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Post by mdcamper on Mar 1, 2019 16:36:29 GMT -5
Anyone use the rear hitch to carry stuff? Reading the grand design forum it seems that some people have lost stuff on their factory rear hitch when traveling down the road from failure.
I guess these are the same frames as grand design (lippert). We were thinking of carrying a 120lb generator on the back at some point.
Has anyone carried (not towed) weight around 150lbs using the hitch?
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Post by Chuck on Mar 2, 2019 8:54:30 GMT -5
mdcamper I'm not sure how much weight you can carry on a hitch type rack, we have a steel rack on our G384RLT an it states 500pds... Last summer Edd505 had about the same thing as what we have an he had a generator, a satellite dish an something else on his steel rack but again it was not what you would call a carrying rack attached to a trailer hitch, his like ours is a permanent attached type rack attached to the bumper ... !50pds don't seem like much but you have to remember that the bouncing around going down the road adds stress to the hitch along with the rack it's self, I'm not saying it's wrong, I've seen small campers with such on going down the road ... I've also seen smaller motor homes with such, but again they looked to be doing ok but some were rocking from side to side an bouncing up an down a bit ...
Again I'm not saying you can't do it, I'm saying what you think might be 120pds turns out to be 200pds or more an I wouldn't put anything on it that you wanted to loose like a generator if that's what you had in mind ... Maybe fire wood an some extra water, something like that, but we always put such in the bed of our truck along with our generator an never use the rear rack.. Not that I couldn't but I have lots of
room in the bed of the truck an our 6.5k Honda is pretty heavy an i'm not sure if I trust the rack for such ...
Believe me I'm not trying to scare you, i'm the guy who along with my family is always thinking of others around me going down the road an I air on the side of caution on most everything ... I would hate to be that guy who lost a bunch of stuff off the back of his trailer an god forbid had it hit the front of another vehicle, not only would it be bad day for him but made it a bad day for someone else ...
Again I've seen it done an I'm sure there are people on the form doing such, but for me the bed of my truck is allot safer than the trailer hitch loaded down on the back of my 5th wheel if I had one ...
Safe Travels 
Chuck
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Post by Edd505 on Mar 2, 2019 21:22:03 GMT -5
My Champion 3000I is just under 100lbs been there about 2 years. There's a ladder, 5 gal fuel, and various stuff off and on.
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Post by mdcamper on Mar 2, 2019 22:34:49 GMT -5
Thanks guys. I don't want to put too much more in the bed of our truck. It can handle it with ease but I don't want to start getting much closer to our trucks sticker "limits" Plus a little weight to counter the pin weight might be an OK thing. LOL
Chuck, BTW we have a 500lb limit tow rack made from aluminum. Thing is a work horse and pretty light. One of the better harbor freight purchases we made in the past.
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Post by Chuck on Mar 3, 2019 11:59:53 GMT -5
mdcamper I wasn't talking about the weight of the carrying rack, I was talking about the weight the trailer hitch could take attached to the bumper, I believe that is where the weak point is adding to that even the bumper welds may be the weak point as well, thus the complete bumper an rack fall off from weak welds 
Were looking at two critical points here, the hitch it's self an the bumper welds to the frame, these are you weak points an with the rack moving up an down an possibly side to side going down the road... Being attached in one small location instead of two locations it's like beading a peace of metal being folded up an down, give it time it's going to possibly break ...
Somewhere there is a discussion on bike racks attached to the rear bumper on one form or another an owners talking about the bumpers falling off ... So adding a carrying rack with weight on it I would air on the side of caution, not saying you shouldn't do it, just be safe in doing it an watch for cracks in the bumper welds an hitch welds ...
Safe travels, see you at the rally:) Chuck |
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Post by joecamper on Mar 3, 2019 13:34:35 GMT -5
I had my frame to bumper reinforced for 3 thousand pounds both for pulling and for loading similar items like you want.  |
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Post by mdcamper on Mar 3, 2019 13:56:06 GMT -5
We actually don't have a bumper on our camper. The hitch sticks out directly from the frame.
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Post by laknox on Mar 4, 2019 10:25:56 GMT -5
Anyone use the rear hitch to carry stuff? Reading the grand design forum it seems that some people have lost stuff on their factory rear hitch when traveling down the road from failure.
I guess these are the same frames as grand design (lippert). We were thinking of carrying a 120lb generator on the back at some point.
Has anyone carried (not towed) weight around 150lbs using the hitch?
My 277RLT has the factory cargo rack (LCI). Sticker on it says 200 lbs capacity. Good enough for a Honda 3k and 5 gals of gas. I figure there's at least 20-25 lbs "wiggle room" on it, but it =is= LCI, so... :-) I plan on taking it to my "hitch guy" and see what his opinion is. Is it the rack itself that's 200 lbs, the attachment or the frame? I'd sure like another 100, that's for sure. If you've got a factory receiver, most I've seen are rated for a 3,000 lb trailer, which means 300 lbs on the hitch (10%). Getting a 300 lb rated cargo rack (better, a 500 lb rack) from Harbor Freight, should work well. Either way, a 120 lb genny and some gas wouldn't be a problem. I know my rack is attached at both frame rails, not in a receiver, and I think that the 200 lb rating is anemic. Lyle |
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Post by Chuck on Mar 4, 2019 12:32:05 GMT -5
Lyle Like allot of things they will rate things much lighter than what it can really handle, as we all know if it states 300pds some owners will test the limits an put 500pds or more, others 800pds an then when the rack falls off complain that it was a peace of junk when in fact it was overloaded to begin with ... I like joecamper's idea, reinforce the whole thing an thus you do not have to worry unless you that guy who wants to put twice the weight on it Ugh 
Lets all remember it's about safe of not only for your family but others around you going down the road ...
Safe Travels an see you at the rally
Chuck
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Post by laknox on Mar 5, 2019 10:02:39 GMT -5
Lyle Like allot of things they will rate things much lighter than what it can really handle, as we all know if it states 300pds some owners will test the limits an put 500pds or more, others 800pds an then when the rack falls off complain that it was a peace of junk when in fact it was overloaded to begin with ... I like joecamper's idea, reinforce the whole thing an thus you do not have to worry unless you that guy who wants to put twice the weight on it Ugh
Lets all remember it's about safe of not only for your family but others around you going down the road ...
Safe Travels an see you at the rally
Chuck
Mdcamper said that his receiver was frame-mounted, so he =should= be good for 300 lbs, easy. With some extra bracing, 500 lbs would easily be doable. Lyle |
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