Dave Cooper Bike Rack with Bak-Rak adapter

[MAL1980]

Hi,

I bought a bike rack from Dave Cooper to transport my Rev3 on my Honda Civic and as told to by them I bought the Bak-Rak swan neck to flange converter. Which is apparently what is needed for the standard Honda Civic tow bar. I fitted it as instructed but the rack sags back (away from the car) even before the bike goes on, and then twists back more when the bike is on. The whole unit also rocks a lot. I explained this to Dave Cooper who told me it was a Bak-Rak issue and Bak-Rak told me it's fine and does this. Does anyone have experience in this or suggestions on how to make it feel more secure?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Edited July 27, 2018 by MAL1980

[oni nou]

14 minutes ago, MAL1980 said:

Hi,

I bought a bike rack from Dave Cooper to transport my Rev3 on my Honda Civic and as told to by them I bought the Bak-Rak swan neck to flange converter. Which is apparently what is needed for the standard Honda Civic tow bar. I fitted it as instructed but the rack sags back (away from the car) even before the bike goes on, and then twists back more when the bike is on. The whole unit also rocks a lot. I explained this to Dave Cooper who told me it was a Bak-Rak issue and Bak-Rak told me it's fine and does this. Does anyone have experience in this or suggestions on how to make it feel more secure?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

No but I do know from experience that if a piece of metal keeps being rocked back and forth that usually something is going to give and a failure occur.

Buy a set of plastic bobbins with tie down straps attached at Halfords  from the bicycle rack accessories section then trap them under the tail gate and  attach the straps to your bike as high up as possible [with it on the rack obviously] tighten up a little pulling the bike toward the back of the car and now when you drive over dips and bumps in the road you bike will not look like it is trying to escape the rack and also your swan neck will have a much better chance of not snapping off or buckling.

[section swept]

The rack looks the business with what look like substantial welds. Trouble is that there is now so much leverage acting upon the tow ball that every mounting point on the car is being loaded, more so than when towing a trailer as most of the weight is supported by the towed items wheels. 

As oni nou suggests an alternative additional strap arrangement to spread the load over more of the car might make things more stable. The saving grace here is that you probably will only use the rack occasionally rather than full time.

[rotors7]

I'm not sure if you've a detachable swan neck on your car, but if so, Witter do swan necks with the twin holed plate and no ball.

[trapezeartist]

I can't see exactly what is going on inside that Bakrak thingie, but it just seems a triumph of optimism over reality to think that anything is going to attach to a ball and then provide a stable support of an offset load of 80 or 90kg. Is the Bakrak intended for pushbikes?

Although the Dave Cooper rack is ingenious and a lot of people have covered a lot of miles with them, I still find it unduly flexible and decided against it for myself.

[oni nou]

17 minutes ago, trapezeartist said:

I can't see exactly what is going on inside that Bakrak thingie, but it just seems a triumph of optimism over reality to think that anything is going to attach to a ball and then provide a stable support of an offset load of 80 or 90kg. Is the Bakrak intended for pushbikes?

Although the Dave Cooper rack is ingenious and a lot of people have covered a lot of miles with them, I still find it unduly flexible and decided against it for myself.

The BakRak adapter is tested to 650kg british and 300kg TUV German so it appears that the weak link is the tow bar nose weight not the BakRak adapter.

Edited July 27, 2018 by oni nou

[dick]

The pic's show the two bolt flange on the adapter is not vertical as it would be on a flanged tow bar. Check the fitting, hard to believe it's been made that badly as it looks good. 

[b40rt]

Looks back to front, maybe ? Can it be fitted other way ?

[markparrish]

10 hours ago, Nebulous said:

Dave Coopers are rated to just 150kg max.  There is also a limit on total inanimate towbar weight. This varies , depending on the car. But with a Ford Fiesta , for instance - this figure will be around the 100kg mark.   A rack and bike would come pretty close to that figure - and this will affect your steering and overall braking-distance.    

I used to have a DC rack on a regular flat plate type towbar and found it worked well with minimal flex etc. although the forces involved must be pretty large (I'm also pretty sure insurance would use it as a loophole to avoid paying out if anything occurred). The problem with those ratings (650kg) are that they are probably the downward load force measured at the towbar - introduced by a trailer or caravan etc. What the DC rack is doing is applying a turning force or "moment" which is the combined weight of bike and rack multiplied by the distance from the ball to the centre of gravity of said bike and rack. The only way to counteract this is Oni nou's strap idea or Nebulous's extension bar under the car. I expect the bracket has some plates which contact the neck below the bar, but they will be very close to the pivot and won't really be able to balance the force from the bike.

[ourian]

15 hours ago, rotors7 said:

I'm not sure if you've a detachable swan neck on your car, but if so, Witter do swan necks with the twin holed plate and no ball.

I'd go with this option, try contacting Witter for correct part number

Only an example

[pschrauber]

I would not trust that set up, looks weird and unusual, also just think about driving with this thingy attached and a bike loaded over a bigger bump with 70mph. You might load a bicycle with that ... or give it back an buy a tiny trailer?

[collyolly]

The photograph of a bike rack on the floor is not a Dave Cooper rack and I think it's method of attachment is being miss interpreted.

There is an assembly which consists of a tow hitch and a horizontal square tube attached to a clamp which then goes onto the swan neck tow bar.

The two frames then slide into the horizontal tube and are held in place with pinch bolts, the bar that has been identified as going under the tow bar frame is in fact one of the bike supports, looks like the picture was taken at a garage sale.

Before everyone gets carried away with redesigning this product take a closer look

Or have I got it wrong ?

[ourian]

38 minutes ago, collyolly said:

The photograph of a bike rack on the floor is not a Dave Cooper rack and I think it's method of attachment is being miss interpreted.

There is an assembly which consists of a tow hitch and a horizontal square tube attached to a clamp which then goes onto the swan neck tow bar.

The two frames then slide into the horizontal tube and are held in place with pinch bolts, the bar that has been identified as going under the tow bar frame is in fact one of the bike supports, looks like the picture was taken at a garage sale.

Before everyone gets carried away with redesigning this product take a closer look

Or have I got it wrong ?

You are correct

The problem with the Bak-Rak is that it clamps on the ball and not the ball+the stem, hence why it can pivot until the Bak-Rak hits the stem, however Bak Rak do an anti pivot collar which clamps to the stem, but personally I'd invest the £70 for a flanged swan neck

 

Edited July 28, 2018 by ourian

[collyolly]

I am pleased you agree with me, I was more concerned with the miss-interpretation of the product shown and how it was being used to wrongly argue a point.

I agree that the system of clamping is not a good idea in this application.

 

[ourian]

4 hours ago, Nebulous said:

 The picture I posted has a bar that goes underneath the vehicle.

No it does not

It has a flange mounting adapter, to which the arms of the rack attach to. It also has a Bak-Rak adapter bolted through the tow ball and said flange adaptor. There is most definitely not a bar that hooks under the car and braces against the tow bar frame.