Anyone have feedback on Slingmods rear rack capacity?

[staneric]

They say 15# max. Has anyone toured with this rack and what kind of weight were you carrying?
Thanks.

[festus]

I put one on the wife's ryker, and put a Chase Harper 4250 on it. She doesn't do any traveling, just for her garbage she picks up or takes for her job commute and/or joy riding. Would say she has had twice that weight stuffed in there at one time or another. That rack is stout and heavy, could see it handle 3x that weight, it is that sturdy. I would think the #15 weight limit would be for the standard bolts that screw into the max mount, if you go more weight, it would probably be best to drill through and use a button head style just for safety's sake.

[staneric]

My diy skills are modest at best. Having said that, are there any bolts that I could replace the ones that came with the rack that would give it more strength?

[staneric]

Not to answer my own post, but would a socket or button screw of the same size give more strength?

[festus]

The threaded part in the max mount is sort of shallow, perhaps half inch or so in depth, if that much, and of course the max mount is canuckistan aluminum, so not very strong either. A better bolt would be better, sure, most of the time you get chinesium fasteners with everything anyways. To make a sturdy mount, I think the easiest thing to do in my opinion would be to drill thru the thread holes and use a longer bolt, hence the button head bolt, which would be low profile and not very visible at all, especially if you run a cover or seat. A 1/4in drill bit is a touch over the 6mm I think is what is there, so it really is not a difficult job to do, even with modest DIY skills. Definitely harder to pull a through bolt through as compared to a few threads in the mount itself that is most difficult to see if they were cut decent, or at all. Good luck on your project.

[staneric]

I ended up replacing the bolts that came with the rack, with button head stainless and liberal amounts of lock Tite.
I won't be carrying over 25# and hopefully no problems.

[pegasus1300]

The real limiting factor is how much can your trunk hold in weight. Whatever your trunk load weight is subtract that from the amount you can put on your rack. Example:25# max trunk weight. 18# trunk load weight, 25-18 =7# on your rack. This all assumes that you are willing to stay within your manufacturers weight limits. And every case on the Spyder RT or F3 has a limit posted in the case. Personally, I don't pay any attention to those limits but load by volume. If I can close the door without strain then I am good. I carry my rain gear in a bag on my trunk rack plus a couple of extras. Weight is about 10#. I carry my tools in the bottom of the trunk in a bag that weighs about 20#. I carry rags, sun screen, spray cleaner/wax, snacks, gloves etc. weight 3-5#. So I am way over the factory weight limit and so far(10 years and 75,000 miles), it hasn't bit me. No cracks in the lid or the trunk and the trunk hasn't come loose or fallen off. But who knows someday it might?

[TimKW]

My wife and I have done almost 7000 miles on our new 22 RTL. Mostly 3 day trips around Colorado. We found that we were packing the bike to the max and decided to buy the Slingmods rack. On our most recent trip we packed about 25lbs. on the rack and was still able to lift the top case with a little effort. I'd be curious to hear if anyone has cracked their top case because of too much weight. So far ours is working out great although 25lbs. did seem a bit much. I think it is rated at 20 max.

[staneric]

If I drill a deeper hole and use longer bolts as suggested, do they need to be threaded, or can I just drill into the existing holes and install the longer bolts?

[gkamer]

If I drill a deeper hole and use longer bolts as suggested, do they need to be threaded, or can I just drill into the existing holes and install the longer bolts?

It sounds to me like it is being suggested you drill out the current holes to make their diameter a little larger to accommodate the more robust bolts. If that is the case, the bolts you use should be threaded and you would them secure them from underneath the MAX mount with nuts. You should be able to pick up black button or carriage bolts and nuts at your local hardware store.