Originally Posted by
Tourist in MSN
Photo below, after I drilled new holes in the rack to be able to mount it lower and in this photo I mounted both rack and rear fender on that lower mounting point with the same bolt.
Photo below shows my mounting in more detail, the fenders are mounted on the insides, rack on the outside on the same bolts.
Very nice setup. Looks like you're rockin' half-step-plus-granny, I like seeing old-school, and 5-arm spiders.
Regarding your rack lower mounts, the loaded rack is exerting a couple hundred times the force of the fender stays; By having the rack further outboard, this subjects the bolts to way more bending load, rather than closer to pure shear, if the rack was inboard against the frame and the fender stay outboard (if possible). On such small diameter bolts, that distance makes a difference in fatigue life. Consider.