My preference for luggage on multi-day trips has always been a dry bag strapped to the tail plus a tank bag up front. I needed a deck for the back so I could bring my wife on a trip and still have room for the dry bag. I know that there are a few offerings out there, but they are expensive and some seem limited in their usefulness. I made this from spare pieces I had in my pile. The only cash outlay so far was for the pair of 3/8" nuts I used as spacers. They cost 12 cents.
I'm not finished, so you just need to imagine what it will look like with black paint on the frame. I'll leave the deck unfinished.
Materials, in case you care:
Frame: 3/8" square cold rolled steel
Ears: 3/16" steel plate
Lower Deck: 1/16" steel
Upper Deck: 1/8" aluminum
I made the ears and bolted them on. Then I used a piece of gas welding rod and bent it to the shape I needed for the frame. I used the bent rod as a guide to bend the 3/8" square frame to the correct shape. I welded the ears on, then used a protractor to figure the angle I needed to make the deck sit nearly level. I used some smaller pieces of 3/8" stock as pillars to get the lower deck to the correct angle. The lower deck was then welded in place and the upper deck was bolted to it.
It turns out that 3/8" nuts were the right size to use as spacers on the front mounting holes. I didn't want to cut 7/8" holes in my ears and try to use the mounting method of the grab rail... mostly because I didn't have any plate that was the same thickness as the grab bar ears.
I'm not finished, so you just need to imagine what it will look like with black paint on the frame. I'll leave the deck unfinished.
Materials, in case you care:
Frame: 3/8" square cold rolled steel
Ears: 3/16" steel plate
Lower Deck: 1/16" steel
Upper Deck: 1/8" aluminum
I made the ears and bolted them on. Then I used a piece of gas welding rod and bent it to the shape I needed for the frame. I used the bent rod as a guide to bend the 3/8" square frame to the correct shape. I welded the ears on, then used a protractor to figure the angle I needed to make the deck sit nearly level. I used some smaller pieces of 3/8" stock as pillars to get the lower deck to the correct angle. The lower deck was then welded in place and the upper deck was bolted to it.
It turns out that 3/8" nuts were the right size to use as spacers on the front mounting holes. I didn't want to cut 7/8" holes in my ears and try to use the mounting method of the grab rail... mostly because I didn't have any plate that was the same thickness as the grab bar ears.
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