Hitch options?

[javinos]

Unfortunately I did not get the tow/hitch package on our X.

My wife wants to carry our bikes.. the Tesla option is $1,200... and out of stock at the moment.

Do I need to go with an OEM option for this or has anyone tried anything different? If so do I need to go activate tow mode at SC? Do I need to pay for that too?

Thanks in advance

 

[outie]

Draw-Tite Aftermarket Receiver Package

No Tesla will not enable tow mode for aftermarket installations.

 

[javinos]

This does not say that Tesla won’t enable with aftermarket options... at least I did not see it. Do you know this from experience?

Main reason I ask is due to their current back order status

 

[billion]

After reading warnings about an aftermarket installation and seeing the Tesla receiver, I don't think I'd even consider an aftermarket solution. I just received my Tesla tow receiver after a 3 month backorder but I will tell you that it is an engineering masterpiece and worth the wait. Check out the YouTube video.

 

[Yinn]

Unfortunately I did not get the tow/hitch package on our X.

My wife wants to carry our bikes.. the Tesla option is $1,200... and out of stock at the moment.

Do I need to go with an OEM option for this or has anyone tried anything different? If so do I need to go activate tow mode at SC? Do I need to pay for that too?

Thanks in advance

Just to make sure, did you buy an older car or buy a while ago when the hitches were an option? Because I thought they made them standard in mid 2017. That being said, Tesla didn’t install them on all cars because of the backorder. But if your car falls into this range, just contact them that yours didn’t have it and they’ll get you sorted out. There’s other threads with people who had this happen as well.

Otherwise, it’s $1200 for the entire tow package from Tesla. They may not activate it with an aftermarket hitch. But for those who had the original “accessories hitch” and got the full tow package, it’s about $700 for the software only for tow mode.

 

[javinos]

It’s a late 2016 Model

 

[Yinn]

It’s a late 2016 Model

Yea they weren’t standard then. By the time you purchase an aftermarket hitch and get the software enabled, it’ll be about the same cost as an OEM one. There’s been several people who have tried an aftermarket option with some success, but most I read already had tow mode enabled.

As for myself, I had the standard hitch and no software. I decided to tow with it without paying my for the software and I wouldn’t recommend doing that since I ended up causing damage to my car. The damage cost was almost the same as just getting the software enabled. Based on my experience, I’d highly recommend going with oem and software enabled.

 

[Evoforce]

Yea they weren’t standard then. By the time you purchase an aftermarket hitch and get the software enabled, it’ll be about the same cost as an OEM one. There’s been several people who have tried an aftermarket option with some success, but most I read already had tow mode enabled.

As for myself, I had the standard hitch and no software. I decided to tow with it without paying my for the software and I wouldn’t recommend doing that since I ended up causing damage to my car. The damage cost was almost the same as just getting the software enabled. Based on my experience, I’d highly recommend going with oem and software enabled.

Can you elaborate how that you think that you damaged your car?

 

[Yinn]

Can you elaborate how that you think that you damaged your car?

A trip to the SC to fix a rear body controller costing $500 and citing a root cause of improper towing is why I think it damaged my car.

I was told by the SC that despite the hitch being rated to handle a towing load, the electronics on the car needs to be in sync for when you do tow.

 

[javinos]

A trip to the SC to fix a rear body controller costing $500 and citing a root cause of improper towing is why I think it damaged my car.

I was told by the SC that despite the hitch being rated to handle a towing load, the electronics on the car needs to be in sync for when you do tow.

Thanks for this information

 

[CFrolander]

I just received my Tesla tow receiver after a 3 month backorder but I will tell you that it is an engineering masterpiece and worth the wait.

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but I've been waiting since Dec 2017 for the darn thing to come in stock, and the service center told me they can't order it and I'm better off ordering it online when it shows up because that's what they would do too. How in the world do you get on a list or backorder it? It's been 8 months now and I still have no towing capacity, it's a little ridiculous

 

[javinos]

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but I've been waiting since Dec 2017 for the darn thing to come in stock, and the service center told me they can't order it and I'm better off ordering it online when it shows up because that's what they would do too. How in the world do you get on a list or backorder it? It's been 8 months now and I still have no towing capacity, it's a little ridiculous

I completely agree w you!
Still waiting... our season spare car will have to fill this void

 

[welcomewagon]

Why do you need tow mode enabled to haul around a couple of bicycles on a hitch rack?

 

[ztaylor]

Does anyone have a definite answer to the weight question in regard to carrying bikes?
I have read in the manual that its 120lbs, even with the 2". Some people say that 120lbs was for the 1.25" receiver.

I believe when towing the downward weight is 500lbs is towing and carrying bikes the same?

 

[welcomewagon]

Does anyone have a definite answer to the weight question in regard to carrying bikes?
I have read in the manual that its 120lbs, even with the 2". Some people say that 120lbs was for the 1.25" receiver.

I believe when towing the downward weight is 500lbs is towing and carrying bikes the same?

It's not the downward weight only, it's the downward weight and the distance of that weight from the hitch, which is called torque. That distance is why there is a different weight recommendation for towing vs bike racks, etc.

 

[Yinn]

Does anyone have a definite answer to the weight question in regard to carrying bikes?
I have read in the manual that its 120lbs, even with the 2". Some people say that 120lbs was for the 1.25" receiver.

I believe when towing the downward weight is 500lbs is towing and carrying bikes the same?

There used to be that speculation but there was never actually a 1.25” receiver produced. Then there’s the note on the bike rack Tesla sells.

I think this post from @mknox settled it. 2 bike, 121lb maximum.

You’ll of course find people carrying more. Just like we’ve seen the Model X tow [way] more than 5,000 lbs. it’s just not backed by the factory or endorsed to do so.