Quote:
Originally Posted by Brantlaker
When my rollers fell apart I secured the rack/tray to the out position and leave it there. I moved the spare tire to a BAL under body mount reinforced the rear bumper and mounted a Swagman Bike Rack now I have room to store A Generator. It does not bounce around or rattle. But I keep the weight to under 200lb.
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Gary,
Thanks for responding.
I do often have the rack out to haul firewood and/or a blue honeywagon (waste tote). I probably abuse the 200# rating, but probably not more than 300#, which I deem it can handle. Since it just pins in place, I usually have my wife help me by moving the easy roller side out as I move the broken bearing side out by supporting it's weight as I do so. But it is kind of a nuisance.
I could just leave the tray out, loaded or empty, but then I'd have to take extraordinary measures to clear my driveway because of the extra tail length. I already have to use a couple of heavy 2'x8' plywood ramps, shimmed up by a series of railroad-tie-like crossbeams, to shape my "bridge" to form-fit the dip in my driveway. Unfortunately I used 3/4" ply which turned out much heavier than need be, but the worst part is storing these cumbersome "bridges".
I believe part of the light OEM weight rating on the tray was to avoid inadvertently unbalancing the tongue weight in case of light front trailer loading. I carry two large batteries up front, plus propane and a mounted aluminum toolbox full of supplies, so I have little fear of lack of enough tongue weight and instability.
I honestly don't think my rack rides too rough either, but my buddy hauled his Champion generator on a rack on the back of his 5th wheel, and the carb fuel bowl vibrated apart, spilling a full 4 gallon tank of fuel all over. But his rack was a different type, the generic type with a single mid support, inserted into a 2" hitch receiver. Still, I now carry my genny in the truck box under a tonneau cover.
Wes
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