QuickLift - A Hitchball Bike Carrier

I built this simple bike carrier to haul around some odd-shaped home built bikes and trikes I have made. I needed a carrier that was cheap, simple, removable and compatible with both 1 7/8" and 2" trailer balls. I wanted the carrier to do most of the work of lifting bikes that weighed up to 50-60 pounds. I didn't want the carrier to require any permanent modifications to my vehicle.

My version of the lift has three welded joints. In Step 10 there are modifications that you might use to avoid any welding.

Most of the carrier is built of EMT conduit. EMT is short for Electrical Metallic Tubing. This conduit is cheap and available at most home repair centers. Welding EMT can be hazardous so please read through my Instructable about how to do this as safely as possible (http://www.instructables.com/id/Welding-EMT-Conduit/).

My cost was about $20 for the carrier parts I bought (conduit and two tiedown straps).

Step 1 Select A Bottom Bracket Shell (BBS)

You will need a BBS (in yellow circle) from a bike that had a 1-piece pedal. These BBSs are usually 2" inside and that is perfect for what we want to do. A short piece of 2" pipe would also work.

Comments

[rchilders]

I love this instructable. I was just thinking about doing this when I saw yours. You will save me a bunch of time.
One question:
I don't see where you explain how the carrier attaches to the tow frame. I see the bike hub weld and then only the emt bending. How do you attach it to the car at the bottom?

[cjbikenut]

Very nice, it looks like it has a lot of capacity. I'd like to know more about the FWD/rear steer trike you showed in the pictures of the carrier being loaded.

[bikeframe]

Thanks.

I am working on an Instructable for the trike you see. The trike has three experimental (questionable?) features: an inverted rear triangle for power, a pedal used as a foot brake and electric steering (using an old cordless drill).

I should have that Instructable and another one on a more conventional delta trike done in the week or so.

Thanks for asking. :)

Fred

[Don,t try this at home]

let me guess its a 99 nisson pathfinder lol i got one.

[bikeframe]

Right :)