How to Determine Cargo Carrier Capacity

In your design you support a load on the (trailer-hitch) ball; you neglect to say where additional loading locations are. There has to be at least two for stability. -But no matter where they are, the maximum vertical load on the ball is part of the towing restriction criteria for that vehicle. The manufacturer would have this knowlege, and probably lists it as the maximum allowable trailer tongue weight.

carver35 has the wrong impression, I believe. The hitch receiver is the component that determines the weight capacity of the system. My receiver is rated for 500#.

However, the 500# load of the carrier will produce dramatically different handling in the tow vehicle. CG, weight distribution, cornering, stopping, etc, all must be considered.

I have to go.

DOT department of transportation will have the info you seek it's in their basket.

If I understand, you are looking for torque on the hitch/ball from a hitch addition that raises or lowers the center of force reletive the centerline of the reciever.

This should be a standard static force problem, in my opinion.

If the ball is raised 6 inches to compensate for a low vehicle height for a trailer, then the mass of the trailer acting on the mass of the towing vehicle should be able to be figured as a force, then plug that value around a 6 inch circle and you have your torque.

Torque needs to be known if a wheelchair platform is used also for torque on the reciever to make sure the reciever hitch does not bend at the reciever pipe.

Following this, torque needs to be figured in the standpoint that if the hitch is designed for a ball 3 inches from the end of the reciever, and the canteliever puts the ball, say, 6 inches behind and 6 inches up, then you also have aditional torque from the ball being that much further away from your design point.

Statics and Dynamics............this is a static problem.

First, I want to thank you for your help.

Also, in my case there is no ball on the hitch and the cargo carrier is direcly installed in the hitch. You can see an example of the concept at the following link: http://www.stowaway2.com/product.aspx?id=148&cid=35 (note that it is one of our concurrent).

I clarifie my question with the example of lynlynch. His receiver has a tongue weight capacity of 500#. But this tongue weight is determined for a trailer. In my case, the CG create a torque on the fastener between the hitch and the vehicule frame. How do you determine the tongue weight of the receiver if you have a canteliver? How the torque modifie the hitch capacity?

I checked on DOT but I don't find anything.

Thank you

Hi again,

Don't over complicate this. The load on my receiver/hitch ball with a fully loaded car trailer is more than you can safely carry with a frame mounted hitch carrier. Your carrier won't act like a trailer, it will pull the rear of your vehicle all over the road.(OK, I've never actually hauled one of these things) Not to mention going over curbs and all the extra force that implies.

I don't know the math to prove it, but if the referenced supplier recommends a 200# max weight, you can bet his lawyers have approve this figure.

Vehicle type/size etc also matter.

So, 200#.

I misunderstood your query.

The figures you seek are those of the receiver hitch class which is based also upon the vehicle class.

But you want to mount a gate type hinge feature also, correct?

Hi,

In our case, we won't have a gate type hinge feature. But, I want to find the maximum lenght of the cargo carrier that I can use in respect of the hitch and vehicule tongue weight. Also, I must be able to proof that this lenght is safe (I can use the same dimension than other company but I have no proof that what there are doing is safe).

Why is the generally recognized tongue weight figure not acceptable to you? I would think precedence may have been established upon civil adjudication, no?