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Any issue with 4 bike carrier?
- Thread starter PKOttawa
- Start date
It seems the MY has a 350lb limit.. the carrier + extension is 80lbs..
I’m not sure how to account for the bike weight and the “lever” force on the hitch.. but it doesn’t seem to be a clear “no go”
Also seems the Thule extension is compatible with class II which is what the model Y supports..
I’m not sure how to account for the bike weight and the “lever” force on the hitch.. but it doesn’t seem to be a clear “no go”
Also seems the Thule extension is compatible with class II which is what the model Y supports..
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You may want to pop over to this thread: Platform bike rack as it was pointed out by another poster that that the 350lbs is not a vertical weight limit and that it is limited to 160lbs vertical. I need to go reread the newest manual with the hitch info it seems, as that was a surprise to me.
yep, I read that in the manual as well..... 160# limit as a load hauler.....
It's not about it being vertical though. Tongue weight is vertical too.
Personally I think it's just a huge factor of safety they are adding to cover the many potential variables since they can't know what sort of moments and dynamic situations that a cargo hauler or bike rack might make..... It'll clearly hold up a 350 # trailer tongue, so it'll hold a lot more weight than 160#...but how much more is a huge bunch of unknowns.
It's not about it being vertical though. Tongue weight is vertical too.
Personally I think it's just a huge factor of safety they are adding to cover the many potential variables since they can't know what sort of moments and dynamic situations that a cargo hauler or bike rack might make..... It'll clearly hold up a 350 # trailer tongue, so it'll hold a lot more weight than 160#...but how much more is a huge bunch of unknowns.
This whole vertical weight vs tongue weight difference is weird to me. I thought two would have been the same. If someone can find a scientific explanation why they are different, I’d appreciate If you can share. My only guess is in vertical weight they take into account of lever force, making certain assumptions on where the CG for bike+rack. That CG location should materially change vertical weight.
Now to original question, I have a kuat nv with 4 bike platforms. It is in fact heavier than Thule at ~100lb. So far I carried only two bikes to start getting comfortable. I drove with heavy acceleration and braking on the hills and everything’s seems quite sturdy. I plan to increase number of bikes as time goes by. I have a 4 hour trip coming up in Aug and intend to carry 4 people, 4 bikes and luggage’s. It will be my max use case. I’ll report out how that goes, hoping car and the bikes will come back to home without any damage.
While it maybe obvious, In putting the bikes I intend to put the heaviest one closer to the car and lightest, the farthest. That way, I can pull the CG location closer to the car, hence increasing allowable vertical weight limit.
Now to original question, I have a kuat nv with 4 bike platforms. It is in fact heavier than Thule at ~100lb. So far I carried only two bikes to start getting comfortable. I drove with heavy acceleration and braking on the hills and everything’s seems quite sturdy. I plan to increase number of bikes as time goes by. I have a 4 hour trip coming up in Aug and intend to carry 4 people, 4 bikes and luggage’s. It will be my max use case. I’ll report out how that goes, hoping car and the bikes will come back to home without any damage.
While it maybe obvious, In putting the bikes I intend to put the heaviest one closer to the car and lightest, the farthest. That way, I can pull the CG location closer to the car, hence increasing allowable vertical weight limit.
Agreed, I decided after I posted to go and learn more about vertical weight (As I have never heard that term) and all references I found always equated it to tongue weight, so it is probably an extra safety measure as you observed.
I've thought about this a bit since reading that part of the manual a couple weeks back. The only thoughts I can think of are that a load...be it a cargo platform, a bike rack, or whatever is basically a hug unknown with tons of variables.
The load could be swinging, bouncing, and swaying quite a bit
the load could be cantilevered several feet behind the hitch (in my thinking this is probably the most important potential...a trailer tongue will have the load basically hat the hitch ball which let's just say is 1 ft behind the hitch...so a 350# static tongue weight is a 350 ft-lb moment...but a cargo could be several feet back. Let's just say it's 3 ft back, then a 116# load makes the same 350 ft-lb moment)
A hang style bike rack could have the load hanging several feet above the hitch...in which case accelerating and decelerating the car adds a rotation moment
The thing is though, trailer tongue could be doing a lot of this too...bouncing, side loads, etc...not to mention a huge potential backwards force pulling from the drag of the trailer added to that bouncing tongue weight....so i honestly can't see how it makes a lot of sense. Seems to me it would be very hard to put a hard number on it...given that there are so many different types of racks and platforms, and so many different ways to connect and load them....
I think the larger takeaway is that there are variables that make it very likely the total load needs to be de-rated when compared to a 'typical' trailer load.
The load could be swinging, bouncing, and swaying quite a bit
the load could be cantilevered several feet behind the hitch (in my thinking this is probably the most important potential...a trailer tongue will have the load basically hat the hitch ball which let's just say is 1 ft behind the hitch...so a 350# static tongue weight is a 350 ft-lb moment...but a cargo could be several feet back. Let's just say it's 3 ft back, then a 116# load makes the same 350 ft-lb moment)
A hang style bike rack could have the load hanging several feet above the hitch...in which case accelerating and decelerating the car adds a rotation moment
The thing is though, trailer tongue could be doing a lot of this too...bouncing, side loads, etc...not to mention a huge potential backwards force pulling from the drag of the trailer added to that bouncing tongue weight....so i honestly can't see how it makes a lot of sense. Seems to me it would be very hard to put a hard number on it...given that there are so many different types of racks and platforms, and so many different ways to connect and load them....
I think the larger takeaway is that there are variables that make it very likely the total load needs to be de-rated when compared to a 'typical' trailer load.
got to thinking about this...I should add.
I have a 5 bike rack from Allen on my motorhome's hitch. It's a good rack for a hang style, and works ok....but it can be a puzzle to get 5 bikes on it, a mix of adult and kid sizes. They bang and tangle together. I think that's pretty much true for any 4-5 bike rack out there.
Weight limits and all aside, If you really need to carry 4 bikes it might not be a bad idea to look at a 5 bike rack to make it a bit easier.....
I'm not sure really, but if I were looking at options for this I think I might consider a more commonly available 2 bike rack on the hitch and put a couple up on a roof rack. Not sure I'm a huge fan of loading stuff regularly over that glass, but I personally would give that angle more thought
I have a 5 bike rack from Allen on my motorhome's hitch. It's a good rack for a hang style, and works ok....but it can be a puzzle to get 5 bikes on it, a mix of adult and kid sizes. They bang and tangle together. I think that's pretty much true for any 4-5 bike rack out there.
Weight limits and all aside, If you really need to carry 4 bikes it might not be a bad idea to look at a 5 bike rack to make it a bit easier.....
I'm not sure really, but if I were looking at options for this I think I might consider a more commonly available 2 bike rack on the hitch and put a couple up on a roof rack. Not sure I'm a huge fan of loading stuff regularly over that glass, but I personally would give that angle more thought
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