On Jul 31, 2:03*pm, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Jul 29, 9:04*pm, DerbyDad03 wrote:





On Jul 29, 8:48*pm, DerbyDad03 wrote:

On Jul 29, 8:35*pm, (Larry W) wrote:

In article ,DerbyDa d03 wrote:

...snipped...

Larry:

How tight is yourcarrierbar in the receiver?

I just assembled thecarrierand installed it on my vehicle's Class 3
hitch.

There is a lot of play in the receiver. At the farthest back end of
thecarrier, I've got almost 2.5 inches of vertical motion and about
the same side to side.

Is yours that loose?

It has a fair degree of rocking up & down, maybe 3 inches,
around the axis of the drawbar, measured at the extreme left or right side,
and maybe 2 inches in a side-to-side, parallel to the ground plane. I
drive at moderate speed when it is installed and loaded, but
I've never worried about it much. There are some drawbar pins and *
attachments available to take the play out if it concerns you. The ones
I have seen have a large bolt that tightens down against the side of
the drawbar.

--
* * *Make it as simple as possible, but no simpler.

* * *Larry Wasserman - Baltimore Maryland - lwasserm(a)sdf. lonestar. org

Thanks for confirming that it's not just mycarrier/receiver.

I've looked up some DrawTite anti-rattle accessories and there are a
few to choose from. I've also run across a few homemade solutions that
I'll look into.

Thanks again.

Found this...sounds simple enough

2/20/2001 12:05:00 PM Submitted by Roy W. from FLORIDA says Rattlin'
Hitch
I had the same rattling problem and here is how I fixed it. I drilled
a 5/16" hole in the bottom of the receiver forward of the pin, and
tapped it for a 3/8" bolt and jam nut. Just tighten the bolt up
against the draw bar and jam the nut up against it. No more rattle.

Drilled...Tapped...Done.

Works like a charm, at least in the driveway. Moving thecarriermoves
the whole van now.

The only pain is having to get down on the ground to secure the bolt
and jam nut, but hey, I'll feel much better without thecarrier
flopping around behind me.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

An update:

I've used the carrier for an 800 mile round trip and I'll give the
carrier 4.5 out 5 hitch pins.

As noted in an earlier post, there was a fair amount of movement with
the carrier installed in the receiver. Almost 2.5" up and down and
side to side. I was not comfortable with that.

Following a suggestion found on the webernet, I drilled and tapped the
receiver for a 5/16 bolt and jam nut. At first I tapped the receiver
rear of the pin (towards the rear of van) so that the bolt lifted the
bar and the weight was sitting actually sitting on the bolt. This
method prevented all movement - the carrier was rock solid in the
receiver.

I test this method by towing my trailer for a few hundred miles and I
was impressed by the lack of movement and noise. I should have done
this years ago! However, when I tried to remove the bolt, I found that
it was slightly bent and hard to get out. Assuming it was bent from
the weight of the tongue, I drilled and tapped the receiver forward of
the pin so the bar would rest on the bottom of the receiver and then
tested the carrier. Regardless of how much I tightened the bolt, there
was still movement of the bar in the receiver.

The final solution: I upgraded the bolt to a Grade 8 and used the
original hole which was rear of the pin. Even with the bolt basically
supporting the fully loaded carrier, there was no deformation, even
after 800 miles.

I also purchased the Harbor Freight Cargo Carrier Cover:

http://www.harborfreight.com/54-1-2-...ver-95165.html

They must have been thinking when the designed both of these items
because they made them just wide enough to hold those blue bins you
can buy at the home centers for under $10. I was able to fit 2 of them
in the carrier and then place some boxes on top, some more stuff in
between them and still comfortably zip the bag closed.

Eventhough the bag is lined with what appears to be a waterproof
material, I spray the bag with Camp-Dry silicon sealer for extra
waterproofing. It didn't rain while I was driving, but the carrier bag
was left out in the rain at the place I was staying and the inside
stayed completely dry.

The only con I will mention is that with bag loaded and strapped in, I
can't open or close the hatch of my mini-van. If I unstrap the bag
and, with a helper, tilt the bag and contents up about a foot, I can
use the hatch. Not a big deal, you just have to make sure you load
things in the right order - and not need anything big from the back of
the van.