different wheelbase bikes. It worked great for a couple of years. Then one day I was driving down the interstate during a bad storm when a section of the channel where the fork mount was attached broke loose.

    This let the front end of my bike fall off the rack and onto the road. The read wheel stayed attached (I had locked it to the car with a cable lock) so I was dragging the bike down the interstate with the seat and handlebar scraping along the road. When I looked in the rearview mirror, instead of seeing my bike on the rack all I saw was a bunch of sparks trailing behind my car :sad9:.

    The insurance company wasn't too happy with me. They paid off but only because the bike was still attached to the car. If I hadn't had the lock on it the bike would have come completely away from the car and the insurance company wouldn't have paid anything. As it was they wanted to know who had built the rack so they could go after them to recoup the money.

    Moral of the story, keep a close eye on the soundness of your rack (and think carefully before letting anybody else use your homebuilt rack).
     
  8. Tadpole

    Tadpole Supporter

    Region:
    East
    State/Country:
    TN
    City:
    Sevierville
    Ride:
    ActionBent T1
    Name:
    Ed
    Good advise.

    Mike, your advise is well received. I frequently inspect for fastener security, signs of failure and would never 'loan' the rack nor build one for someone else (for some of the same reasons you mentioned). This is a maintenance demanding piece of equipment, much like the trike I haul, so any notion that it will somehow last a long time without attention would be a rather foolish thought. Your own experience bears that out as well.

    What many don't realize is that I regularly build plywood jigs (for the log home industry) that are subjected to brutal treatment by semi-skilled workers in a variety of environmental conditions..........., worldwide I might add. Those jigs guide a chainsaw equipped with a Patented chain saw attachment. The wear and tear from that set of conditions has been closely monitored for many years and the result has been a real good understanding of wooden systems. If you pick up a log home magazine today, I'd bet that nearly 50% of all advertising manufactures in some way use equipment I've produced. I feel safe in saying that the woodworking mistakes I make, although more frequent than I'd care to admit, are rather insignificant compared with the knowledge gained.

    I was going over some inventory figures today and crunched out the total lineal footage of 1" wooden dowel I've used for threaded clamping screws(1"-6 tpi, Bill!). Typically, the screws are produced in 3"-9" lengths with 4" being the average per screw length. Each jig uses at least 4 clamping screws, sometimes 5 (to hold it in place on the timber while the chain saw is used), but the total number of screws made and even jigs built can be estimated from the footage of dowel used (since 1996).........., 2900'!

    Despite the fact that I don't have any commercial competition, I tend to over-build for durability. That might help explain the number of structural failures (other than designed to be replaced 'weak-link' elements)............... ZERO!

    Mike, thank you for helping to make a valuable point about maintenance checks. Mechanical failures generally occur as a result of relaxed attention. This jig will have some pieces replaced and all screws tightened including the carriage bolts with Nylon lock-nuts at all critical connections before painting this week (if I don't take a couple of kids to the Outer Banks of NC to help with the storm clean-up). Will post some pictures of this rack resting atop my timberframe saw horses that supported on several occasions 32' long 8"X24" logs!
     
  9. Tadpole

    Tadpole Supporter

    Region:
    East
    State/Country:
    TN
    City:
    Sevierville
    Ride:
    ActionBent T1
    Name:
    Ed
    Rack upgrade

     
  10. 10_TX_Wheels

    10_TX_Wheels

    Region:
    South
    State/Country:
    TX
    City:
    League City
    Ride:
    Felt F-85
    Name:
    Fred
    Looks Good Ed.
     
  11. froglegz57

    froglegz57 Supporter

    Region:
    Middle
    State/Country:
    NC
    City:
    Charlotte
    Ride:
    Rans V2,V3,AB
    Name:
    Jerry
    never thought i would be saying this to a guy but yep, "nice rack" since i am visiting Vegas i don't recommend painting it, just stretch some leopard print spandex over it and call it a day.

    jerry
     
  12. Geyatautsilvsgi

    Geyatautsilvsgi Supporter

    Region:
    SouthEast
    State/Country:
    TN
    City:
    Seymour
    Ride:
    ?
    Name:
    Geyatautsilvsgi
  13. Tadpole

    Tadpole Supporter

    Region:
    East
    State/Country:
    TN
    City:
    Sevierville
    Ride:
    ActionBent T1
    Name:
    Ed
    Jerry, I'm not sure how to say thank you to the,"nice rack" compliment. I'm tempted to theme something in hunting like, "An 8-pointer to ya", but I suppose I should say something more trendy and Vegas-ized............; how about, "A 38D back to ya!"

    Yup, when I lived in LA I got married in Vegas; I know all about 'spend-ex'!
     

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