Back Rack

[Drunkskunk]

I'd seen some other posts about people with problems with there back battery rack not holding up, so I thought I'd post some pics of how I solved my back rack problem.

My old rack was rated at 40 pounds, labeled as "heavy duty" aluminum. Kind of an Oxymoron After modifying it with a mount for the controller, and a steel spine and front mount, it lasted another 300 miles with an occasional tweak or repair. It only weighed 2 pounds, 12 ounces.

Unfortunitly, it didn't work out so well, at 300 miles, the welds fell apart and the down tubes buckled for the last time, dropping the rack down onto the tire.

So I took the front mount and controller holder, cut off the spine, and built a steel version out of 1/16th inch waled, 1/2 inch steel tubing and 1/8X1 flat plate cold rolled steel.

Surprisingly, it weighs only 3 pounds, 13.5 ounces.

I used 10mm wrenches as the bottom mounts. They do double duty as torque arms and mounts.

It also kept the surrounds that I bult for the last rack. I had my battery bag's straps let go on a turn, and just about lost all controll as the battery and bike parted ways.

 

[Stevil_Knevil]

Hey, that's cool! It's a rear rack, it's a torque arm -IT'S BOTH!!

but wait.. aren't the flats off by 90 degrees?



-S

Edit: purely constructive criticism -dunking galvanized bits in muriatic acid, or passing under a grinder will remove the plating and allow for stronger welds.

 

[Drunkskunk]

Hey, that's cool! It's a rear rack, it's a torque arm -IT'S BOTH!!

but wait.. aren't the flats off by 90 degrees?



-S

Edit: purely constructive criticism -dunking galvanized bits in muriatic acid, or passing under a grinder will remove the plating and allow for stronger welds.

You would think, but this department store Schwinn drops the wheels out straight down.



And you're right about the chrome. what you can't see because of my crappy weldiing job on that first wrench is that I took a die grinder to the outside edge and removed all the plating. I also had to grind down the tops of the handle to weld to the tube.

 

[Stevil_Knevil]

You would think, but this department store Schwinn drops the wheels out straight down.

And you're right about the chrome. what you can't see because of my crappy weldiing job on that first wrench is that I took a die grinder to the outside edge and removed all the plating. I also had to grind down the tops of the handle to weld to the tube.

Ahhh, makes perfect sense now. The welds ain't pretty, but look like they're up to the task.. very creative.

What kind of voltage and capacity are you dropping on this rack?

 

[Drunkskunk]

32 pounds of SLA. 48v, 10 amp. Not much, but every time I rode over a curb, it was like taking the batterys and dropping them 6 inches down ontop of the old rack. it slowly was hammering it to death.