[MikeD]

Hey, what's the internal measurement of your receiver? Is it 2" exactly, or is there some room for tolerances in there?

I just had my 1 1/4" converted by a local welder, and I'm a tad concerned it's too big. My Sportworks bolts up OK, and the welder put a set screw on the bottom to tighten it all down further, but I was interested to know what the 'proper' tolerances were...I CAN move the whole rack up and down a bit in the receiver if I want to.

(See, I found a welder in the yellow pages who specialized in hitch fabrication, called him, he said he'd do it. Turns out that for some bizarre reason, the address he had in the book was actually the address of the fabricator next door to him, who doesn't specialize in hitches, but in making offroad roll cages and crap. Didn't know it wasn't the same place until we'd finished the deal. Now I think this guy might have used a piece of tubing that was slightly oversized.)

MD

 

[biggins]

its probably the same and with the sport works there is some play. mine had about a 1/4 total of play in it. i dont think its the hitch, i think its the sportworks rack.

 

[MikeD]

its probably the same and with the sport works there is some play. mine had about a 1/4 total of play in it. i dont think its the hitch, i think its the sportworks rack.

That's about what I have. Seems a little wierd, no?

Maybe I'll get something to shim it with...

Thanks.

 

[biggins]

i didnt shim mine. are you using the threaded lock bolt that you can get from sportworks?

 

[MikeD]

Yeah, I've got it on there. I was worried about the arrangement until I got it fully tightened down; then it seemed fine to use, at least for the day until I talked to someone else...

I was just thinking that it'd be a nice thing to do...eliminate the rack's possibility of bouncing badly when going over speed bumps and stuff.

 

[Jimmy_Pop]

alright, i just measured my hitch. the receiver is 2 1/16th and the hitch is exactly 2"

I welded up an extended platform thing to carry bikes and i used 2" tubing as the hitch part. it had too much movement when you have that much weight hangin on it.

I welded a small titty on the hitch and ground it down to that the hitch was a tight fit when i slid it in


After too many trips off road baja-ing, this "trailer" bent and started draggin the ground. it was fun and cheap to build while it lasted.

 

[biggins]

Yeah, I've got it on there. I was worried about the arrangement until I got it fully tightened down; then it seemed fine to use, at least for the day until I talked to someone else...

I was just thinking that it'd be a nice thing to do...eliminate the rack's possibility of bouncing badly when going over speed bumps and stuff.

i see where you are com,ing from. in all seriousness though once i tighened down my lock bolt i never worried about it again. but it couldn hurt. just remember to put the shim on side that the rack pulls to when you titghten the bolt down or it will do no good.

 

[MikeD]

i see where you are com,ing from. in all seriousness though once i tighened down my lock bolt i never worried about it again. but it couldn hurt. just remember to put the shim on side that the rack pulls to when you titghten the bolt down or it will do no good.

I was thinking more of shimming the bottom with some kind of plastic stock or something. It's the up/down movement, not left/right that bothers me...the left/right play is remedied by having the bolt tight.

Joel, thanks a ton for measuring. Mine seems to be more like 2 1/8 than 2 1/16, but it's all pretty darn close. Wish I had someone with your welding skills handy...

MD

 

[Jimmy_Pop]

you could probaby JB weld a couple of thick 1/2" washers on the underside of your bike rack to take up the slack..

your concerns are exactly mine too. i did not like the up and down play.

That welder shouldnt charge you anything to weld alittle tab on the underside of your rack and let you grind it down until the rack fits tight in the receiver.

good luck. post up some pics!

joel

 

[merrrrjig]

my rack has a little bit too much tolerance it move side to side about 8 inches and up and down 10 inches which causes it to bottom out. pretty bad. but now i use 2 tiedowns and 2 straps so that helps a lot

 

[marlopez]

my sportworks rack has lots of play also.

not to highjack the thread, but the knob that you pull to fold the rack up and down mine is a bitch to pull. i have to wobble it real hard for it to pull up. is this an issue for all of you as well? ive had the rack for 4 months, tops.

 

[Macrider]

my sportworks rack has lots of play also.

not to highjack the thread, but the knob that you pull to fold the rack up and down mine is a bitch to pull. i have to wobble it real hard for it to pull up. is this an issue for all of you as well? ive had the rack for 4 months, tops.

try greasing the moving parts - it helps a lot...