Hitch Carrier Concerns

[Khjphoto]

Will be carrying motorcycle weighing 280 pounds plus weight of carrier at around 80 pounds, well within specs of the Runner. Questions are with the "soft" suspension of a TRD will their be an issue? Would Air bags be really necessary?
What about the increased load on rough roads? Never had a hitch carrier, just
hate the idea of another trailer!

Thanks

 

[(none)]

With at least 360lbs hanging that far behind the axle, you will get some squat and probably some front end lift.

I went ahead and installed the airlift bags in preparation for planning to do about the same thing. I have a KDX200 and a hitch lift.

 

[ToyoDriver]

Would a 600cc sportbike (CBR600, ZX6R, etc ~ about 400lbs wet) work for a hitch carrier?

 

[Dropzone]

Would a 600cc sportbike (CBR600, ZX6R, etc ~ about 400lbs wet) work for a hitch carrier?

is that with in the specs of the carrier you are looking at?

 

[Lindenwood]

The 4runner has a maximum tongue weight of 500lbs.

The main issue with such will be rear-end sag and front-end lift. Potential / likely problems:

1) Your headlights will point higher, causing you to potentially blind other drivers.

2) You might begin to hit the rear bump stops on only modest bumps.

3) Worst case, a reduced load on the front tires and a greater tendency to understeer in low traction conditions or emergency breaking. When I was 16 and needed to take my mom's jeep to work during a snowy day, my Pop put 400lb of concrete bags in the trunk "to increase traction." The first time I tried to make a slight turn out of the neighborhood, the vehicle continued straight forward as if the steering wheel had become disconnected! Obviously this is an extreme case, but my own experience with this characteristic probably makes me overly concerned.

However, Air bags can be installed pretty inexpensively (roughly $100 for an Airlift 1000 kit). Here is AntMan's install thread (scroll down). http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/92013-antmans-thread.html#post806239

 

[salong53]

A thread popped up a couple of days ago about this. I can't remember who it was but somebody with a Limited hauls a sport bike on theirs. I personally am hesitant to haul mine on a hitch carrier. The tongue weight rating is 500 pounds, but when you increase the distance of the 500lbs farther away from the receiver with a motorcycle carrier, it seems like it might put more strain on the receiver to me.

 

[TRUSTYAXE]

I'm pretty sure our hitch is a class 3 rated for 500lbs. You are going to see some sag especially if your cargo area is full of gear, but not enough to require mods. The tongue weight of my boat is 250/300 lbs and I only get a little sag on the PRO.

 

[Khjphoto]

Thanks for the responses, chew on it foe a bit. Hate to get a trailer; but I do tend to load the interior with creature comforts!

 

[Jetboy]

I would consider air bags. It'll squat your 4runner a lot. The result will be all of the issue mentioned plus the caster will go quite a bit out of spec due to the new angle of the vehicle being rear weighted down. It'll drive like crap. Also with the weight cantilevered off the rear like that it'll do some odd things to the handling that you probably won't like.

For short trips it's probably fine as is. But if you're heading out on the highway for any meaningful distance on a regular basis I'd add air springs.

I've carried my little commuter bike - CB300f at around 348lbs on a hitch carrier and it works just fine. However, it's kind of a toy motorcycle. Most street bikes weigh a lot more than that.

 

[JCarp90]

I've driven to WI, TX, OK, AR etc all like this with an ass end full of gear and family stuff for the kids. Squat isn't bad at all. I don't think I'd waste my time with the airbags.

 

[Jetboy]

^That's a pretty lightweight bike. They're like 270lbs or so right? After re-reading the OP, a light bike is probably fine. I carry my wife's scooter on mine without even thinking about it. It weighs just a bit more than 250lbs.

 

[1engineer]

400-500 lbs will level the 4Runner. 800 lbs will make it squat.

 

[Khjphoto]

400-500 lbs will level the 4Runner. 800 lbs will make it squat.

I don't understand, can you elaborate? Are you saying total weight that does not exceed the 500 pound tongue weight would not be an issue?

 

[gundrted+t4r]

Just a general comment about the air bags. They do not redistribute the weight of what you are carrying. They simply return the vehicle to a level stance. This is important, but 400lbs is still 400lbs out the rear.

The most important thing is to keep the load as close to the rear of the vehicle as possible. The carrier in the photo wouldn't make that much of a difference because the bike is close-ish to the 4Runner.

If you had a hitch basket and then the motorcycle on the end of that, now we are talking about something completely different. At this point you are adding a lever into the mix and that changes things. This is where physics has more of an effect.

The more the load is moved back from the hitch the lower your rating becomes. I have a truck camper on a F250 and flat tow my 5000lbs jeep (soon to be sold) off a 30ish in extension to clear the camper. This is no issue because there is zero downward weight on the hitch. Its a straight pull. If I were to pull a trailer, my tongue weight would be about 50-ish% less (unless i got a special setup). This is all thanks to physics.

I'm not saying don't do it. Just saying know how the placement of weight effects your vehicle.

The short version is ... 500lbs is the weight of a trail's tongue on a ball mounted to a bung in the receiver hitch. Its NOT a 500lbs motorbike on a carrier 36in behind the receiver hitch.