scottf200
Well-Known Member
None for me. It can be handy to have someone help you get close to the sign poles.
The one I got allows me to also swing it open. see: Can I supercharge with it? 2 Bike Platform Swing Rack
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2022 X class iii hitch receiver vertical wt limit
- Thread starter medicine
- Start date
The one I got allows me to also swing it open. see: Can I supercharge with it? 2 Bike Platform Swing Rack
Replying to a bit old post..
I'm not sure the math holds. The OEM Bosal hitch only says "max tongue weight 500lbs". Only place where you find the 120lbs vertical limit is the Tesla owners manual or website.
So is possible 120lbs limit comes from car limits somehow, not from the hitch itself. As mentioned earlier, bike rack causes twisting force that tries to lift the front of the car.. maybe Tesla just thinks that car might become unstable with such loading. Loose front grip in extreme situations?
scottf200
Well-Known Member
How much weight do you think ends up on the hitch when you hit some weird spots on highways at 60+ and the car bounces. 2 times, 3 times?
Check out that picture right above your last post. Yikes. See: Model X/Y bike rack loading issues
I had a welder add a hitch to the back of our camping trailer. The highway bounce caused it to bend down and had to get reinforced.
houstonian
ಠ_ಠ
@Zuikkis - any chance you've got a link to the OEM docs from Bosal?
Been researching this myself and am curious to get to the bottom of it.
Several other threads of note:
Model X hitch accessory overload ?
I have a question : I have the accessory hitch installed as I was planning to carry at least 3 bikes with the Tesla/Yakima rear bike carrier. The problem is I didn't know the hitch would only support 120 lbs and the bike rack itself weighs 40-44lbs. That makes only 76-80 lbs left for the bikes...
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Any StowAway2 owners wondering about range impact on Model X?
I own one of these StowAway2 devices that is probably 70-75lbs. Was thinking it could be useful on a trip if it didn't degrade the mileage very much. Anyone want to venture a guess on the range loss. I was only thinking a 5% or less. More pictures and their website: Hitch Mounted Cargo...
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tow hitch only has a max of 120 pounds? How to tow 2 ebikes??
I have a 2022 model x plaid but when reading the manual is say the tow hitch can only support a max of 120 pounds for bikes /snowboards. Is that a type o??? 120 pounds sounds crazy low. I want to but my ebike on a bike rack. A typical ebike rack that supports 2 ebikes is about 40-50...
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StowAway Max rear luggage carrier - my experience
I bought the StowAway MAX Cargo Carrier ($760) for my X to go on a road trip from the LA area to the Colorado river in Laughlin, recently. I was a little worried about how it would work out, so I thought I'd share my experience here (which was good). It holds 16 cu. ft. andup to 200 lb of...
teslamotorsclub.com
Nope, sorry. But all the warning stickers in the hitch itself only say 500lbs. That's why I'm skeptical that upgrading to 750lbs hitch does anything to the 120lbs limit.
But the 120lbs limit is silly without information on how far away the weight is. I'm sure if you stick a 20 feet pole into the hitch receiver, you can lift the front of the car by simply stepping on the end of the pole..
That would have to be an extremely rigid pole.
Yes, the 120 lb limit is likely conservative since the hitch manufacturer has no way of knowing exactly how far from the hitch the user will place their load (i.e., bikes, cargo box, etc.). But a reasonable assumption can be made that the load will not be more than about two feet from the hitch.
IMO it would be unwise to exceed the weight limit. One might get away with it for awhile until one day you unexpectedly drive at speed over a speed bump that you did not realize was there and you break the hitch, potentially dumping your bikes on the road right in front of a car following close behind you.
A lot of folks are adding the bike rack weight plus the bikes. A good portion of the bike rack would go towards the tongue weight limit. So 120 lb limit of high leveraged weight isn’t that restrictive. You can probably handle 4 conventional bikes or 2 e-bikes safely. I put two e bikes on a Thule hitch on stock X and “stock” S for 100’s of miles with no issues. I try to keep the bikes as close to the vertical post as possible to minimize the leverage. I think Tesla is basically saying 120 lbs of bikes (at the end of the lever). You’ll never calculate it exactly since the specs are so loosy goosy. And if they were more specific good luck calculating the weights & forces 
Stock hitch is pretty strong.
Stock hitch is pretty strong.
Ron97062
Member
There is confusion because the manual says the hitch weight limit is 120 lbs. But Tesla's website for their approved 4-bike rack (which weighs 40 lbs) says the Hitch Rack is designed to support loads up to 120 lbs, which would imply rack+load limit of 160 lbs. To reduce weight of my e-bikes, I remove the batteries for transport and cover the opening with painter's tape to keep the contacts clean.
Model X Manual - Towing and Accessories
Model X/Y Hitch Rack
Model X Manual - Towing and Accessories
Model X/Y Hitch Rack
It’s not a “tongue weight” limit (which is 500 lbs when towing a trailer) it’s a vertical load weight limit.
When calculating the ”load” you include the rack weight. See the Model X manual:
This has been discussed extensively in other TMC threads.
houstonian
ಠ_ಠ
Adding this post from another thread which seems to address the weight question:
"The hitch receiver is designed to support vertical loads of up to 120 lbs (54 kg) when the load is cantilevered rearward within 24 inches (63 cm) of the hitch receiver, such as when carrying bikes on an accessory rack."
There's no evidence to back this up, though.
You would think the removable Bosal hitch is weakest if pulled straight down, towards the direction where you remove it. All the weight is resting on the locking pins. And they claim it still holds 500lbs in that direction.
Bike rack creates force in forwards/backwards direction, which should be easy thing for Bosal design.
So, I'm still pretty confident the 120lbs limit is a car limit, not hitch limit.
The weight of the rack plus bikes applies a vertical force on the hitch (which I don’t think of as “forwards/backwards”), like a lever arm, a force which can be multiplied when the vehicle hits a bump. That is why the Tesla manual uses the term “cantilevered” and gives a specific “rearward” value. They don’t want the load to any farther out to the rear of the vehicle because that multiplies the lever arm force.
"The hitch receiver is designed to support vertical loads of up to 120 lbs (54 kg) when the load is cantilevered rearward within 24 inches (63 cm) of the hitch receiver, such as when carrying bikes on an accessory rack."
The Bosal hitch would certainly be stronger if it was not a two-piece hitch.
Hitches don't have a rating for vertical loads, just tongue weight.
120lbs vertical load limit comes from Tesla, not Bosal.
Interestingly, EU version of the Bosal hitch specifies only 90kg (200lbs) tongue weight, but still allows same 54kg (120lbs) bike rack. So at least in this case you can't make any assumptions to calculate vertical load limit from the tongue weight..
I'd like to clarify further why I don't think 120lbs vertical load limit comes from Bosal. Adding some background..
I'm from Europe, Finland. Most cars have hitches here, In EU all hitch weight limits are part of vehicle type approval; they are already stated in car registration papers even if there is no factory hitch installed! Then you can go install aftermarket hitch and you can tow the amount specified in vehicle approval. So all hitches are the same; hitch manufacturer can not promise bigger tow weight than what's approved for the vehicle! Also lower weight spec is not possible, any hitch must be able to handle the weights specified in car approval papers.
Bosal is one of the most common brands of aftermarket hitches, and also indeed many OEM hitches are Bosal. They use the same kind of removal mechanism for their whole product range. Tesla is the only car brand to my knowledge that separately specifies tongue weight and vertical load limit, for all other car brands it's just the tongue weight that also limits bike racks.
I'm not sure if the Tesla vertical load limit is even legal. Model X has type approval for 2250kg (ˇ5000lbs) trailer weight and 90kg (200lbs) tongue weight. Legally this should mean that you can strap anything to the hook and it should stay there if it's under 90kg in weight. That's how the values are interpreted for any other brand car. Also this is probably the reason why they only specify 90kg tongue weight (200lbs) in Europe and 500lbs in the US...
Here's a picture of both US and Euro version of the OEM hitch. Euro version actually is currently manufactured by Oris, originally it was Bosal. These are my own; I bought the US version from ebay.
The part inside car bumper is identical, only difference between US and Euro is this removable part.
Euro part has the towing ball integrated. That's how they are in any brand car here, we don't use the 2" receivers. This might come as a shock to you Americans, but we actually connect our bike racks directly to the towing ball. Yes, to the round ball.
Below is a picture of my bike rack, which is "euro style" so it connects to the ball..
You can see the round hole there, you just stuff that around the towing ball, then tighten with the lever. There is a gripping mechanism that grabs the ball tightly.
This bike rack is approved for 60kg, so it's already above to 54kg limit set by Tesla. However it's below the 90kg vehicle type approval limit, so it is fully legal.
But... If you think about the joint between this bike rack and the round towing ball, and compare it to the Bosal removal mechanism, which one do you think will break first if I overload this and hit a big bump or something? Bike rack is approved for 60kg and Tesla hitch only for 54kg....
As I said earlier, exact same Bosal mechanism is used in many brand cars here and Tesla is the only one to have such low limit.
I'm from Europe, Finland. Most cars have hitches here, In EU all hitch weight limits are part of vehicle type approval; they are already stated in car registration papers even if there is no factory hitch installed! Then you can go install aftermarket hitch and you can tow the amount specified in vehicle approval. So all hitches are the same; hitch manufacturer can not promise bigger tow weight than what's approved for the vehicle! Also lower weight spec is not possible, any hitch must be able to handle the weights specified in car approval papers.
Bosal is one of the most common brands of aftermarket hitches, and also indeed many OEM hitches are Bosal. They use the same kind of removal mechanism for their whole product range. Tesla is the only car brand to my knowledge that separately specifies tongue weight and vertical load limit, for all other car brands it's just the tongue weight that also limits bike racks.
I'm not sure if the Tesla vertical load limit is even legal. Model X has type approval for 2250kg (ˇ5000lbs) trailer weight and 90kg (200lbs) tongue weight. Legally this should mean that you can strap anything to the hook and it should stay there if it's under 90kg in weight. That's how the values are interpreted for any other brand car. Also this is probably the reason why they only specify 90kg tongue weight (200lbs) in Europe and 500lbs in the US...
Here's a picture of both US and Euro version of the OEM hitch. Euro version actually is currently manufactured by Oris, originally it was Bosal. These are my own; I bought the US version from ebay.
The part inside car bumper is identical, only difference between US and Euro is this removable part.
Euro part has the towing ball integrated. That's how they are in any brand car here, we don't use the 2" receivers. This might come as a shock to you Americans, but we actually connect our bike racks directly to the towing ball. Yes, to the round ball.
Below is a picture of my bike rack, which is "euro style" so it connects to the ball..
You can see the round hole there, you just stuff that around the towing ball, then tighten with the lever. There is a gripping mechanism that grabs the ball tightly.
This bike rack is approved for 60kg, so it's already above to 54kg limit set by Tesla. However it's below the 90kg vehicle type approval limit, so it is fully legal.
But... If you think about the joint between this bike rack and the round towing ball, and compare it to the Bosal removal mechanism, which one do you think will break first if I overload this and hit a big bump or something? Bike rack is approved for 60kg and Tesla hitch only for 54kg....
As I said earlier, exact same Bosal mechanism is used in many brand cars here and Tesla is the only one to have such low limit.
@Zuikkis thank you for your very informative post, I appreciate it.
I’m a bit puzzled about one thing; if EU regulations allow the X to tow a trailer up to 2250kg but do not allow the tongue weight to exceed 90kg, based on the widespread expert recommendation for tongue weight to be 10-15% of trailer weight that does not seem safe to me. If tongue weight is less than 10% of trailer weight there is a real risk of uncontrollable trailer sway.
Here is what the North American Model X user manual states about tow weights and tongue weights.
The US two piece design has an additional connection point such that the overall hitch flexes more under load. I suspect that is why the vertical load limit is lower.
I would like to emphasize that I am not an expert on the issue, I’m just trying to interpret and understand the information available to me as someone who tows a 2,000 lb trailer and uses a bike rack.
Your statement appears to conflate maximum allowed tongue weight when hitched up to a trailer with maximum allowed vertical load with a bike rack attached. They are not the same thing. The forces involved are very different because the rack is entirely supported by the hitch and the trailer is primarily supported by its wheels.
I’m a bit puzzled about one thing; if EU regulations allow the X to tow a trailer up to 2250kg but do not allow the tongue weight to exceed 90kg, based on the widespread expert recommendation for tongue weight to be 10-15% of trailer weight that does not seem safe to me. If tongue weight is less than 10% of trailer weight there is a real risk of uncontrollable trailer sway.
Here is what the North American Model X user manual states about tow weights and tongue weights.
That “only difference” is to me the critical difference: as your photo makes clear, the US Bosal hitch design has a removable hitch receiver piece making the overall hitch two pieces whereas the EU hitch is a single piece with no “receiver”.
The US two piece design has an additional connection point such that the overall hitch flexes more under load. I suspect that is why the vertical load limit is lower.
I would like to emphasize that I am not an expert on the issue, I’m just trying to interpret and understand the information available to me as someone who tows a 2,000 lb trailer and uses a bike rack.
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