Hitched Detachable Boat Tail finished. With tests!

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by brucey

Also visible in the pictures: I chose to leave the corner lights exposed for this. I figured it'd be minimal loss overall, save the problem of forming a tight seal of the car, and I'd get to have extra indicators. Which wouldnt be a bad thing.

I think that's really important, actually.

At night, the trailer lights being close together may send the wrong visual cues to drivers behind you: lights close together are what we're used to seeing on vehicles that are far away. You don't want to potentially contribute to that kind of mis-perception.

basjoos was struck from behind on the highway by a speeding car at night in his Aerocivic, and it's my opinion the close-together taillights may have been a factor. (See his thread - he's since added more conspicuous lighting to give the car more illuminated "width".)

I'll be incorporating conspicuous marker lights on my boat tail in the same position as your OEM lights for that reason.

Other than that... glad to see someone else forging ahead with this kind of project!

[brucey]

Christ: Could you do a picture? I was thinking of having a zip tie like device on the outside of the door. That way I could attach it one handed and it wouldnt go anywhere, but still disconnect it when need be.

[idtent]

why wouldn't you connect it to the roof rack?

[Christ]

Originally Posted by brucey

Christ: Could you do a picture? I was thinking of having a zip tie like device on the outside of the door. That way I could attach it one handed and it wouldnt go anywhere, but still disconnect it when need be.

______________________|

The | should be facing down, but you'll understand from that, I hope.

You fasten the _____________ to the structure or frame, so that when the thing is installed to the hitch, you can just slightly deform the frame enough to tuck the | into the gap between the hatch and the rest of the body.

Just like a normal L bracket, basically.

[brucey]

That could work, but I was wanting a pretty solid mount. As in no front to back, left to right, up to down, side to side motion at all. That would only do 2 of the requirements :/ I'm thinking a pipe in a pipe (basically how a hitch connects) with another 'hitch pin' to have a 3 pronged hitch, basically. Except have the other 2 somewhere else on the car.

Maybe on the bumper for that fast and furious look when the tail isnt on? </sarcasm>

[Christ]

You could also use those on the sides, to help with side/side mvmt, as long as the hatch seam is on the side of the vehicle.

Simple and (probably) effective. I hope. If not, well, you didn't really waste anything, since straps of aluminum are pretty cheap, and can be used for other things if you don't like the way it works out!

[wagonman76]

Nice work!

On mine I came off the steel bumper with a support frame (serves a similar purpose as your trailer hitch). But that alone is just a support for the weight. I clamped rods (with vinyl tubing over them) across the trunk lid to actually keep the thing in one place. It is strong, you can push on it and it solidly moves the whole car around.

I left my existing sidemarkers exposed, you can just see them directly from the rear. Also you can see the factory taillights through the window if you are up high enough.

One thing I did notice when I put that extension on the tail (which had the taillights closer together) is that a lot of people wouldn't get into their own lane when passing. I thought perhaps it was because my car might have appeared narrower. But then again, you're supposed to go fully into the other lane when passing, regardless of vehicle width. You don't crowd a motorcyclist out of his own lane just because he has a narrow vehicle.

[brucey]

I'm going to try to use the license plate screw holes later tonight to thread a rod through it and have a slip on cover on the center 2X4 frame board. It should work and it isnt under too much stress so I dont think it will be a problem.

The only thing I dont like about that is I'll have to put it on and off everytime I put the tail on. Originally my plan was to have a duplicate plate on the tail full time to avoid the hassle.

[brucey]

Ugly ugly ugly system that works amazing:



The metal simply wedges into the seam of the rear hatch.

I could almost stand on the very end of the tail and not worry about it and not worry about it. I'm going to have to do something about the hitch mount too. but for right now I want to get it road worthy and then I'll worry about cleaning the air on the bottom. (Less worried about it there since the back of my car isn't exactly smooth with the lack of underbelly panelling and hitch hanging off the frame already)

BUT! I do have a fairly smooth front and middle:



Screw those belly pans that are gonna get dented. Give me 1/4 inch thick 6061 aluminum.

[Christ]

Originally Posted by brucey

Ugly ugly ugly system that works amazing:



The metal simply wedges into the seam of the rear hatch.

I could almost stand on the very end of the tail and not worry about it and not worry about it. I'm going to have to do something about the hitch mount too. but for right now I want to get it road worthy and then I'll worry about cleaning the air on the bottom. (Less worried about it there since the back of my car isn't exactly smooth with the lack of underbelly panelling and hitch hanging off the frame already)

BUT! I do have a fairly smooth front and middle:



Screw those belly pans that are gonna get dented. Give me 1/4 inch thick 6061 aluminum.

Go offroad much?!