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I wanted an easy way to carry my bikes around, and didn't want to spend ~$500 for a roof rack + attachments and run the risk of dropping a bike on my roof. After quite a bit of looking around for a secondhand hitch system, I decided it would be fun to make my own and use the bike rack I already owned. Here are a few pictures.
Holds up well, I can jump up and down on the hitch vigorously and it does not move unless the rack is fully extended, even then I can hang off the back. I will be updating the bolt sizes to the next largest (8MM 12.9 grade currently), and making the heavier duty bumper bar mounts. I did make a few changes to the popular Willwood hitch to allow easier installation of my rack and use of any off the shelf 1 1/4 towing hardware.
I'm tempted to finish building the bumper mounts, get a secondhand aluminum rear bumper bar and stress test the components to get an exact failure weight. With the larger bolts and heavier supports I would have no reservations about hauling a little track trailer with tires/tools.
This was a very fun way to spend a Friday. I'm happy to post a DIY when I take it back apart to upgrade the bolt sizes and start making the mounts. Any interest in other forum members needing any of these? I am in the process of getting a quote for 10 of these to be made, and 3 being stress tested if there is interest. I have a friend with a 2007/2008 Cayman S and after seeing my last picture he needs one as well, so I will be making one of those in the near future.
Here are a few pictures from the rear, side, and above. I'm happy to take a few more pictures with the license plate fully off early next week. Definitely a good idea to use a razor knife NOT a grinder like I did. Both methods cut through very easily. A razor would look much cleaner than mine. Patience is a virtue...
License plate is hinged and works as intended. Hitch pins would go in from the side, much more traditional. My rack screws in with a bolt on the right side, so only the right is cut out. The receiver is fully behind the plate. Magnets hold the plate in place when not in use. All is hidden behind the plate. Bumperettes fit just fine as well.
Nice job. This idea is not new.
I am having one very much like this installed professionally in the next week or two. See this link to the 718 forum( https://rennlist.com/forums/718-foru...-on-718-a.html). The poster lives near me and when I saw his I contacted the guy that makes them and he is doing one for my 996. Not much more expensive then the Porsche roof rack.
I will post pics when the install is done.
Oliver at Gururack.
Nice work! What hinges are you using for the license plate? I installed a willwood a few months back but couldn’t find hinges that I was happy with, so for now I just have the plate secured with magnets and remove it when I have my bike rack installed. Would prefer hinges so that my setup is somewhat legal.
Neat! I used this set up to tow a tire trailer on a GT3 for a while but I didn't want to use a standard bike rack on mine (even w/a light rack and a sub 19 lbs bike). Eventually settled on carrying a single bike on a very short bike rack -really need to upgrade the bumper shocks to feel more secure IMO. Please do post more pics of those if you end up doing it. Towing worked fine as the tongue weight can be kept low and there's a very short moment arm from the hitch.
I am just using some piano hinge from Home Depot along with some tapered screws to get it to sit as flush as possible when down(the $5 one), much like many of the other kits that have been available. Nothing wildly new or too innovative there.
I have heard about Wilwood, as mentioned in my original post but the very long lead time and high expense for this part put me off from this supplier. There is no reason this simple receiver should cost as much as it does. If it truly did cost $500+ to make and was extremely difficult to do, I would certainly go with a roof rack. They do look very cool.
This coming week I will have more parts ordered in and begin work on the bumper mounts (another simple piece). Hopefully will hear back about failure analysis costs from a local Arizona company and production runs during this time and will update as I get more new information. I certainly want the heavier duty bumper mounts, as the leverage the bikes have way out there must be fairly substantial.
Thanks for the replies everyone, loved the picture of the dirt bikes. How fun!
I had just moved to Maine in 1976 and didn't yet know where to ride. Shortly after taking this pic we were riding along a river and farmland and were stopped by a local cop with flashing lights who informed us we weren't in Maine but had crossed into NH. He was cool and bought our true story about not knowing the area, and let us leave with stern warnings. My friend with the Targa would fly with his dirt bike trailer behind him on the highway coming up to visit. Sorry OP not trying to highjack your thread.
As an update, I just finished dropping off parts at a shop to laser cut the mounts and assemble the reinforced bumper mounts. I'll be getting them powder coated and do a final test fit of all the pieces. Assuming everything goes well, I will have finished product in my hands in two weeks (only making one set to test) and I can begin to order my first round of 10, with hopefully another two week lead time. They will be top notch quality, lifetime warranty. I'll update you all when they come in and disclose pricing when I have finished pictures of the entire kit.
05-19-2018, 03:39 PM
996 Hitch Project DIY
