Use of Any Adapter Does Decrease the Hitch Tongue Weight Capacity by Half

Published 09/14/2008

Question:

I have a question about bike racks and hitch adapters. I have a bike rack that fits a class 3 hitch 2 and recently got a different vehicle that has a class 2 hitch 1-1/4. While a class 3 hitch has 500lbs tongue the class II only has 250lbs. A couple adapters Ive come across say that the tongue weight capacity gets cut in half while others such as Curt MFG does not mention this. I have an older Thule 4 bike rack similar to the roadway except it doesnt have the adapter built in. I went from a Jeep Commander to a Lincoln MKX and I really dont want to spend another $200+ dollars to get the rack with the built in adapter. What do you think? Are all adapters the same, will I risk damage? Thanks for all your help, greatly appreciate it.

asked by: John

Expert Reply:

You are experiencing a common dilemma. The use of any adapter does decrease the hitch tongue weight capacity by 50%. If your MKX Class II hitch offers a 350 lbs tongue weight capacity then with an adapter the bikes and rack combined cannot exceed 175 lbs. For most applications this would be sufficient but not knowing your bikes and how much they weight I cannot tell you for certain if this will work.Should you decide to go with an adapter we would recommend an anti rattle lock to secure the adapter to the receiver hitch. You can view our adapters and anti rattle locks using the links below.

expert reply by: Heather A