Quote:
Originally Posted by EngineerMike
I wouldn't trust work by an outfit that gave advice like J&I. What you are really hearing is J&I doesn't know how.
2" tube steel comes in 3 standard thicknesses. Most hitches use 1/8 for short extensions or 3/16. You can get it in 1/4" thickness. You can also get 2" solid. A short piece of 2" solid end welded to 2x2x.25 for the rest of your extension would work fine. You would have to address mounting at the hitch.
I have a long stinger for my toad on which is mounted a 340# vespa scooter. When doing the fabrication, I drilled two 5/8" holes on the PS with the extension piece installed in the hitch (i.e. thru hitch & receiver so the holes would line up), and two 17/32" holes on the DS of the extension. I then threaded the two DS holes on the extension using a 5/8-11 tap and reamed the two DS holes on the receiver to 5/8. Instead of standard hitch pins, I used 5/8" Grade 8 bolts inserted from the PS. The smooth shank of the bolt runs thru the PS holes and the threads lock into the threaded holes on the DS of the extension, which sucks the 1/4" wall tube extension tight to the PS of the receiver and makes it an extension of the frame (no wobble or chatter at all). A Grade 8 lock nut goes on the DS threaded end of the Grade 8 bolts as a locking device. I carry a 15/16 box wrench for taking the scooter carrier off if I need to for parking purposes.
This method isn't new. I stole it fair & square off the website of an internet seller of motorcycle hitch products. Then found it in use at various fabricators. My dimensions and layout were not applicable to any of the standard products so I made my own. I always find it humorous when a shop says it won't work, all the while their competitors have it as a standard feature.
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Considering that you have no idea what the dimensions were for the project I proposed to them, your assertions that (1) they didn't know how to make it and (2) that it could be safely built at all are kinda presumptuous. Or that such a device, once built, would be cost effective and manageable.
Just because something CAN be built doesn't mean it SHOULD be built.
joe