Whats up guys. Im building a few motorcycle stands on the cheap for my trailer similar to this:



I made the frame part of the stand from some 1 5/8" square tubing I had, but I'm not sure what material would be a good for running through the axle. I came across some "Round Rod zinc plated" 5/8" round bar at home depot (no clue what material this is, maybe 1018???) This seems to be reasonable, but I would feel more comfortable with something a little stronger as my stands are a bit wider than what is pictured above.

What would be a good choice for material? A36? 316? something else?

Thanks for any input.

 

You should be able to get some drill rod (tool steel) in that size, most metal places have them in lengths starting at 3' or so, I use them for shifter extensions.

 

Thanks for the reply downest. We ordered some 1144 and some 4340. Hopefully these will do what we need.

 

4340 will probably outlive your entire bike. No worries there!

 

Exactly what I was thinking!

 

We only got 4340 for one bike. The axle is pretty small, so theres only a .375" bar going through it. We are using 1144 for the .5625 and .625 axles.

I havent decided what to do about spacers yet. heres a quick model I made up when I was throwing around different ideas for stands.



The blue parts are spacers. The main issue I have with these is that they would be different lengths for each bike since all the axles are different widths. I started thinking about collars, like these:



but i want to be able to load the bikes without tools. Then I Started thinking about these



with washers and hairpin cotter pins. (again, this would mean each bar would be specific to one bike) Right now this is what Im planning on going with, but i dont like the fact that I ordered stronger metal for the rod, and now I'm going to be drilling 3/16" holes through it.

If you guys have any other ideas, let me know. Trying to get this stuff ordered so I can finish the stands up this weekend.

Thanks

 

maybe just drill holes along the length of the rod and you can drop a quick release pin in them like a kiwk loc