BMX trailer plan thwarted - any idea's?

[Sara_H]

Having spent a few enjoyable hours with son adapting an old toddler trailer to use on his paper round with an old bmx, we now find that the trailer hitch thingy won't fit on his BMX wheel nut!!!!!

The nut screw (whatever you call it) is bigger than the standard bike. Anyone know if I can buy a hitch with a bigger hole?

 

[guitarpete247]

What fitting is it for the trailer? Can you upload photo of fitting and wheel nut. It might be possible to drill or file hole larger.

 

[Sara_H]

It's the standard hitch that came with the halfords brand trailer.

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-accessories/child-bike-trailers/halfords-spare-clip-and-bracket

I've no idea of the size of any of these bits, but I know I didn't have a big enough spanner to get the nut off and had to use an adjustable one. I stupidly thought they'd be the same size as my bike.

 

[T4tomo]

What is too big? Will the axle not fit through the hole in the hitch, or is the nut too big to fit in what looks like a recess on the hitch in the Halfords photo?

 

[shouldbeinbed]

You may need to bodge a different brand bike connector on. Burley and Thule (IIRC on them) do ones that attach to the frame pieces rather than into the axle assembly.

I managed to get a Burley trailer clamp fitted to my single fat rear strut Birdy folder when my kids were small.

Probably more a task to fettle the trailer to the clamp securely tho mixing and matching like this.

The linked one doesn't look to have enough metal to drill out much and still be safely solid TBH.

 

[Sara_H]

What is too big? Will the axle not fit through the hole in the hitch, or is the nut too big to fit in what looks like a recess on the hitch in the Halfords photo?

It's the axle that doesn't fit through the hole.

 

[T4tomo]

So its drilling it out a possibility, bearing in mind Mr.Inbed's point above re strength.

I'm not sure how the bracket lies in respect to the frame when fitted, but an alternative is to bolt or weld a small extension piece of steel to the bracket via the small hole with a correct sized hole to attach to.

Local blacksmith or metal fabricator should be able to provide the drilled steel to your measurements

 

[Sara_H]

So its drilling it out a possibility, bearing in mind Mr.Inbed's point above re strength.

I'm not sure how the bracket lies in respect to the frame when fitted, but an alternative is to bolt or weld a small extension piece of steel to the bracket via the small hole with a correct sized hole to attach to.

Local blacksmith or metal fabricator should be able to provide the drilled steel to your measurements

Thanks, I was hoping I'd be able to find one with the right size hole, but they don't seem to be available.

 

[classic33]

Two questions:
How old is the trailer?
How are your sewing skills?

 

[Tim Hall]

What size is the too big nut? Brief web based research suggests it might be 17mm, on a 3/8 inch axle. I'll have a gander at one of the brackets lunchtime to see how much "meat" there is. Or could you post a picture of the bracket, taken looking directly into the hole?

 

[Sara_H]

What size is the too big nut? Brief web based research suggests it might be 17mm, on a 3/8 inch axle. I'll have a gander at one of the brackets lunchtime to see how much "meat" there is. Or could you post a picture of the bracket, taken looking directly into the hole?

It's one of these:

Two questions:
How old is the trailer?
How are your sewing skills?

I'm not sure how old it is. We've had it a few years and we bought off eBay for a tenner! My sewing skill? I can hem curtains. Do you know a way of sewing a new bracket?

 

[shouldbeinbed]

It's one of these:

I'm not sure how old it is. We've had it a few years and we bought off eBay for a tenner! My sewing skill? I can hem curtains. Do you know a way of sewing a new bracket?

To be fair that looks a tad more hefty than the Halfords link one does, you may get away with drilling as Plan A.

Plan B For some sturdy like a trailer hitch you're better off crocheting

 

[classic33]

Just come out of the local Halfords, seen the hitch(£15) and I'd say it'd take the drilling out to the larger size required, 14mm.

The sewing, that was an alternative to the wire mesh in use.

 

[Tim Hall]

Just come out of the local Halfords, seen the hitch(£15) and I'd say it'd take the drilling out to the larger size required, 14mm.

The sewing, that was an alternative to the wire mesh in use.

Snap! (Didn't see you in Halfords though...) Drilling/filing to the required size should be fine. If the existing nut has a built in washer thing, you may need to use spacers/more washers to fill the recess in the hitch, as I don't think an integral washer will fit neatly in the hole.

 

[classic33]

Snap! (Didn't see you in Halfords though...) Drilling/filing to the required size should be fine. If the existing nut has a built in washer thing, you may need to use spacers/more washers to fill the recess in the hitch, as I don't think an integral washer will fit neatly in the hole.

Maybe you were expecting to see something!