Van Trailer Hitch
My family’s old trunk-mounted bike rack was tedious to tether to the vehicle and broken straps meant I always lashed bikes down with rope. I wanted to use our families new hitch-mounted rack for a spring break mountain bike trip in 2018 – but the van had no hitch. Off the shelf trailer hitches cost around $150, but used my fabrication skills to produce one for $71.76 in steel stock and hardware.
After carrying 150 pounds on an 1800-mile road trip I discovered a crack in a cold weld joint! I immediately repaired it and the crack has not reappeared since.