Well, I nearly tore off my hitch tray recently.

Needing improvement, and wanting it to be a bit more multi-purpose,
giving more space in the garage, with less hitch tools taking up space,
this is the working prototype I have so-far.

I thought good and hard, and came up with this modified hitch system.
It gives a much better departure clearance, is stabilized better than the Valley Hitch Tray
originally was, and still tucks up to the truck when not needed, nice and clean.

FYI-The Basic Valley Hitch Tray just shoots straight outta your receiver...
(Stupid basic design, but it was only $75.)

*Basically used a scrap Rhode Gear (Bell) base and the Valley Tray.
Took some time to drill it all out for the grade 8 bolts, but definitely will be strong.

~Next up will be to weld in some better gusseting.
*My first concern, it the propeller style arm that's for the tensioning cam.
It seems like that'll be maybe the first thing to snag.

**Maybe just cut off the arms, and use a wrench to tighten the nut,
while keeping the large washer assembly, so a lock can still be used to keep it all mine.

Hope you enjoy it, and find the idea useful!

#1-Spliced Hitch Systems


#2-System Folded Out
*The Bike trays are affixed (for now) to 2x4's, making removal to substitute in the Cooler Rack Quicker.

#3-Side view of it all.

 

That looks nice - those baskets do hang awfully close to the ground (especially with saggy rear springs). I'm always interested to know what people are doing for bike racks too - good work

 

Thanks!! I appreciate the comment!!

I am actually happy/surprised myself with what I came up for this project.

That was part of the reason when I found the Rhode Gear base sitting around that I grabbed it.
*There's a little of a kicked angle to it, allowing the system when folded down to have a corrected angle.

Here's the folded up shot.

 

Now onto the rest of this project...

There's a post in the Tool Time thread for pics and ideas on how-to best configure the tray for the cooler, jerry can, etc-etc.

Please feel free to post replies with pics or drawings.