If you live near Tempe , Arizona U-Haul research facility has offered to build FOR FREE a trailer hitch for the Lexus CT 200h. Only catch is you have to give up your car for 2-3 days.
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Typically the tongue weight on a class I hitch should be 1/10 of maximum towing for class I which is 2,000 pounds. The gravity weight on a class I hitch should not exceed 200 lbs. You will be completely okay with your bikes; However rewarding yourself with a new sub 20 lbs. bike would be awesome
.As far as a CT not recommending towing, as with everything you can take that with a grain of salt. The maximum load recommended for the CT is 825 Lbs. (see page 650 of your owner's manual) this includes the weight of all passengers plus any cargo.
So you if your weight plus the weight of the hitch and the bikes and any other passengers and luggage is less than 825 lbs., you are good to go.
There are going to be owners who load the car with 4 people and cargo that will exceed the 825 lbs. without a hitch or bike rack.
Kalo925,Interesting...
However.. One can self-install this Curt hitch, self-remove it and restore to like original...
Could you please explain "moment arm load" on the undercarriage/structure, and why it is detrimental? (as related to the 200 lb limit of the hitch)
Also.. I can't comment on pulling a trailer, because that could be such a variable... but do you think 200 lbs on the back of the CT (as a hitch, rack and bikes) causes any more stress on the engine than if that weight was in the rear seat or rear storage area? Assuming one does not overload the rest of the CT...
Would love to hear your comments.
Thanks.. R
A bike rack does not put signifcant stress on the carriage and frame. Neither does a light utility trailer. I have a light wieght boat I can move it by habd and the tongue wight is probably only about 30-40 lbs.
Momment arm load is a physics term and albeit it was used somewhat out of context , but here is a simple explanation.
If you have a lever 10 feet long and you move it 1 foot with 10 lbs force then the momment arm torque is 100 ft-lbs. The fulcrum point only moves slightly when you move the end of the lever a foot. This is simliar too and why a socket wrench allows you to tighten nuts far tighter than by hand. Obviously the force at the fulcrum is much greater than the force you extert at the end point. So 200 lbs save four fout out on a Curtis hitch could potentailly exert 800 ft-lbs toque on the carriage frame which is rate at 825 lbs of human/cargo weight limit.
I would not worry about 200 lbs of bicycle weight ( even though that sounds a tad heavy), nor would I worry about pulling a light utility trailer.
However, if you are going to push the limits of a class I hitch ( tongue weight 200 lbs, load weight 2,000 lbs) then maybe the CT is not the right car for you.
One other subtle point, the CT has MG2 which can act like a motor or genrator. In motor mode , it can provide 153 ft-lbs of nearly instant torque, which actuall puts a CT owner in better postion than most 4-cylinder gas engine only owners.
No offense, but it is obvious you are not an engineer.
I had a friend like you and he switched to business and actually did very well; had his own company. 1 - 4 of 80 Posts
