Trailer hitches and bike racks

[MikeD]

So, just live with the limitation of 2 bikes or get a stouter vehicle and hitch, or roof rack, or stow one bike in the cargo area/trunk. I've got a Prius and it's not even supposed to have a hitch on it nor tow anything, but carry two bikes at times with an aftermarket hitch I installed. The limitation here isn't the hitch but the unibody, which was not designed for the load.

[JMT3]

That is weirdly light. I put a Kurt hitch on my Ford Eco sport and it has a tongue weight of 350 pounds.

[dmitrik4]

Agreed that that is absurdly low.

Also, yes--US tow speeds are much higher and brakes/suspension/weight have a huge effect on towing stability/control (plus manufacturers have higher-profit models here they prefer to push).

Originally Posted by C40_guy

Well...a 3,000 lb trailer might have a 500 lb tongue weight. While most of the weight of the trailer is on its wheels, there is a substantial amount on the hitch.

This is what keeps a 2 5/16" coupler from coming off a 2" ball while driving through the hills of upstate New York.

Not that I know anyone who would do that on purpose.

Yep; hitch weight should be at least 10% of the trailer weight.

My VW Alltrack has a 2" hitch receiver. It's not rated to tow anything, although in Europe they're rated for 2000lbs/300lbs tongue weight. I previously had a 3-bike Kuat that we commonly loaded up, sometimes with my wife's ebike on the inboard spot. Now I have a 1Up HD single with two add-ons. It's all worked great; you might look to see if the model(s) you're considering have different tow ratings elsewhere.

[Ozz]

Originally Posted by stackie

Looking at a new vehicle. ...

Jon

What kind of vehicle?

I got a Stealth Hitch for my vehicle...specs are pretty good:

2” RACK RECEIVER MAXIMUM PAYLOAD: 600 LBS
MAXIMUM TOW RATING: 8000 LBS
MAXIMUM TONGUE WEIGHT: 800 LBS

The receiver is also easily removed so you don't have to look at it when not using....

[Alistair]

I find it hard to believe there's a vehicle out there that has a factory-available hitch that's only rated for 120# tongue weight. That's absurdly low.

But, I've seen stranger things. So, care to list which vehicles?

[benb]

There's a bunch of legal nonsense in some of the towing/tongue weight ratings.

In the US people speed egregiously with their trailers, so many manufacturers downgrade the max towing capacity and tongue weight.

The exact same vehicle sold in the EU will have a higher rating because they seem to believe people in the EU will actually follow the law and slow down when towing.

I have an aftermarket hitch w/2" receiver and higher max tongue weight on my Subaru compared to the OEM one. It is fine for use with the 1UP and 3 relatively heavy MTBs. Road bikes are obviously a lot lighter.

When buying a hitch rack it does make sense to pay attention to the weight of the rack though. I forget where Kuat comes in but when I was looking 1UP saved a lot of weight versus at least one of the other brands. Enough to make a difference in terms of what bikes you could carry on a given car.

Subarus have this IIRC.. same car + hitch will be rated 2-3x higher tongue weight and several thousand pounds more towing capacity if you register it in the EU or Australia because there is an assumption that the US driver will drive 80mph while towing and the driver in those other countries will be going more like 55mph.

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by Alistair

I find it hard to believe there's a vehicle out there that has a factory-available hitch that's only rated for 120# tongue weight. That's absurdly low.

But, I've seen stranger things. So, care to list which vehicles?

A quick Googling finds that Elon's Model X has a limit of 120 lbs, although even this is a charged topic, so to speak, on the e-car forums.

To repeat something I just posted elsewhere...as a driving enthusiast, I am not interested in buying a vehicle from a software company.

[Alistair]

Originally Posted by C40_guy

A quick Googling finds that Elon's Model X has a limit of 120 lbs, although even this is a charged topic, so to speak, on the e-car forums.

To repeat something I just posted elsewhere...as a driving enthusiast, I am not interested in buying a vehicle from a software company.

As a software engineer, I am not interested in buying a vehicle from a software company either!

[benb]

Originally Posted by C40_guy

A quick Googling finds that Elon's Model X has a limit of 120 lbs, although even this is a charged topic, so to speak, on the e-car forums.

To repeat something I just posted elsewhere...as a driving enthusiast, I am not interested in buying a vehicle from a software company.

That's pretty interesting since when you go down to the class of Vehicle that the Model Y is in it looks like the more practical one compared to it's competitors.

The 3 I looked at/test drove in the last couple years were the Y, the ID4, and the Mach E.

The Mach E has zero approved towing but there are aftermarket solutions. The ID4 has a factory Class II w/1.25" receiver w/2700lb towing capacity & 270lb tongue weight and the Y has a Class III w/2" receiver and 3500lb towing limit w/350lb tongue weight.

I think the OEM hitch being "easy button" would be something that'd push me into the Tesla if I had to replace my car.

Zero points for the Tesla staff they had absolutely no idea *** I was talking about when I asked about the tongue weight. I've been to two Tesla showrooms and their staff is about the most clueless I've seen anywhere across dealerships & showrooms. I have not test driven a Rivian but I walked in the showroom and the staff was much better, they seemed to know the vehicles inside and out.

[Alistair]

Originally Posted by C40_guy

A quick Googling finds that Elon's Model X has a limit of 120 lbs, although even this is a charged topic, so to speak, on the e-car forums.

From what I can find, Tesla differentiates between a trailer (500lb tongue weight) and a bike rack (120lb limit) due to the extra leverage from rack. I guess that makes sense, though I don't think I've heard of the being spelled out before with other brands.

I have definitely seen the "not rated to tow" in the US, while the exact same car in EU is rated at 3000lbs (common for VWs).

https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/m...B04CE53BB.html

[sg8357]

Originally Posted by Alistair

As a software engineer, I am not interested in buying a vehicle from a software company either!

You can load EMACS on your Tesla, so you can do roadside config changes.

[kppolich]

Another vote for StealthHitch, you get what you pay for in both form and function with it being there when you need it and out of sight when you don't.
Less than 2 mins to install or remove the rack and StealthHitch receiver on my Model 3. Of course I went with the 1-1/4" as it mated up with my 1UP QuikRack most natively, but they also offer a 2" if you need the extra capacity. I've had 1 and 2 bikes back there. No issue.

[Ralph]

As I said above, it's not about the tongue weight, but about weight hanging off behind hitch.

The 2" receiver hitch I put on my wife's Nautilus is rated at 300 lbs tongue weight. That would be for a tongue weight resting on a ball inserted in the hitch with the rest of the weight supported by trailer wheels. But the instructions also say if using it for a bike rack, the limit is 150 lbs for rack and bikes. I'm assuming it's because of the weight hanging off behind the rack and some "lever" effect. Those of you who remember your high school and college physics, may remember the principal of the lever effect. 150 lbs hanging several feet behind the hitch may exert more force than a 300 lb force directly on the receiver.

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by sg8357

You can load EMACS on your Tesla, so you can do roadside config changes.

Is there a command line interface available through the dashboard?

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by Ralph

Those of you who remember your high school and college physics, may remember the principal of the lever effect. 150 lbs hanging several feet behind the hitch may exert more force than a 300 lb force directly on the receiver.

I don't...but you make an excellent point. the (trailer) force on the ball is simply a downward weight (mostly).

Conversely, a bike rack attached to the receiver has weight several feet behind where the ball would be located and is fixed, so it is a longer lever and has torsional rigidity.

Thanks for clarifying this Ralph...I didn't see the difference until you described it above.

(In my case, neither of my VAG SUVs gives a crap what's connected behind...they're built for 7-8K trailers and have tongue capacity of 600-700 lbs...and of course bikes belong *inside* whenever possible)