Mounting a hitch to the RadRover for pet trailer or kids trailer

[Berniejockjr]

I purchased the RadRover and received it Aug 18. Three days before receiving it I contacted Rad to see how I could attach my new Doggyride Novel 10 trailer to it. I still have not had any ideas sent to me.
In the mean time, through trial and error I came up with this.
It is a straight hitch (purchased separately). The hitch that came with my trailer is a dropped hitch that would be to low because of where I mounted the hitch on the kick stand, creating a UN-level ride for the dog. If I were to use the axle to mount the dropped hitch it would be the exact height as the straight hitch mounted to the kickstand. I happened to have an extra part saved from a Rotozip to use as the washer for the straight hitch. It fit perfectly into the wider round opening on the hitch and also had a smaller recessed hole.
The smaller recessed hole accepted the original kick stand bolt, leaving enough thread to tighten the hitch securely. I then put a piece of leather and clamp around the hitch to keep it from tilting downward and relieve pressure off the bolt going into the kickstand. I have put 36 miles on with my 71 pound dog and it has not moved at all.
Pictured is a bracket that is supposed to work to attach a hitch to an E bike or bike with disc brakes. This bracket does NOT work with the RadRover, the kick stand is in the way.
I also supplied a picture of the dropped hitch. This hitch will be to low (when mounted to the kick stand), and the trailer will tip downward in front.
The final picture with a straight hitch to the kickstand is a perfect height and creates a level trailer.
Cheers!

 

[vincent]

great info, thanks for posting

i have been looking for a used burley cargo trailer to go with my bikes, but no luck so far

 

[Berniejockjr]

The last time I looked, about a month ago there were a few on Milwaukee Craigslist. Not sure where you are or if they would ship but they were priced really good.

 

[Thom473]

Why not a seatpost mounted hitch? (Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

 

[johnz]

This is a dumb question but we have the Thule “Chariot” trailer with the ball hitch. Looking at it, it seems I should be able to pop the rear axil bolt on the Radrover 5 and put the trailer hitch on - any reason this won’t work? Eyeballing it the hole might need a little boring out on the ball hitch adaptor. Anyone done this?

 

[legsofbeer]

any reason this won’t work?

Only concern is that the radrover nut on that side is a flange nut, about 21 or 22 mm in diameter. If it doesn't fit when the hitch is on the axle, then you'll need to replace it with a regular nut (about 18 mm diameter), and you might have difficulty getting a socket wrench over the nut. Don't have any experience with the Thule setup, but learned the hard way with another brand hitch (it works now with a regular nut). If you have to get a regular nut, be aware the axle diameter is 12mm (M12), and the thread pitch is 1.25.

Also, check that the trailer fits behind that 4 inch fatty tire without contacting the tire.

 

[johnz]

Thank you Legs, I appreciate all of that info. I will take a look tonight. There seems to be plenty of thread left on the bolt for the nut to allow for the trailer hitch but your points are well taken!

 

[legsofbeer]

There seems to be plenty of thread left on the bolt for the nut to allow for the trailer hitch but your points are well taken!

It's not the remaining thread available on the axle that's the potential problem, but that the flange of the stock nut contacts a protruding part of the hitch so you can't tighten it sufficiently.

 

[CynicalZombie]

This is always an option...

https://mri-denver.com/shop/ols/products/rad-hd-kick-stand-trailer-hitch-mount

 

[johnz]

I didn't realize there were so many connection options for trailers. Ours looks like this image. Basically the trailer arm has a ball end that slides into the cup and is held in by a pin. The connector comes with the replacement axle rod but I think I can just bolt only the cup onto the Rover's existing axle if I bore the hole out, though @legsofbeer brings up a good point about the trailer arm clearing the wider tires...

 

[legsofbeer]

This is always an option...

https://mri-denver.com/shop/ols/products/rad-hd-kick-stand-trailer-hitch-mount

Good to know there's a kickstand mount option, (especially if that kickstand rattles less than the stock one), but the kickstand mount point center is 5.75 inches farther forward of the axle mount, so some trailers might not clear the rear tire.

 

[legsofbeer]

I doubt the flange of the stock flange nut will fit in that recess. Even a standard nut is 20mm at it's biggest diameter. So you might have to stack up some lock washers in there to get good contact to the frame, which might get in the way of good contact with the hitch.

Just eyeballing it, if that center hole isn't big enough for a 12mm axle, then I doubt the recess is big enough for a 20mm diameter nut.

 

[Pravin.sail]

Has anyone tried this with rad bikes. I am going to try it with my Radmission
WINOMO Bicycle Towing Hitch Universal Aluminium Alloy Left Bicycle Towing Hitch Adaptor Attachment https://www.amazon.de/dp/B09125ZNKZ...t_i_01KGW46NG8F3DZG6PC5W?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1