Liquid or foam hardening agent? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Liquid or foam hardening agent?

boooya

boooya

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Have a trailer hitch installed on my bike for my third wheel.
Basically the hitch itself flexes at higher speeds and causes the back end of the bike to wobble.
It's a squared hollow metal bracket that I'm thinking I could fill with some sort of hardening foam or liquid that would dry up inside and make it more rigid.
Any thought or idea on any products that would do this that I can squeeze into the frame of the hitch?
 
Well... there is epoxy expanding foam people use to harden their car body. Supposesly it makes a big difference

What about welding some extra support on the outside?
 
Cheap and heavy, cement?
 
I looked in to the epoxy foam a bit more. Last time I looked at it was over 10 years ago. Looks like it's become a pretty popular thing for BMW rusting and failing subframes. Lots of info if you look up bmw subframe foam reinforcement. Part # 83 42 0 307 530 or Loctite Terocore
 
Id be pretty hesitant to go the foam route and tow at speed, think that has the potential to go south. Even if dick ugly I'd do a welded brace, or have a new hitch fabbed with better guage metals from the get go.
 
daught said:
I looked in to the epoxy foam a bit more. Last time I looked at it was over 10 years ago. Looks like it's become a pretty popular thing for BMW rusting and failing subframes. Lots of info if you look up bmw subframe foam reinforcement. Part # 83 42 0 307 530 or Loctite Terocore
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Seems like bmw is known for subframe failure
 
Roomie said:
That's not exactly breaking news. That issue ha seen around since at least the e46
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Actually e36.
Don't understand why they didn't do anything about it
 
That far back eh... wow. Always liked the e46 330ci but knowing about the subframe has always kept me away.
 
Do you have access to one end of the square tube or is it closed off at both ends?

If you have full access to one end I have two options for you. First weld up a few peices of steel to run a cross (or an X) along the length of the tube you are trying to stiffen plug weld it in a few spots. Basically make an X that fits tight inside the tube that is the same length as the inside of the tube...

Cut down a peice of hardwood (maybe maple) that fits very tight inside the tube, epoxy it in. Wood may seem hack but it will stiffen it up a lot, more than foam etc.

Keep in mind stiffening this part may just put more stress on another...
 
any expanding foam will compress. it may seem hard but its not, and it doesnt bounce back.
could you get a smaller size metal bar to go inside and weld it?
 
vociferous said:
any expanding foam will compress. it may seem hard but its not, and it doesnt bounce back.
could you get a smaller size metal bar to go inside and weld it?
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That's what I'm thinking I will do.
 
Not sure if this is a good idea or not but could you pour molten lead into the tube? If it doesn't work you could theoretically melt it back out.
Not knowing the tube size or length I can't guess the weight. Lead runs about a half a pound per cubic inch.
 
nobbie48 said:
Not sure if this is a good idea or not but could you pour molten lead into the tube? If it doesn't work you could theoretically melt it back out.
Not knowing the tube size or length I can't guess the weight. Lead runs about a half a pound per cubic inch.
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That was my initial thought of pouring something in but that would be way to heavy.
 
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