Tow Hitch - Tongue Weight Capacity

[Floreez]

Hi everyone! New to TMC and learning as I go. Have a MY on order and had a question:

I have seen two different tongue weight capacities for the Tow Hitch on the Y: 160lbs and 350lbs. Can someone tell me what is correct? I have a family of 4 and looking to install a 4 bike rack - and 160lbs wouldn’t be enough.

 

[ahcpa]

Unfortunately tongue weight (350 lbs) applies only to trailers — as the manual states, 160 lbs is the maximum for a bike rack. There have even been reports of Tesla employees saying that 160 is a mistake and it should be 120. Indeed, the Tesla Shop page for the Model X/Y Hitch Rack says outright: "The Model X/Y hitch is designed to support loading of up to 120 lbs." But it seems plausible that 120 lbs is actually the amount for bikes after the 40-lb Tesla rack.

(edited to add quote from Tesla Shop)

 

[JAM3S]

Hi everyone! New to TMC and learning as I go. Have a MY on order and had a question:

I have seen two different tongue weight capacities for the Tow Hitch on the Y: 160lbs and 350lbs. Can someone tell me what is correct? I have a family of 4 and looking to install a 4 bike rack - and 160lbs wouldn’t be enough.

I’m in this boat too, and there are a few threads.

The tongue weight is 350lbs and this is the tongue weight as applied by a trailer, the problem with a suspended bike hitch is that it applies a toque. Really from an engineering perspective Tesla should identify the torque rating of the hitch, but they try to simplify it with a 160lb hanging hitch weight limit.

I’m going to sell the 2 bike extension on my 4 bike platform rack, and buy a vertical hanging mountain bike rack to take all the bikes.
‘that way I can still take my road bike on my own, or with my partner on the plat form rack, or take all the mountain bikes with the kids. It’s a real shame, love my Yakima HoldUp EVO platform rack on my X5 I just traded in awaiting the Model Y

 

[Dr.Will]

I just installed the Yakima Ridgeback 4 on my Y this morning. It’s the exact same one Tesla sells but they just placed some decals on them. So far it works great but I only tried it with 2 bikes. I’ll test it out this weekend with the other 2 kiddy bikes to see how it works out. I believe the total weight shouldn’t exceed 120... the bike hitch was around 35 alone. The 4 bikes we have should be under 85 so I’m close to and if not at the limit.

 

[Dipthong]

I just installed the Yakima Ridgeback 4 on my Y this morning. It’s the exact same one Tesla sells but they just placed some decals on them. So far it works great but I only tried it with 2 bikes. I’ll test it out this weekend with the other 2 kiddy bikes to see how it works out. I believe the total weight shouldn’t exceed 120... the bike hitch was around 35 alone. The 4 bikes we have should be under 85 so I’m close to and if not at the limit.

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I just installed the Yakima Ridgeback 4 on my Y this morning. It’s the exact same one Tesla sells but they just placed some decals on them. So far it works great but I only tried it with 2 bikes. I’ll test it out this weekend with the other 2 kiddy bikes to see how it works out. I believe the total weight shouldn’t exceed 120... the bike hitch was around 35 alone. The 4 bikes we have should be under 85 so I’m close to and if not at the limit.

View attachment 635915View attachment 635916 View attachment 635917

That's a sexy setup. I'd love to hear how it worked out with four bikes.

 

[micky98040]

I’m in this boat too, and there are a few threads.

The tongue weight is 350lbs and this is the tongue weight as applied by a trailer, the problem with a suspended bike hitch is that it applies a toque. Really from an engineering perspective Tesla should identify the torque rating of the hitch, but they try to simplify it with a 160lb hanging hitch weight limit.

I’m going to sell the 2 bike extension on my 4 bike platform rack, and buy a vertical hanging mountain bike rack to take all the bikes.
‘that way I can still take my road bike on my own, or with my partner on the plat form rack, or take all the mountain bikes with the kids. It’s a real shame, love my Yakima HoldUp EVO platform rack on my X5 I just traded in awaiting the Model Y

I'd love to do the same, but the vertical empty is 75lbs which is already half of what is allowed, Am i reading this right?

 

[SDM44]

4-bike 'hanging' racks are much lighter than 4-bike platform racks, around half the weight (40-50 lbs vs. 90-110 lbs). Also think about the weight distribution as hanging racks keep the bikes closer to the car, while platform racks (especially 4 bike racks) extend much further out from the hitch and you can really feel it when going over bumps.

Add on some MTB's that can weigh on average 25-30 lbs, and that'll give you a quick idea of what type of weight you'll be carrying. If you have lighter bikes, then that's even better.


I've calculated my 1UP Super Duty double with 2 add-on's, hitch locks, add-on locks, wheel locks, and EZ pull handle, weighs approx 101 lbs. Most of our bikes weigh between 25-30 lbs, so I have no problem putting all of that onto our 4Runner and hauling it around - approx 212 lbs of total tongue weight.

But then my 4Runner hitch mounts deeper underneath the frame, so it's a lot stronger than the Tesla hitch that just bolts to the very rear of the car's body. I don't think I'll be putting all 4 of our bikes onto the Model Y and driving around with it, but I'll still test it out when my car arrives and see how it feels (just around the neighborhood.... or until the trunk wall rips right off the car from the weight ).