Bent Rack

trener1

Well-Known Member
I managed to back my car into a low gate that I didn't see, ended up bending my (hitch) rack, but nothing seems broken or cracked just severely bent.
Is this trash or can it somehow be bent back?.
 

trener1

Well-Known Member
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The Kalmyk

Well-Known Member
I imagine it’s still functional as is? Yes/no?

Bending it back will only make it weaker. If you can live with it the just, let it ride.
 

trener1

Well-Known Member
Well, it's semi functional.
Hard to tell from the pics, the inner tray (closer to the car) is fully functional, but the arm (that holds the front wheel) on the outer trey is bent and pushed into the rack so it won't go up.
And also the base is bent so it won't fold up, it's stuck in the down position, which makes parking tough.
So basically it's semi functional in the short term, but not really long term.
 
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The Kalmyk

Well-Known Member
Well, it's semi functional.
Hard to tell from the pics, the inner tray (closer to the car) is functional, but the arm on the outer trey is bent and pushed into the rack so it won't go up.
And also the base is bent so it won't fold up, it's stuck in the down position, which makes parking tough.
So basically it's semi functional in the short term, but not really long term.


I would strip down the fuctioning part trays, swing arms, etc. Scrap the metal and see if swagman sells the parts I scraped a la carte. However, living in a throw away society that may not make sense.
 

pxs231

Active Member
I’m no mechanical engineer, but it looks like the square section tube has twisted. Being that it’s a steel rack I would have no problem bending it back. If you did that back and forth five times I would maybe a bit concerned. As far as the rest of the damage, you’d have to see what you can fix and what the manufacturer can help you with. Saris was pretty reasonable when I had to replace some swing arms on my rack.
 

trener1

Well-Known Member
I'm not very handy, is there a type of place that might be able to do it for a small fee?. I wouldn't even know where t begin looking?.
 

pkovo

Well-Known Member
I'd probably contact Swagman with the pics. I would explain how I absolutely love the rack and am devastated that while parked, someone must have hit and bent it. Ask them for their opinion on whether it's safe to bend back, or what they would suggest etc. You never know, you might get lucky.....they may be sympathetic and help you out..

If their not, I vote for Flaubert's idea
 

trener1

Well-Known Member
Well... I ended up being able to kind of force it enough that I can now at least fold it up/down so I can park etc...
It's still bent though.
A friend of mine knows a guy that works at a machine shop (he is on vacation now) so I am hoping to bring it to him and see if he can bend the whole thing back into place.
The company told me not to do it, but I am going to try it instead of spending $400 on a new rack.
Will post up once I bend it back....
I'll be at the D&Q sizzler tomorrow in case you are there and want to look at it.
 

FitmanNJ

Well-Known Member
I managed to back my car into a low gate that I didn't see, ended up bending my (hitch) rack, but nothing seems broken or cracked just severely bent.
Is this trash or can it somehow be bent back?.
I had a similar "incident" and recently bent my Thule rack (last year's model). I called Thule to see if I could buy parts to replace those that were damaged. I was especially interested in the new "holder arm" that they make since it's built with an offset at one point to accomodate fatbike tires. The Thule customer service rep laughed when I asked the question, then said, "Now, that would make sense, wouldn't it?" Apparently the Marketing Department "axed" any plans to make the parts uniform from one generation to the next. I still have one usable station...:confused:
 
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