Quote:
Originally Posted by serialk11r
So this is an old thread but I am probably getting a Honda CR-V or something like that and the thought struck me:
A typical hitch rack can be surrounded with a box to make it a detached box cavity/spoiler-like object that doesn't require any body modification.
Furthermore, you can add the straps that come with trunk mount bike racks as anchors for a plastic sheet spoiler extension from the roof.
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The new tail for SPIRIT mounts to a C-frame, which itself pivots from a JEEP Wrangler-esque bumper-mount spare-tire, swing-away fixture.
I used clamps from 50-caliber ammo boxes to snug the tail to the rear.
Once released, the whole tail swings away, and to the passenger side curb, exposing the storage 'trunk,' as some cargo aircraft do.
I believe that it will be relatively painless to live with on the road.
Since the shell is all compound curves, it's extremely thin for it's strength. Triple-biased, pre-preg, carbon -fiber epoxy, vacuum-bagged in an autoclave, as we did at ABARIS, would render a tail of just a few pounds all-up weight; as a commercial unit.
If vehicle aft-body architecture were rationalized among weight classes, you wouldn't need to own one. You could just lease one for holiday vacation, at the edge of town, and return it when you return home from the road trip. Let the things work 52-weeks out of each year.
Okay, brain-vomit ends now.