Recumbent Hitch Racks

Re: NEW SUNLITE Recumbent Hitch Rack

This looks a lot like my Performance Xport bike rack I bought FOR HALF THE PRICE!!!! AD was the person who told me about them. You can see them here!

 

New trike owner as well as a member here & I'm going to see if I can post some pictures of a rack that I'm almost finished building.
Would I prefer one of the commercial versions? Certainly, but I'm cheap too, & I like to be creative at times as well. So, I decided to start with a Harbor Freight cargo rack. The MSRP on this one is $100, but a current coupon puts it at $50. The hitch extension / riser piece is also sold at HF (currently on sale at $25, but use the 20 percent coupon & get it for $20). Fit is kind of loose. Will need some shimming. I have a gr 5 bolt & gr 8 nut that I will use to attach it to the rack rather than the pin.
So, $70 + tax, & I had to buy fasteners (about $20). The wood I used, I had on hand. Part of a futon bed (oak 1 x 4) for the "cross", & surplus oak flooring from my home flooring project a couple of years ago. Paint is chosen from leftovers as well. While hardwood is nice, if I had to buy, I would have gone with 2" yellow pine &/or plywood to keep the cost down.
I kind of designed as I built on this, using materials on hand. My objectives were no metalworking - (as I enjoy woodworking more), & it should be adjustable to fit any trike, as I would like to up-grade at some point.

Photos: determining trike position to vehicle, purchased carrier, & positioning of rack on carrier.
More photos as work progresses.

 

I went out & took pictures current as of this morning.
Painting has started. I skipped a dry fit to the carrier as I feel confident in my measuring. We will see how that works out.

The wheel pockets & clamping boards are 3 1/4" oak flooring with the tongues & grooves ripped off. Gives 3/4" x 2 7/8" boards.

No drilling or modifications to carrier. It will have a total of 8 clamping points to the carrier.

I will post a completed photo in a few days when painting is complete.

 

A note about hitch wobble.

As I noted above, I was not happy about the amount of play in my carrier to receiver fit. Evidently this is a pretty common issue. Not just with Harbor Freight. A little bit of play when using a rack or carrier is greatly exaggerated as compared to that when pulling a trailer.

There are a LOT of "anti-wobble" pins & clamping devices sold for use with receiver hitches when utilizing cargo carriers, bike racks, wheelchair carriers, & such.

I will need to get something along this line. Temporary shims for now.

 

We have a HITCHRIDER Truckee Switch rack that we use for our trikes. It carries two trikes, in a vertical position, but can also carry a bike and a trike or two bikes. We do use a couple of extra tie downs to increase stability and prevent any possible oscillation from road vibration and wind. The vertical position keeps us from having a boom stick out past the side of the van, however, it does make us think twice before pulling into a drive-thru with an
overhead.

 

Finished.
I found that the vertical threaded rods I used to clamp the rack to the carrier wanted to bend the carrier square tubing before I felt the rods were snug enough. So, I cut some steel tube spacers to a length that allowed me to tighten the rack down securely but not permit the square tube to deform.

 

Looks very nice. Well done!

 

Thanks Altozwei for a tie-down solution for the hitch wobble. Too simple.

 

Any suggestions for an inexpensive hitch carrier for one, short wheel base R40?