I needed a way to carry my Trike down to the shore for our summer get-a-ways. I have a Hyundai Accent which will accommodate the trike inside if I am the only one in the car. That is rarely the case when heading south as my wife and dog come also. The car does not officially allow a hitch and getting a roof rack for such a small roof line was not easy. Anyway, after much research I found a roof rack under $165 delivered. It took about 1 hr to attach and uses self sealing screws. I was concerned about leaking into my roof liner, but, the salesman assured me the screws work great. It's been a while and so far so good.
The roof rack looked great on the car. Now how to attach my trike. It became a problem as the trikes width is a hair smaller than the rack's width. I decided to put 1 wheel on the inside and 1 wheel on the outside of the tracks. Seemed like a good idea. I secured it to the rails with various straps. It worked OK going down, but not on the way back. I had to stop 4 times and re secure or loose the trike.
Today on my ride I thought about adding some sort of aluminum channel. I put the trike on the car to see how it really fit so I could determine the parts I would need. As it turned out I found out if I put the 2 cross bars about 6 in apart I could cradle the tires. It looked great and seemed very secure with adequate tie downs. I didn't like the idea of not being able to fully open the trunk as the rear wheel came down a bit on it. I used the same concept only reversed the trike and placement of the cross bars. It is even easier to roll the trike up the front hood than the rear hatch. All works without a problem. I wouldn't do this with a new car. Fortunately this car owes me nothing and has many dings, scratches and scars. I still prefer to carry my trike inside, but that is not always possible and this works economically for now.
I have added some pictures. Please note the seat and rack are normally removed.
The roof rack looked great on the car. Now how to attach my trike. It became a problem as the trikes width is a hair smaller than the rack's width. I decided to put 1 wheel on the inside and 1 wheel on the outside of the tracks. Seemed like a good idea. I secured it to the rails with various straps. It worked OK going down, but not on the way back. I had to stop 4 times and re secure or loose the trike.
Today on my ride I thought about adding some sort of aluminum channel. I put the trike on the car to see how it really fit so I could determine the parts I would need. As it turned out I found out if I put the 2 cross bars about 6 in apart I could cradle the tires. It looked great and seemed very secure with adequate tie downs. I didn't like the idea of not being able to fully open the trunk as the rear wheel came down a bit on it. I used the same concept only reversed the trike and placement of the cross bars. It is even easier to roll the trike up the front hood than the rear hatch. All works without a problem. I wouldn't do this with a new car. Fortunately this car owes me nothing and has many dings, scratches and scars. I still prefer to carry my trike inside, but that is not always possible and this works economically for now.
I have added some pictures. Please note the seat and rack are normally removed.
3 comments:
I've been seeing trikes here and there on larger rides and wondered how in the dickens you folks transported them. Thanks for clearing up a mystery to me.
Most people still tote inside their vehicle
I built a 6" riser on my pickup side rails out of Trex decking and a 1/2" plywood hard top cover, Instant Trike garage, and it improves my gas Mileage!
Picture later!
Don
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