Shop made motorcycle hitch carrier

I hope I can get some answers here. Please help. I shop made a custom motorcycle hitch carrier for my Triumph Rocket 3. The dry weight is 650lb. My carrier is solid bar and channel, my guess is 150lbs.
My Tundra is 2025 1794 edition TRD Offroad. Can this work?

 

Depends on how much you trust the shop. Me personally, my bike is my life, enclosed trailer all the way for transport. This setup though, your rear might sag a lot and any bumps you will surely be scraping. I’d figure out what the weakest link is and go from there. Specifically the welds. My saying is it’ll hold until it breaks whenever someone asks me about my welds.

 

Let me clarify: I made this in the shop where I work. The welds are A+. The solid bar is 1×3½. It sits at 8" off the ground, but I was considering raising it up some. My concern is the class 4 hitch, can it handle 800lbs on a hitch carrier?

 

Thanks for clarifying, I’m assuming you mean the hitch itself, not the hitch receiver? The hitch should have a rating for its maximum tongue weight it can safely handle, generally a maximum of 750lbs for welded ones and higher for forged ones.

 

I'm worried about overloading the receiver and damaging the truck. The hitch carrier itself is OVER built.

 

You won’t damage the truck. I’m more worried about your bike than the truck. Check your door sticker and find the maximum load your truck can hold and that is your maximum weight your hitch receiver can take, including your own weight in the driving seat.

 

Ok, this is good. I'm going to raise the carrier another 4" off the ground. That will rest at 12". And with a total weight of roughly 800# the receiver and truck can handle that no problem?

 

Attempt at your own risk. This is very unconventional way of transport for a very heavy bike, so long as you’re within your weight limit for the payload of the truck, everything should be fine. Why not load it in the bed?

 

you gotta share some pictures of the bike loaded up on the back of the truck once you are done.

 

Not true at all. You have to worry about the hitch rating, not just the payload. Then there is the leverage that having it sit that far out will put on it.

Not a chance in hell I'd try to carry a bike that heavy on the hitch @Jthamblin1 . There's a reason the after market carriers don't approach the weight rating of a bike that size. I wish it were safe to do as I have a big fat bike as well, but it's just a bad idea.

 

This info might be of use. https://www.tundras.com/threads/2022-tow-hitch-receiver-ratings.104156/#post-2679082

According to that the hitch is rated for 500 lbs dead weight without a weight distributing hitch. You're way over that. You risk bending or breaking something on the truck. Maybe it'll be "fine" for 100 or even 10,000 miles, but so was the Ram that broke his frame in half because he was overloaded. He made it 20K miles before the failure because these kinds of overloads don't usually have immediate consequences. It takes time for the abuse to add up and really screw things up.

You're best bet is to get a trailer for the bike.

 

Why is the bike so far away from the truck? Were you not able to mount it closer? There's a lot of leverage going on there. And why not add a gusset where you bent/broke then main bar?


https://joehauler.com/ Maybe give send Joe an e-mail and send the pics. Get his opinion on it. He's a good dude and might give a word of advice.

 

I'd recommend a long and wide ramp and load it in the bed of the truck. It'll be much safer. The leverage on that + the hitch weight wouldn't be ideal. I see you mentioned raising it up as well, as it sits you'd likely drag it on driveways from the change in angle and how far it sticks out.

 

That’s 800# max right at the hitch receiver. Your pushing it back a few feet which multiplies the torque and effective weight at the receiver. Think of a torque wrench. I think you’ll be way over and the bike is going to bounce like it’s on the end of a fishing pole. Sorry man. I wasn’t happy with one that was only a foot back. Way to much bounce and twist.

 

I just wanna see the Rocket 3 in the carrier.

 

Gusset on that first bend for sure, if you do risk the weight.

 

Whats the small rack in front of the the bike rack for?
Thats a lot of weight hanging that far out.
If it were a static load It would be fine but add in the crappy roads out there i'd be concerned.
I'd try and find some numbers of a store bought unit and see how they compare.

 

single-rail-ride-up-srl-folding-motorcycle-trailer
This is the way easy to tow and store when not in use
Just my opinion for what its worth

 

They sure are proud of them!!!
But they're nice!!

 

I would not trust that for a bike like the Triumph Rocket. As mentioned, that is too far from the rear of the truck putting strain on the frame and receiver beyond what it was designed for. You have an expensive truck and bike and I wouldn't risk it.

Before I retired to our former vacation cabin in Vermont we lived in Florida and I made many trips back and forth hauling bikes on my trailer with my old 2nd gen Taco. This trailer only weighs 375 pounds and is rated for 1500 and cost $2500.

 

There's a reason no one sells a carrier like that. Regardless of weld quality, the hitch or carrier will fail at some point. Too much load cantilevered too far from the connection. Trailer.

 

800# is too much! A couple of good dips in the road will make 4x that load!

not to mention that you only have 8” between the bottom and the road when unloaded. Not much room for travel.

take you and three friends and jump on that thing. I am betting you will feel the same after experiencing that.

Nice looking fabrication work. You did a great job.

 

I make no claims of being an engineer, and there are plenty of those on here, so someone check to see if my math is mathing:

800# located (guessing) 2 feet away from fulcrum point is creating 1600 lb/ft of torque (not even factoring in acceleration due to gravity) attempting to twist the hitch off the back of the truck.

Get a few good bounces going and something is going to give.

Short answer, as already stated: Too much weight, too long of a lever.

 

That's too much weight & not stable. I wouldn't be comfortable with that at all. Your best bet would be this...
Or this....

 

So, just my personal opinion…. If I take a bike somewhere with my truck it’s either in the bed or preferably on a trailer. That’s specifically why I purchased a larger enclosed trailer a few years ago.. to get both my bikes in it if need be. A hitch receiver is designed primarily to have a hitch and ball or shackle hitch installed and the weight is designed to be carried from that specific location.
Companies make all sorts of racks and attachments to slide into hitch receivers for whatever reason.
Do whatever you’re comfortable with I guess, just remember there’s other people on the roadways besides you that your poor decisions may affect..

 

I wouldn't, but others have

https://racknride.com/product/rack-n-ride-adventure-carrier/

https://www.motorcycle.com/products/best-motorcycle-hitch-carriers