Author Topic: Jandd Low Front Rack on Surly Disc Trucker  (Read 10169 times)

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Offline jwrushman

Jandd Low Front Rack on Surly Disc Trucker
« on: May 09, 2019, 08:46:03 pm »
I need advice on how to install a Jandd Low Front Rack on a Surly Disc Trucker.

For the past two years, I've had the rack installed on the mounting points on the front fork - see attachment one.  This works, but the rack and center of gravity is high, making steering more challenging.

I'm trying to lower the rack to the position that was probably intended for a traditional Surly LHT - see attachment two.  The problem with this is that the vertical strut on the rack interferes with the disc brake mechanism.

I can probably rotate the rack backward and modify the upper mounting point, but this would cause the rack to slope backward.

What I'd prefer doing is to insert a 1/2" to 3/4" spacer between the rack and the frame - see attachment 3. This would give me the clearance I need for the brake mechanism.  I could probably use stacked washers (or maybe the nuts at valve stem) to get the required thickness.

Thoughts?
John R

Online John Nettles

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Re: Jandd Low Front Rack on Surly Disc Trucker
« Reply #1 on: May 09, 2019, 09:19:42 pm »
I would go with three.  Also, if you can get spacers at a hardware store, i.e. Ace.  There are various lengths of spacers and I have some on some of my racks in the rear that.  Much cleaner than washers and they only cost $1 or so. 

Tailwinds, John

Offline jwrushman

Re: Jandd Low Front Rack on Surly Disc Trucker
« Reply #2 on: May 09, 2019, 11:05:23 pm »
Thanks for the input. I'll see what my local hardware store has in the way of spacers tomorrow morning.

Offline barturtle

Re: Jandd Low Front Rack on Surly Disc Trucker
« Reply #3 on: May 28, 2019, 12:18:39 am »
Jandd sells spacers just for this. You only need one pair, for both sides at the dropout.

Offline jwrushman

Re: Jandd Low Front Rack on Surly Disc Trucker
« Reply #4 on: May 28, 2019, 05:52:01 am »
Thanks!  This is excellent news!  I'll have to contact Jandd today.

Offline jwrushman

Re: Jandd Low Front Rack on Surly Disc Trucker
« Reply #5 on: May 30, 2019, 03:21:08 pm »
I just received spacers from Jandd today. They sell 1” and ¾” spacers.  I opted for the 1” spacers.  I have a Surly Disc Trucker with Avid BB7 disc brakes.  I think the ¾” spacers would have been fine.  I’ve attached two pictures of the installed spacers.

The spacers are sold in two’s.  I was thinking I could just install one spacer at the low mounting point near the brake, but that put too much torque on the upper mounting point.  So I installed the second spacer on the same side, at the upper mounting point.  I’m guessing the spacers are made of aluminum.  I’m concerned that the soft metal may strip.  Just trying to install the rack, it felt like the first few threads on the spacer were stripped.  I’ll bring the old hardware I had been using in case spacers don’t work out.

My (mostly) Northern Tier ride starts on Saturday, so I don’t have any time to test out the spacers.  But I rode around the block with full loaded racks.  What an improvement! I can actually ride without my hands on the handlebars (safely of course)!  I could never do this with the racks mounted higher. 

I’ll post an update on how well the spacers hold up after my trip.

Offline jwrushman

Re: Jandd Low Front Rack on Surly Disc Trucker
« Reply #6 on: June 27, 2019, 04:38:12 pm »
Well, today was the day the Jannd spacer failed. As I feared, the threads on the aluminum spacer stripped. It started getting loose a couple of days ago,  so I purchased a long, skinny bolt and nut. I think this is actually a better solution and I'm confident it will get me to Anacortes!