Hitch Hauler and my CUV

Hi All... I did search and found 3 threads on basically covering the quality / durability / usability of the AMC, harbor freight, ultimate hauler....etc..etc...so I see the product itself works and gets the job done

My question is: I have a mitsubishi outlander sport with a curt class 3 hitch.
since this truck is a unibody I kind of question the mounting point of the hitch itself...to the truck
Guess what I'm asking is do you think the hitch to truck assembly will support 300+ lbs on extended runs
would like to hear from others that have a similar unibody truck... I know the trucks that have real frames will support
it without a doubt, just not sure about the laminated sheet metal unibody??

Would really like to haul it rather than ride it to the grounds......

The carrier goes in the hitch and the hitch should be bolted to the frame correct? You should have no problem if as long as the hitch is mounted to the frame - just make sure you can return the carrier if you are not happy with the setup! I use the same kind of carrier but I have a 2500 pickup- but bikes are very light - as long as the hitch is mounted to the frame of the truck you should be cool!

You should be fine, assuming you have the Curt hitch built specifically for the Outlander.  According to these hitch installation instructions Curt rates the maximum trailer tongue weight for the hitch at 600 lbs.  Bear in mind that this weight rating is for a trailer tongue attached to a typical hitch.  You'll need to add the actual motorcycle carrier weight to the bike's weight and then consider any extra leverage added by where the bike actually sits on the carrier.  You should probably also check your Outlander owners manual to be sure your vehicle's suspension is also rated for similar hitch weight. This is a small vehicle for this use, so you'll probably want to find an aluminum or similarly lightweight carrier.

I got a hitch for my Honda Accord, which has no frame at all. The hitch bolts to the bottom of the trunk... The hitch (from uhaul) instructions specifically stated DO NOT USE a hitch mount bicycle carrier.

If your instructions don't have this warning, seems safe to go up to half the tongue weight. It looks like the Outlander DOES have a frame of sorts.

dhally wrote:

I got a hitch for my Honda Accord, which has no frame at all.  The hitch bolts to the bottom of the trunk...   The hitch (from uhaul) instructions specifically stated DO NOT USE a hitch mount bicycle carrier.

If your instructions don't have this warning, seems safe to go up to half the tongue weight.  It looks like the Outlander DOES have a frame of sorts.

Yes it does..it's a unibody frame not a typical ladder type frame like on a full size truck
And that is what I'm questioning...if the mounting provisions for my vehicle will support 300+ lbs. I'm not questioning the capability of the curt hitch nor the hauler itself.

I have a 2 bike carrier which does fine with my mountain bikes.. Maybe 70# at best
But will those little nuts tack welded (maybe more than tack welded) to a few layers of sheet metal hold up and support 300+ lbs?

wwguy wrote:

You should be fine, assuming you have the Curt hitch built specifically for the Outlander.  According to these hitch installation instructions Curt rates the maximum trailer tongue weight for the hitch at 600 lbs.  Bear in mind that this weight rating is for a trailer tongue attached to a typical hitch.  You'll need to add the actual motorcycle carrier weight to the bike's weight and then consider any extra leverage added by where the bike actually sits on the carrier.  You should probably also check your Outlander owners manual to be sure your vehicle's suspension is also rated for similar hitch weight.  This is a small vehicle for this use, so you'll probably want to find an aluminum or similarly lightweight carrier.

This is for the regular outy.. I have the smaller sport version and the tongue weight on that is 350#. So I'm basically at full capacity hitch itself is 28#
Think what I'll do is get under there and see how it's mounted, I've forgot how it mounts since this was the first thing I did to the truck back in 2011.... If it's anything like the full size outlander with thru bolts on the frame then I don't see why it wouldn't hold and maybe I'll upgrade the bolts with a greater shear strength bolt
What do you think ?

Leo167 wrote:

This is for the regular outy.. I have the smaller sport version and the tongue weight on that is 350#.   So I'm basically at full capacity hitch itself is 28#
Think what I'll do is get under there and see how it's mounted, I've forgot how it mounts since this was the first thing I did to the truck back in 2011.... If it's anything like the full size outlander with thru bolts on the frame then I don't see why it wouldn't hold and maybe I'll upgrade the bolts with a greater shear strength bolt
What do you think ?

I think you have two main factors to consider.  Only one will likely be the show-stopper:
1) The weight limitation of the hitch mount to the vehicle, or
2) The weight limitation of the vehicle's suspension.

If the hitch is mounted with bolts through the frame, then it's probably easily good for the 600# mentioned in the Curt installation instructions.  But if the vehicle is only designed/rated for 350# you will be pushing the edge with hitch + carrier + bike.  Did you get the 350# number from your owner's manual?

I have a bomber Versa Haul Sport motorcycle carrier that weighs about 90 lbs.  They've got an online calculator that indicates how much weight their carriers can haul on a given vehicle with the vehicle remaining fairly level.  For a 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport (the only Sport model year listed on their charts) they only suggest a measly 178 pounds, which would be around 270# total including their carrier.  The implies that anything heavier will start to lower the rear-end below level, even if supported by other published load ratings.

If you find your hitch is bolted through the frame you could try a lightweight carrier like the 36# aluminum AMC-400 and see how your Outlander looks with the bike on the carrier.  Maybe a local bike shop has one you can try before buying?

wwguy wrote:

Leo167 wrote:

This is for the regular outy.. I have the smaller sport version and the tongue weight on that is 350#.   So I'm basically at full capacity hitch itself is 28#
Think what I'll do is get under there and see how it's mounted, I've forgot how it mounts since this was the first thing I did to the truck back in 2011.... If it's anything like the full size outlander with thru bolts on the frame then I don't see why it wouldn't hold and maybe I'll upgrade the bolts with a greater shear strength bolt
What do you think ?

I think you have two main factors to consider.  Only one will likely be the show-stopper:
1) The weight limitation of the hitch mount to the vehicle, or
2) The weight limitation of the vehicle's suspension.

If the hitch is mounted with bolts through the frame, then it's probably easily good for the 600# mentioned in the Curt installation instructions.  But if the vehicle is only designed/rated for 350# you will be pushing the edge with hitch + carrier + bike.  Did you get the 350# number from your owner's manual?

I have a bomber Versa Haul Sport motorcycle carrier that weighs about 90 lbs.  They've got an online calculator that indicates how much weight their carriers can haul on a given vehicle with the vehicle remaining fairly level.  For a 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport (the only Sport model year listed on their charts) they only suggest a measly 178 pounds, which would be around 270# total including their carrier.  The implies that anything heavier will start to lower the rear-end below level, even if supported by other published load ratings.

If you find your hitch is bolted through the frame you could try a lightweight carrier like the 36# aluminum AMC-400 and see how your Outlander looks with the bike on the carrier.  Maybe a local bike shop has one you can try before buying?

Got the rating (350#) from the sticker on the hitch
and I tried to see some mounting instructions for the sport but came up short... but looking at the "what comes in the bag" there were nuts and carriage bolts.. (I know it is just a a stock photo and what actually comes in the bag varies)... but if so then that leads me to believe that it is through the frame.. (must take a peek and see to confirm) which is good but also I think the 350# limit is due to the suspension..truck has a headlight leveler on the dash but I'd rather not risk bottoming out, scrape, and loose my cargo....lol
but if the concern is a level ride then why not a set of air shocks??
Learning stuff here WW...Thanks

I had an acura mdx with no actual frame in it either. I used to carry from a light 2 stroke motocrosser, up to my heavy pig triumph speed triple or my gixxer1k etc on it often, and for long trips. I never once had any issues with it despite acura saying it was too heavy. Am I saying you should.....no. I am just saying I did for many thousands of miles and it was never an issue. Spend the money to get a good rack and good tie downs. the ramp is important and how the ramp is carried once the bike is loaded. and use something to stop the hitch to carrier slop. The insert on almost all seem to be a little too small and it allows the carrier to bounce around a lot on rough roads. I cut up some plastic strips and wedged them in there to make a tighter fit. And I used soft loops and tied to the triple clamps not to the bars. I still use a carrier today but now on my half ton pickup so its a heavier duty vehicle. And then there is the obvious....do not see how fast you can drive down a brutally rough road.

Leo167 wrote:

This is for the regular outy.. I have the smaller sport version and the tongue weight on that is 350#. ....... If it's anything like the full size outlander with thru bolts on the frame then I don't see why it wouldn't hold and maybe I'll upgrade the bolts with a greater shear strength bolt
What do you think ?

Through bolts in the frame would not be as good as the nut inserts shown. The frames are made of lightweight sheet metal. If it is through-bolted, then the frame tube would be crushed when torquing down the mounting bolts. That's why they have the nuts that go inside the frame tube, so you can clamp the hitch tightly to the wall of the frame tube. I'm sure the bolts, nuts, and hitch are fine. It's the frame tube I would worry about.

It would be best to find out the Mitsubishi's spec for tongue weight. If they don't have one, then best to use the tongue weight stamped on the hitch.

BUT, as has been mentioned, the tongue weight rating is assuming that the weight is put onto a trailer ball that is fairly close to the receiver. With the hitch carrier, the weight is put onto a point another 12" further out, which creates more leverage on the hitch, and on the frame mounting points. That's why I recommended a hitch carrier weight of 1/2 the rated tongue weight. To be more specific, I suppose you could measure from the most forward hitch mounting bolts to the ball, then estimate the distance from the mounting bolt to the center of the hitch carrier. The ratio of these two measurements could be applied to the tongue weight to determine a "safe" load.

There are probably a lot of other factors, like how many jumps you go over with the bike on the carrier...

Fly man wrote:

I had an acura mdx with no actual frame in it either. I used to carry from a light 2 stroke motocrosser, up to my heavy pig triumph speed triple or my gixxer1k etc on it often, and for long trips. I never once had any issues with it despite acura saying it was too heavy. Am I saying you should.....no. I am just saying I did for many thousands of miles and it was never an issue. Spend the money to get a good rack and good tie downs. the ramp is important and how the ramp is carried once the bike is loaded. and use something to stop the hitch to carrier slop. The insert on almost all seem to be a little too small and it allows the carrier to bounce around a lot on rough roads. I cut up some plastic strips and wedged them in there to make a tighter fit. And I used soft loops and tied to the triple clamps not to the bars. I still use a carrier today but now on my half ton pickup so its a heavier duty vehicle. And then there is the obvious....do not see how fast you can drive down a brutally rough road.

The MDX is a beefier truck compared to the Outlander sport... honestly think it would work,, but not willing to gamble, being that I would be near the max tongue weight
not unless I actually see another outlander sport with a hitch carrier hauling a DS on it

dhally wrote:

Leo167 wrote:

This is for the regular outy.. I have the smaller sport version and the tongue weight on that is 350#. ....... If it's anything like the full size outlander with thru bolts on the frame then I don't see why it wouldn't hold and maybe I'll upgrade the bolts with a greater shear strength bolt
What do you think ?

Through bolts in the frame would not be as good as the nut inserts shown.  
BUT, as has been mentioned, the tongue weight rating is assuming that the weight is put onto a trailer ball that is fairly close to the receiver.  With the hitch carrier, the weight is put onto a point another 12" further out, which creates more leverage on the hitch, and on the frame mounting points.  That's why I recommended a hitch carrier weight of 1/2 the rated tongue weight. .

I will def check this weekend to see how this is mounted....
This is my concern the actual weight being further away acting like a "breaker bar"... so #350 max and #295 +40 = too close to be comfortable

seems winter came back in the north east,, so this buys me a little time to make determination
If nothing pans out... guess I might have to consider the HF foldable trailer.....or get another truck

Trust me, it's fine.
I had this hitch welded to the unibody frame of this convertible and it never shuddered, cracked, nothing, even after years of use.

Make SURE you bolt down the anti movement plate AND use a silent hitch pin to keep the rack from moving at all. It's the bouncing and swaying of a loose rack that puts the most strain on the hitch.





I use the lightwight aluminum carrier, and then I modified it slightly, had the places where it bolts together welded (makes it super strong a much more rigid) and also had the end moved up at at angle (prevents scraping on driveways). I had a local hitch shop do this for me at a nominal cost.

That is so cool. I often used my Mustang and a rear hitch carrier to take my kx250 to the track. And fil the trunk with gear and gas and the camping sfuff in fhe back seat. Mine was a black coupe GT.

GusinCA wrote:

Trust me, it's fine.
I had this hitch welded to the unibody frame of this convertible and it never shuddered, cracked, nothing, even after years of use.

Make SURE you bolt down the anti movement plate AND use a silent hitch pin to keep the rack from moving at all. It's the bouncing and swaying of a loose rack that puts the most strain on the hitch.





I use the lightwight aluminum carrier, and then I modified it slightly, had the places where it bolts together welded (makes it super strong a much more rigid) and also had the end moved up at at angle (prevents scraping on driveways). I had a local hitch shop do this for me at a nominal cost.

Gus.... I think I just heard angels and harp music... could it be,, this is just a dream
Holy crap man that is gutsy!!! I'm just a chicken shit when it comes to this stuff
and the mustang looks pretty level with you and the bike on the rack...was gonna ask what the hit is rated at,, but guess pointless because its attached to a coupe.....how far is it to your grounds?.....good shit man, thanks for posting

Did you say thanks for posting or possing, they usually under rate the weight for liability reasons, if your bike comes in at 340 lbs and the hitch is rated for 350 lbs you should be fine, check and make sure the receiver (on vehicle) is rated for over that, mine on my truck is rated to tow 12,000 lbs and 3000 lbs weight. cheer`s

The Mustang is actually a pretty beefy car. That was a 2008 model GT, and it had a solid rear axle, and a big heavy V8 in the front, so when the bike was on the rack it only raised the front about a centimeter. Now, when I was transporting the bike, I would not put anything in the trunk (if I had a bag of stuff, I'd put it on the passenger floor). When I had the back of the carrier raised up at an angle, I would hardly ever scrape on a steep driveway, but I took them at an angle anyway. That bike was also an XT225, which was lighter than the WR250R.

I just LOVED being able to drive this awesome car to the beginning of some riding area, and taking the street legal dirt bike wherever the car couldn't go. Everywhere I went people stared at it like it was some kind of Lamborghini, got so many questions.

I had the hitch put on also for carrying bikes and snowboards (since on a convertible there is nowhere else to put them, like a roof rack).

Fiftygrit wrote:

Did you say thanks for posting or possing, they usually under rate the weight for liability reasons, if your bike comes in at 340 lbs and the hitch is rated for 350 lbs you should be fine, check and make sure the receiver (on vehicle) is rated for over that, mine on my truck is rated to tow 12,000 lbs and 3000 lbs weight. cheer`s

posting- posing......lol
not sure I understand what you stated here..."check and make sure the receiver (on vehicle) is rated for over that"
can you explain more?
my vehicle can tow..1500# and the tag on the Curt hitch states #350 max tongue weight is this what you meant?

I did look at it yesterday and it is a through bolt design with 3 bolts for each side.... actually does look beefy
I'll post a photo later

Sounds like you have your answer then and are good to go. Remember that for legal reasons things like a hitch are rated at only a fraction of their failing strength. Its like the hook on the bottom of a helicopter, or the rope we use to line stuff. They rate it at 30% or less of what it can really take. The camper in the box and boat i tow with my truck has it so far over weight that dodge says it can take its nuts. But it has done fine year after year. Ev3n with the extended hitch to reach out under the camper it does great. If no one put more in their truck than the manual says no one could carry the big campers made unless we used a big rig. 10 ply rear tires af max psi is the biggest thing it really needed.

I agree, hitches are hugely under rated. That's legal liability for ya. If they say the hitch can actually hold 3x as much, there are fools who will say "ok then, I can for sure tow my boat with a Honda Civic!".

The key with m/c carriers is sway and bounce. Get the anti sway plate, bolt it down tight (and crimp the threads at the end of the bolts so they can never loosen all the way out) and use a silent hitch pin. If done right, you should be able to stand on it and bounce up and down and it should feel like it's welded to the vehicle.

Leo, yes thats what I meant, tongue weight, receivers are rated for tow weight and tongue weight, I tow a lot of trailers and 5th wheels, and I aways make sure that the hitch weight is rated over what Im towing. If it is rated only for 350# it is likely a class 1 hitch. most are just bolted on so you can upgrade to a class 2 or 3, gives you way more options.

Sorry my experience with towing, hitch equipment ..etc...is limited to bicycle carriers .. So thanks for answering my questions
Hmmm? When I purchased this hitch it stated it is a class 3 with a 2" receiver . My guess would be it is limited in TW because of the actual vehicle? ... So it's kind of stupid that they sell a class 3 for this vehicle.. The larger outlander has TW of 650#

Class 3 tongue weight is 300 to 600 lbs, class 4 is 500 to 1200 lbs, if you have a class 3 you should be fine.

I apologize for beating this to death.....even after seeing a convertible coupe carry one I'm still a nervous bitch about it!!
I'm even in discussion right now with motorcycleracks.net (very helpful) and still twitching about it...
ran across this tonight and thought this might be a  good solution? at least in this manner my hitch is not taking the full weight of the bike? or am I wrong? what do you think?
http://www.tow-ster.com/home

No way, so much wear and tear on the bike that way.

Trust in the hitch, young Skywalker, the Force is strong in that one.

Lol.... I'm trying OB1 I'm trying
Guy at work said the same thing... Not about the force, the wear and tear