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    How do I put this flat bed trailer on my bike?

    Sorry if this is a dumb question because the answer seems obvious. I have this steel hitch from a Burley flat bed trailer and I think it should go behind this nut, right?

    I tried to unscrew the nut, but holy crap was it tight. I couldn’t twist it.

    For reference, the bike is a vintage 1980s raleigh olympian.

    by terraninteractive

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    3 Comments

    1. 8spd on

      I feel more secure with axle mounted hitches on bikes with vertical dropouts, and you’ve got semi horizontal dropouts, so you may have issues with the axle slipping.

      But the only way it works is by removing the axle nut, sliding the hitch over the axle, replacing the nut, and tightening. The hitch should be sandwiched between the nut and the frame.

      Any time you loosen one or both axle nuts on a bike with that style of dropouts, you have to adjust the axle position to make sure the tire is centred in the frame. 

      If you find the axle slipping when riding (especially when pushing hard) after you install the hitch, it probably means that the hitch preventing the wheel being secure enough, and you may not be able to use that trailer with that bike. 

      I think it’ll probably work though. 

    2. Active_Ad_5322 on

      tight is good,, might not seem like it right now, but i’d rather deal with a little extra torque as opposed to a loose wheel

      it will come off (eventually)… a 15mm box end wrench with a decent handle. might need a breaker bar.

      if you have a pedal wrench, that will help with leverage. the longer the handle, the better

      when reinstalling, be sure to get about 30-35 Nm of torque.

      https://preview.redd.it/yaw70ud07sjg1.png?width=686&format=png&auto=webp&s=b1062e4bc3e61e995a0a375930190dabe0690558

    3. TorontoRider on

      Yes, you remove that nut. It may be useful to have two wrenches with the second wrench on the nut on the other side. 

      Oh, and pull the pin and remove the trailer hitch before you do it, so you’re only dealing with the weird shaped piece of metal and not all the extra weight. Get the on bike park nice and level, and it’ll be easier to reattach the trailer with the PIN. 

      Great trailer, by the way. I’ve been abusing one for multiple years now.

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