$300 Hitch

[Xenoilphobe]

Perspective, I have installed six different hitches on our cars (actually it might be more, my truck has one on the front and back), 3 different Tesla installs: two Eco-hitch and one Draw-tite on each of our 3 Model S's, it would take me more time to collect my tools, elevate the car, than it would to bolt this hitch on.

It only took the guy in the video ~2 minutes right? Also for the record I liked the price of the Draw-Tite, but hate that is a 1 1/4 inch receiver, as none of my gear fits it (bike racks, cargo carriers, canoe carrier, ski carriers, trailers, etc). The Model Y OEM hitch should have been a 2 inch receiver, hopefully they will fix that in later builds.

 

[roblab]

No trailer lights electrical connector. No electronic stability control from the trailer package.

In CA, it is not required to have trailer lights on utility trailers during daylight. Nor is is required to have "electronic stability control". We're not talking Winnebagos here, nor two axle trailers from the rental yard. Just small utility trailers. I towed a small utility trailer for ten years with my Model Ses. Never a problem, never needed wiring, never needed lights, never a question. The folks at the dump thought it was cool.

 

[roblab]

The Model Y OEM hitch should have been a 2 inch receiver, hopefully they will fix that in later builds.

So, don't buy and OEM hitch. Simple. You get far more utility plus two inch receiver, if you want it. Also, one CAN get a 1.25" to 2" adapter so your beefy "gear" will hitch to your smaller hitch. But you really don't need 2" for a "bike rack, cargo carrier, ski carriers, trailers, etc," and all that other light-weight stuff. As I recall, 1.25" is good for 2500#. Bigger than MY bike, anyway!

 

[Xenoilphobe]

So, don't buy and OEM hitch. Simple. You get far more utility plus two inch receiver, if you want it. Also, one CAN get a 1.25" to 2" adapter so your beefy "gear" will hitch to your smaller hitch. But you really don't need 2" for a "bike rack, cargo carrier, ski carriers, trailers, etc," and all that other light-weight stuff. As I recall, 1.25" is good for 2500#. Bigger than MY bike, anyway!

The 1 1/4 inch to 2 inch adapter I have makes a sugar ton of noise and it pushes the COG back putting more stress on the hitch. Not a fan, or maybe I have the wrong adapter, it also wobbles and jerks my bikes around, also you can't tow with this adapter, also it drags down my driveway making a ton of noise throwing sparks and making a god awful noise anytime I have to go up a moderate incline, also using a hitch adapter reduces your tongue weight by 50% of rated value,,,basically useless..... so on the Model Y, I can't use the OEM hitch, cause my 4 bikes + carrier weight far exceeds 175 lbs. Further it can't even carry two of my electric bikes + carrier...

(Class II hitches are limited to <350 lbs tongue weight), without the adapter using a 2 inch receiver I would be fine or I could buy all new carriers or have my old gear modified to fit... all a big pain (time and money)

You could do a hitchectomy taking the 1.25 inch off and welding a 2 inch receiver in its place.

 

[Zoomit]

The Model Y OEM hitch should have been a 2 inch receiver, hopefully they will fix that in later builds

What’s makes you think it’ll be 1.25”? Last I read, it is 2”.

Tow Hitch now available on configurator

 

[Xenoilphobe]

What’s makes you think it’ll be 1.25”? Last I read, it is 2”.

Tow Hitch now available on configurator

Sweet! I think the assumption is that traditionally a Class II hitch comes with a 1.25 inch receiver, but if its a 2" receiver with Class II specs (350 TW and 3500 towing weight) that's awesome.

 

[rxlawdude]

In CA, it is not required to have trailer lights on utility trailers during daylight. Nor is is required to have "electronic stability control". We're not talking Winnebagos here, nor two axle trailers from the rental yard. Just small utility trailers. I towed a small utility trailer for ten years with my Model Ses. Never a problem, never needed wiring, never needed lights, never a question. The folks at the dump thought it was cool.

From California DMV:
Trailer Lights
Trailers in California are required to have reflectors, tail, brake, and license plate lights. Signal lights are also required if the tow vehicle's lights are hidden. Trailers over 80 inches wide must have clearance lights. Most manufacturers comply with these requirements; however, it is up to you to be sure that all lights operate correctly.
Source: Towing Your Trailer Safely

CVC § 24603. Every motor vehicle which is not in combination with any other vehicle and every vehicle at the end of a combination of
vehicles shall at all times be equipped with stoplamps mounted on the rear as follows:
(a) Every such vehicle shall be equipped with one or more stoplamps.

Please show me the statute that exempts ANY trailer from this requirement.

 

[Klau2]

If you listen to the latest episode of Ride the Light Podcast. Some people are reporting Tesla Sales Rep telling them the Tow Hitch will be an online option for people to order after delivery later. Ryan did say take it with a grain of salt since he didn't confirm it himself.

 

[ragedogg69]

What’s makes you think it’ll be 1.25”? Last I read, it is 2”.

Tow Hitch now available on configurator

Grain of salt. OP never followed up.

 

[tpoltron]

When reversing with bikes on, the the car warns you that you are about to hit something but there is a mute button on the screen.
While driving the car senses the bike and occasionally displays a warning that the rear sensors are obscured but so far autopilot has continued to work fine.

Here are a couple pics I took today of this.

 

[esoin]

Here are a couple pics I took today of this.


View attachment 536639 View attachment 536640

Thank you for info! Helps a great deal:

All things considered, I really like your configuration!

Looking forward to getting a hitch for MY.

cheers!

 

[DDrawer]

Here are a couple pics I took today of this.


View attachment 536639 View attachment 536640

Any idea if this type of sensor triggering would be prevented with the factory installed hitch? Specifically for bike racks, not talking about trailer connected to the hitch wiring. Does the X do that when using a bike rack?

 

[Uncle Paul]

Model X comes standard with 2" hitch plus Trailer Package. When you hook a trailer up, it senses the load and automatically engages the tow features. Not sure what all it does, but it turns off some sensors and engages an anti sway controller which applies selective torque and brakes to keep vehicle and trailer going straight down the road. You can select the rear camera to stay on to allow a visual confirmation that everything is going well back there.
Early X had two options. A free 1 1/4 hitch or extra cost 2". Factory began delivering only the 2", but with software disabled for those who ordered no hitch. Later Services centers offered to turn on (free) the stability/tow software on request.

I was blown away how easily my X tows a heavy load. While range is significantly reduced, the pulling power is amazing. Tows far better than my Grand Cherokees ever did. On longer trips I needed to unhook my trailer to Supercharge. Was not that big a deal. Rear camera makes hooking back up a one person job.

Like the way the factory and aftermarket hitches come with an engineered cross beam for solid and relatively easy installation. No welding necessary.

 

[tpoltron]

Any idea if this type of sensor triggering would be prevented with the factory installed hitch? Specifically for bike racks, not talking about trailer connected to the hitch wiring. Does the X do that when using a bike rack?

the hitch receiver is just a dumb metal hole so the easiest way for the vehicle to know there are bikes on a rack is if Tesla added a user setting ‘I have a bike rack on’ on the rare occasion I get the ‘sensors obscured’ warning. I guess they would tune a neural net for the rear camera to detect it but I expect that is low on their priority list.

 

[DDrawer]

Exactly. That is my point. Does the X have some sort of software switch or sensor that would alert it to someone putting a bike rack in? Because if not, we can expect the same with the Y and that would mean there is no benefit to getting the Tesla hitch vs an after market hitch if the concern is the rear sensors being triggered by the bike rack. It will get triggered in either case with that scenario.

 

[TonyMS]

I had a adapter that would go into my Audi and it would think I had a tower attached so the rear sensor wouldn't go off and the hatch wouldn't open from the inside switch. I would think these would have so coding like that.

 

[LoL Rick]

This section of the Model X owner's manual describes trailer mode. The Model Y should be similar. One of the things it does is disable the rear parking sensors. But in order to get trailer mode enabled on the car, you will probably have to get the official hitch from Tesla. I don't see them making trailer mode available for an aftermarket hitch.

 

[Tickletickle]

I ordered the hitch posted in the thread and will be reaching out to a few auto bodies to install I’ll update once complete

 

[shenj2]

Aside from the Ecohitch from Torklift Central, who else makes aftermarket hitches for Tesla? Anyone know if Stealth will be making one for the Model Y?

 

[tpoltron]

Aside from the Ecohitch from Torklift Central, who else makes aftermarket hitches for Tesla? Anyone know if Stealth will be making one for the Model Y?

I'm sure others will as the Y will sell in high volume but Torklift is the first.