trapezeartist Posted July 28, 2018 Report Share Posted July 28, 2018 Having gone back to the original post, it's very clear from photo 4 that the bakrak is not performing as it should. The flange should be vertical in side-view and it's not. The bakrak has rotated backwards on the ball, either because it hasn't been fitted right or because it is simply not capable of clamping tight enough to resist the moment of the bike rack. Whether the Dave Cooper bike rack is a suitable device is a separate issue. Personally, I think not, but it certainly is not deserving of the rant that has been directed at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faussy Posted July 29, 2018 Report Share Posted July 29, 2018 (edited) Did you tighten the grub screws? Especially the one we cant see opposing the one closest to your bumper? You might need to loosen the one closest to your bumper and then tighten the opposing one. That should correct the backward lean. If these are tight, it shouldnt rock back and forth Edited July 29, 2018 by faussy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
section swept Posted July 29, 2018 Report Share Posted July 29, 2018 I’ve seen a few speedway bikes transported by what must be pretty much the same type of rear tow ball mounted arrangement. Now if the speedway rider is going to race abroad then that makes entire sense as they will possibly be charged for just one vehicle. Ditto for a foreign rider coming to UK ( they might decide not though if they read some of the comments on this topic). Nebulous, your last post has deeply saddened me. Like many of us we have friends or relatives that are going through the hell that any of your ailments will cause. I appreciate that these will play on anyone’s mind and be a constant reminder that we are all mortal. I am undergoing tests, my partner has just come out of breast cancer hell, my brother in law has stage 4 stomach and colon cancer and receives palliative care and my mother is CKD stage 4. So if I have offended you by quoting anything you felt was too much then I apologise, it’s easy to do but it is meant in the spirit of the word. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpyam Posted July 31, 2018 Report Share Posted July 31, 2018 Just joining this thread. I had a DC bike rack, and when connected to my LandRover (with tow bar bolted straight to the chassis) it was a great - an agricultural strength set up. However I would say a swan neck tow bar (with or without additional contraptions) is totally unsuited to a DC bike rack - to the point of being highly dangerous. A swan neck might be able to cope with a bicycle rack, but certainly not a trials bike, where the huge leverage on the swan neck/car mounting (forces way beyond what it was designed for) means something will break in no time, meaning the trials bike will soon be bouncing down the road. :-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdean10 Posted January 9, 2022 Report Share Posted January 9, 2022 Sorry for dragging up such an old thread, but what was the outcome? I am curious as I am about to go down this exact route (with a Freelander2 + detachable swan neck) Was the Bak Rak converter fitted correctly? Was it tightened to the correct torque? What was the outcome? did you manage to solve the issue of the rack rotating about the ball? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_Rob Posted January 9, 2022 Report Share Posted January 9, 2022 9 hours ago, sdean10 said: Sorry for dragging up such an old thread, but what was the outcome? I am curious as I am about to go down this exact route (with a Freelander2 + detachable swan neck) Was the Bak Rak converter fitted correctly? Was it tightened to the correct torque? What was the outcome? did you manage to solve the issue of the rack rotating about the ball? What make of towbar do you have? If it’s a Witter you may be able to buy a detachable flange type (which would let you bolt the DC rack to it) to replace the swan neck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdean10 Posted January 15, 2022 Report Share Posted January 15, 2022 Cheers Rob, I am working through solutions at the moment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retromlc Posted March 29, 2022 Report Share Posted March 29, 2022 I have the same set up in same car, detachable tiw bar, it took a while to settle and I kept tightening the bolt I have no issues with it at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paddyrfc Posted May 18, 2022 Report Share Posted May 18, 2022 (edited) On 3/29/2022 at 2:27 PM, retromlc said: I have the same set up in same car, detachable tiw bar, it took a while to settle and I kept tightening the bolt I have no issues with it at all Hi, looking at possibly using this setup and just want to confirm that you mean you have the same bak rak/DC bike rack setup as the original poster and it works fine with a trials bike, cheers Edited May 18, 2022 by paddyrfc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retromlc Posted May 19, 2022 Report Share Posted May 19, 2022 That's correct, DC dies a rack that takes the bac rak into consideration, still using it and no issues with the set up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paddyrfc Posted May 20, 2022 Report Share Posted May 20, 2022 Brilliant thanks for the response. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkMac Posted March 2, 2023 Report Share Posted March 2, 2023 Ive stumbled across this thread after a google search as I have a detachable swan neck towball on my new car and wanted to know if a DC rack would work. the bak-rak adapter seemed perfect, then this thread threw my judgement. however!! I’ve since discovered the install shown in this thread is incorrect. The clamp bolt is shown on the “car” side of the ball. It needs to be on the rear face of the ball as in this attached picture! That should correct the lean the poster discussed and the dact the flange wasnt vertical to start with!👍 Hope it helps clarify in this tread and any future google searchers like myself 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b40rt Posted March 2, 2023 Report Share Posted March 2, 2023 10 minutes ago, MarkMac said: Ive stumbled across this thread after a google search as I have a detachable swan neck towball on my new car and wanted to know if a DC rack would work. the bak-rak adapter seemed perfect, then this thread threw my judgement. however!! I’ve since discovered the install shown in this thread is incorrect. The clamp bolt is shown on the “car” side of the ball. It needs to be on the rear face of the ball as in this attached picture! That should correct the lean the poster discussed and the dact the flange wasnt vertical to start with!👍 Hope it helps clarify in this tread and any future google searchers like myself 🙂 I suggested it was back to front, and only 5 years later ............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trustytriumph Posted July 11 Report Share Posted July 11 On 7/27/2018 at 1:49 PM, 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trustytriumph Posted July 16 Report Share Posted July 16 On 7/11/2024 at 1:43 PM, Trustytriumph said: Hi all sorry to again add to an old thread but I’ve gone down the same route as others above using a DC rack and Bak Rak converter to mount my Honda GROM (90kg ) on first fitting there was a lot of slop and rotation which was adding up to a concerning level of movement. Having got my torque wrench out and tweaked everything up it’s stopped the rotation on the ball but not the bouncing up and down - that’s down to the rack - I am going to see if I can modify the design to add a strengthening bar from under the tow bar back up to the underside of the rack to try and stop the rack bouncing up and down. I noticed that Bak Raks own G4 platform has one of these and is rated much higher weight wise to 120kg. Just wondering if anyone else had any other view or way of resolving? My issue may simply be weight - my bike is probably 20kg heavier than most trials bikes which is what the rack is designed for . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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