Rescue Ninja
Adventurer
They said the same thing to Henry Ford.
Thanks Bushman. (Of course it can be argued there have indeed been lots of Ford related accidents...) Just trying to keep it all light hearted...
I appreciate the safety related concerns. I am a nurse, not an engineer. That said, I'm a pretty smart guy with a lot of real world experience and more than a few lessons in physics. Here is my rational in going forward with this project.
1.) The manufacturer rated the product for 140 pounds. Yes, I am throwing a tire and gas cans on instead of bikes, but the weight of all these items when filled and mounted stays within the manufacturer's requirement. (I don't see the need to carry 70lbs of gas around town on a daily basis, so the Jerry cans will only go on if I plan to be out in the woods for a few days.)
2.) The manufacturer never intended it to carry tires and stuff, but the rack was designed to withstand the forces of up to four bikes swinging around out at the end of its horizontal bars. Even if the swinging is a non-issue because the bikes were properly strapped, the center of balance remains high and torque/rotational forces are multiplied by the length of the rack. By having the center of gravity lower and less spread out, the rack is theoretically under much less stress.
As things stand, trying to shake the spare around just shakes my 4500 pound rig. The mods to the rack itself are minimal enough (the addition of one bolt and three screws) that the risk of use should be equivalent to using the rack as intended. Hopefully, I'm right. I am willing to accept that I may not be, which is why I plan to be very suspicious of it for quite some time. I believe that only time and trail testing will provide anything more than speculation. While we are awaiting the results of the trail testing if anyone feels I have overlooked something or has other constructive feedback, please feel free to help out. I welcome meaningful input and feel forums like this help all of us when energy is spent collaborating.
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