cstooch wrote:
First off, thanks to everyone for all the great suggestions. And yes, the 1/2" bolt is threaded on my bike rack, for those that commented on that.
@wnjj: Thanks, that bushing looks like it would work quite well to fix the gap between my 5/8" receiver hole and the 1/2" bike rack hole, agreed. Assuming my bolt will still thread in fine, I'll give that a go for a little extra piece of mind.
I think the question was whether there is a welded nut inside the bike rack tube along one wall. If so, you just stick the bolt through the receiver from the opposite side and crank it tight with a wrench. Add an external nut if you want extra insurance. Is that what you mean by the "bolt is threaded"? If the rack tube is threaded, then the sleeve will actually work against you. You want the bolt head to lay flat against the outside of the receiver and the threads will draw the rack tube up tight against the inside. There will be no movement so the bolt fitting "loose" through the receiver hole won't be an issue.
The sleeve I suggested will work only if the bike rack simply has a smooth through hole. It will accomplish the same thing as described above by pushing the tube toward the nut using the sleeve and bolt head.