I'm sure it's not to do with that balance. There's plenty of weight ahead of the tow point. The issue will be to do with the leverage on the fitment. Going over even moderate bumps will put a tremendous twisting force on any rear cross-member if there is a high weight on tow bar. Even an overweight trailer isn't going to come close... IMHO of course!
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
I'm sure it's not to do with that balance. There's plenty of weight ahead of the tow point. The issue will be to do with the leverage on the fitment. Going over even moderate bumps will put a tremendous twisting force on any rear cross-member if there is a high weight on tow bar. Even an overweight trailer isn't going to come close... IMHO of course!
Greenstar
Member
Got my Model 3 LR back in March, didnt think of getting a towbar at that time. But now feel like getting one. Does anyone know if we can get one from Tesla directly?
Looking for this one. Seems the one in the below video from America comes with car from Tesla and it can be easily fitted diy and removed when dont need it.
The make of the tow hitch is Westfalia and they have local garages in UK
STOCKISTS – Westfalia-Automotive
I rang Tesla to ask about the tow hitch if it is available to buy as I could not find it on their website, the IVR said to drop an email to [email protected]
I have dropped them an email, lets see what they say.
Looking for this one. Seems the one in the below video from America comes with car from Tesla and it can be easily fitted diy and removed when dont need it.
The make of the tow hitch is Westfalia and they have local garages in UK
STOCKISTS – Westfalia-Automotive
I rang Tesla to ask about the tow hitch if it is available to buy as I could not find it on their website, the IVR said to drop an email to [email protected]
I have dropped them an email, lets see what they say.
the video is of the official Tesla one, you can buy the "kit" from the SC if you somehow lost/broke the one you got, but you cannot fit it to a car that did not come from factory with a tow bar. The kit from tesla is just the towing eye in a case, the bracket that it connects to (and wiring harness) is not installed on non-towbar cars and cannot legally (in the UK) be retrofitted.
Greenstar
Member
Rang one dealer for Westfalia, he has never installed on any Tesla cars and nor did he had any to fit in any Tesla. Rang Tesla and chose the service booking option on the IVR and spoke to someone and they said I can buy one from their website and install it myself, then he could not find one on the website to buy - so I thought of buying a new car and see if I get an option their - when selected the car model for say I chose LR Model 3 and then on next screen it gives me an option for £1000 tow hitch and below it says in small letters - cannot be installed after delivery - what a bummer - sad.
LongRanger
Active Member
Am assuming it’s a different rear subframe design / additional welded section to handle the hitch fixing - if the option is selected from factory.
Yes, certainly there are extra bits added. However, here's a Youtube video of a US aftermarket system that shows what's involved (US cars don't have an option for a tow bar on the M3) ... so it can actually be done.
MrBadger
Badger out
Last that I looked, the European Tesla tow bar cannot be retro fitted as only the Model 3's that come ready fitted are homologated for towing. Westfalia, the manufacturer of the swan neck and probably the rest, does not list the Model 3 as an option on their website.
The picture/video you link is just the removable swan neck - i've not watched the video to see what else it shows. Like an iceberg, there is 90% of the towbar that you cannot see behind the bumper, including the electrics and tow mode enabled in software.
[edit]just noticed the above already been said
but not this...
just watch out for after market solutions - they are known to rot out very quickly due to galvanic corrosion - steel tow setup being attached to aluminium body parts.
The picture/video you link is just the removable swan neck - i've not watched the video to see what else it shows. Like an iceberg, there is 90% of the towbar that you cannot see behind the bumper, including the electrics and tow mode enabled in software.
[edit]just noticed the above already been said
but not this...
just watch out for after market solutions - they are known to rot out very quickly due to galvanic corrosion - steel tow setup being attached to aluminium body parts.
Absolutely. I should have been clearer and said that it is physically possible to do it because it's being done by people in the US but it is not available here and would certainly not be covered by warranty. It would also be illegal and the car software would not adapt in the way that it does for an official tow fitting.
The other alternative (which the other half does not like the thought of) is an actual wheeled trailer with bike racks added to the top of the trailer. But I did not have a good answer as to "where are you going to store that? Not in my garden thank you very much!"
This is my long term plan (two kids growing up). I've not looked but was going to try and build a lightweight trailer with detachable sides (for carrying general stuff) and then bike mounts for just doing the local bike trips with kids. I've got a picture in my head and will probably have to set about building it myself. I'm a few years away yet so its on the back burner.
I also wonder whether there was any legs in having a single wheeled bike carrier to just take the momentum load out of the equation.
I looked at Mottez who do a 5 bike carrier on one wheel. It looks to be made in France, so with shipping will be about £700 (seems to be sold via ebay), so that may be of interest.
But even though it can be stored vertically it would (according to the Mrs) still take up too much garden space for us (and to be fair, the garden is not so big that losing a chunk of it would be easily absorbed, so I do get her point!)
Thanks for the heads up. Really looks like it an option for some people who have room to store it when not in use.
Trailer 5 bikes single wheel - Mottez
Yes, although one should check what (if anything) would be needed to make sure it is compliant with UK regulations... someone mentioned the fog lights or similar could be a 'gotcha' ... but as it wasn't an option for me I didn't look into it any further.
Cheers @gidster99 That's something I hadn't thought of to be fair. I'm a good few years away from needing so there might be other similar options around by then.
Just a thought (and depends how you bought it and lots of other things), I wonder if you could sell your current car and buy a new one wih tow hitch. Your current car would/could probably sell for what you bought it for.
We went for our first drive with bikes attached on the weekend, so I thought I would share a photo.
This is using the Atera Strada DL 3 bike carrier.
I found putting on the tow bar a very simple exercise indeed.
Unboxing the Strada and putting it on was also pretty easy (although you do need to read the instructions as you need to pull and then release a trigger in order to get the bike rack to lock properly.
Adding the 3 hybrid bikes was a bit of an exercise in geometry. And took a couple of goes to get right.
The whole thing seemed pretty stable and over the 20 minute drive did not seem to use any more energy than normal (likely as I kept the speed around 60-65 instead of (ahem) 70.)
There was some movement in the bikes, but nothing too worrying.
So overall pretty positive.
One thing I did find difficult was attaching the electronics...the wiring on the bike rack seems to be about 3cm too short !
This is using the Atera Strada DL 3 bike carrier.
I found putting on the tow bar a very simple exercise indeed.
Unboxing the Strada and putting it on was also pretty easy (although you do need to read the instructions as you need to pull and then release a trigger in order to get the bike rack to lock properly.
Adding the 3 hybrid bikes was a bit of an exercise in geometry. And took a couple of goes to get right.
The whole thing seemed pretty stable and over the 20 minute drive did not seem to use any more energy than normal (likely as I kept the speed around 60-65 instead of (ahem) 70.)
There was some movement in the bikes, but nothing too worrying.
So overall pretty positive.
One thing I did find difficult was attaching the electronics...the wiring on the bike rack seems to be about 3cm too short !
MrBadger
Badger out
Good news
Thule probably bought up all the cable Ours is unfortunately too long and I'm sure I one day will forget to wrap it around the rack to lose the slack then catch the loose on something.
Thule probably bought up all the cable
Ours is unfortunately too long and I'm sure I one day will forget to wrap it around the rack to lose the slack then catch the loose on something.Further clarification: Trailer capable of operating with a gross vehicle weight of over 750kg must have brakes ... which they all do. The trailer itself weighs considerably less (otherwise you wouldn't be allowed to put anything in it)! The gross weight is simply the weight of the trailer plus the weight of the load. Trailers that can carry more weight have the braking mechanism built in so a weight plus load can then be up to 910kg (SR+ and LR Model 3).
The 55 kg limit is for unsupported loads like a bike rack. From memory I think the max nose weight for a trailer is 100 kg. It’s higher because there is no leverage involved.
LongRanger
Active Member
Worth noting that the Model 3 wiring mechanism for trailers does not have braking control, neither does the trailer mode software, for this reason I stuck with unbraked 750kg max trailer, currently on order - will update other thread when it turns up.
Maybe the Model X has more oomph and features when it comes to trailers but tbh not sure if I want to be playing around with larger loads on the model 3 - 750kg minus trailer giving 500-ish load weight is plenty for moving small machinery and is a serious amount of tip junk for non-commercial purposes.
Maybe the Model X has more oomph and features when it comes to trailers but tbh not sure if I want to be playing around with larger loads on the model 3 - 750kg minus trailer giving 500-ish load weight is plenty for moving small machinery and is a serious amount of tip junk for non-commercial purposes.
Similar threads
