The aluminum stays in the standard rear carrier are relatively weak and get pretty routinely mangled in air travel.? The problem may be remedied by replacing the stays with titanium ones.? They can be made out of titanium tubes with 8mm outside diameter and 6mm inside.? The tubes can be purchased on Ebay and Amazon in 25cm length for 10$ apiece or so, including shipping.? The longer stays have the length of 234mm and the shorter - of 217mm.
The ends of the tubes need to be flattened in a vise, making sure that the flat ends lie within the same plane.? For the sake of a structural strength of the stays, it is good to make the transition between the flat ends and the round portion of the tube oval, rather than straight.? Good suggestions can be found on .? The hole separation is of 221mm and 204mm for the longer and shorter stays, respectively.? It is advisable to start drilling small guiding holes first and finally get them up to 5mm in diameter.
To remove the old stays carefully drill out the holding rivets.? These rivets can be replaced with stainless steel (SS) M5 bolts of 16mm length + washers and nuts with nylon inserts.
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