Anybody ever heard of a wheelchair rack?

Might sound goofy. Anyone ever heard of / seen a wheelchair rack (thinking something similar to a non-damaging removable bike rack) for the back of a Miata? This is for an ultra-lightweight foldable wheechair (about 25 lbs). Or...anyone know of a shop in Houston that might fabricate such a contraption? Thanks! -Carol

Reply to
Carol
Loading thread data ...

Since this wheelchair only weighs about as much as an average bicycle, a bike rack with a few modifications would probably do nicely. I am thinking of a crossbar welded onto a rack like this one, possibly with the same rubber straps that hold a bike in place as well.

formatting link
I haven't seen the wheelchair, but it might even be possible to mount it to a bike carrier without any modifications, or at least without any major ones.

I don't recall ever seeing a specific wheelchair carrier, but I do remember a miata that had a mesh cage that hooked onto a trailer hitch and it could have carried a standard hospital wheelchair and then some by the looks of it.

Chris D. might be able to point you to a fabricating shop in Houston, but I would double-check because his memory is slipping, he can't even tell who is a man or a woman any more, and he will have to give up his keys to concerned family members any day now. (BRING IT ON, CHRIS!)

Pat

Reply to
pws

"Carol" wrote in news:YlN8h.1957$ snipped-for-privacy@tornado.texas.rr.com:

A. You'll need a trailer hitch. There are a couple availabe for Miatas:

formatting link

formatting link
B. You'll need the carrier:

formatting link
formatting link
Google will find many more, what you're looking for is not uncommon.

Reply to
XS11E

XS11E wrote in news:Xns9882C45CF45C8xs11eyahoocom@69.28.173.186:

I might have meant "available" but who knows?

Reply to
XS11E

Carol, There is a Miata here in Seattle with a chair up on a trunk rack. (it looks like a light weight chair too) I have not seen it in a while, but I will look around at the two clubs here to see if anyone knows who it might belong to.

Bruce Bing '03 LS

Reply to
BRUCE HASKIN

Probably overkill for you, but check this out:

formatting link

Reply to
Lanny Chambers

that is an amazing story. most definitely a miata of the month. and a miata owner of the month!

Reply to
Christopher Muto

I think you misspelled "kleptomania". No, wait! Wrong thread! ;)

As for the carrier, I'll bet they're expensive -- companies tend to price "medcal hardware: (for want of knowing what that kind of stuff is actually called) way high. I wonder if some shopping among the bike racks mentioned in the original post might not turn up something that would work for a chair but cost a lot less.

Reply to
Blinky the Shark

And one can get about 1,835 different kinds and lengths of bungees, should the original straps not prove useful for this modified purpose.

Reply to
Blinky the Shark

That was one of the first miata of the month stories that I saw, it came out shortly after I got into miatas. Very cool.

Pat

Reply to
pws

Blinky the Shark wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@thurston.blinkynet.net:

Yup, but it's available used VERY reasonably because there's such a limited market for it. Here's my current ride:

formatting link
They run around $2200 or so, mine was $850 from Ebay. Here's how I haul it to work:

formatting link
Also from Ebay, a local guy was selling it out in Sun City. It cost around $350 or so.. dealers want more than double that. It does require a bit more than a Miata to haul it, I have it on the back of my Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Reply to
XS11E

By carrier, I meant the rack, not a scooter. :)

And OP's chair weighs what -- 25 pounds?

Wow. Never saw one of those.

Reply to
Blinky the Shark

Wow, that's awesome. Is it available with the 2.0 liter and suspension package. Rack + pinion steering, I assume, along with rear Wheel drive ?

(All in good humor, of course)

Reply to
Remove This

Nothing like having worldwide brain trust at my fingertips! What a great bunch of links and suggestions. When I bought my first Miata I never dreamed that I would ever need a wheelchair (well, not until I was drooling and wearing diapers, gumming my soft food while waiting for the nursing home attendant to push me back to my "assisted living" room!). When I bought my second Miata I thought I would reach the point where I would never need to be in another chair. But now sometimes I do need it and have to have someone else drive me. THAT is not independence! I don't want to give up my freedom or my Miata so I knew that this group could help me come up with a good way to keep both.

I hadn't thought of trying to use a luggage rack. Would love more info on that since I'm interesting in buying one anyway. Ya'll are right about "medical hardware" being priced too high. My insurance covers most of the chair but they don't seem to think that a rack to carry it on the back of a sports car is a reasonable thing. Go figure. I agree that bungee cords are a bad idea. I don't trust their strength and I don't trust their hooks not to bang against the car and scratch it somehow. Ratches are easy to place so the metal parts are far away from the car's surface.

I am totally wowed by the Miata of the Month. Just goes to show that Miata owners are fantastic people...what a thrill for someone so disabled to have someone else willing to go above and beyond for them.

Thanks so much to every>> Might sound goofy. Anyone ever heard of / seen a wheelchair rack

Reply to
Carol

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.