Model Y Hitch Receiver: Rise Limit Question

[brownsound202]

How did it go?? I bought a curt adjustable hitch on FB marketplace because this this crazy awesome Canadian used the full sway bar setup. When I saw the hitch for $20 I figured why not... only to find out both the rise length were too much...

I am hoping to pick up a braxton creek bushwacker 15DS this weekend but seriously nervous about the coupler height requirements now...

How was your experience with the longer than recommended tow hitch?

I'm about to tow a Droplet trailer tomorrow but just realized the hitch I bought is also 2.5" longer than the Tesla spec for the Y. I need to make 15" vertical clearance so hopefully the 0.75" rise is enough, but I'm a bit worried about the added length.

I crunched the numbers to see how much of a margin I have based on the tongue weight of the trailer. It looks like, at 72kg using the recommended 8.5" hitch, your max allowable moment on the receiver is 152.5 N*m. The trailer I'm towing is only 50kg, but with the increased length I'm well within margin at 137 N*m. I'm racking my brain trying to think of other failure modes associated with the added length, but also hoping there's a bit of a safety factor on their limits. The only other thing that comes to mind with the added length is how traction control may attempt to stabilize the car if it detects trailer sway, in which case I'll need to disable it.

 

[Magneto3]

Happy to report two successful towing trips using a rhino hitch adjustable ball hitch with a 7-in rise and an Airstream Basecamp 16'. The only problem I had was with the rhino hitch extending a significant distance below the hitch receiver which caused it to drag and scrape badly on driveways and inclines.

Didn't have any issues with the higher rise and the weight being close to capacity of 3500 lb. The y towed well and at 55 mph ended up averaging around 580 watt hours per mile on level ground, over 1,000 easily when towing uphill.

I wouldn't recommend the rhino Hitch because of its scraping action. I'm now looking for another adjustable hitch with at least a 5-in if not 7-in rise, and looking at renting a 2022 jayco flight off outdoorsy.

 

[ecarfan]

Beautiful image! Joshua Tree campground?

I’m a bit surprised you used 580Wh/mi towing that Basecamp at 55 mph on level ground. Seems high.