Hydraulic Bike Lift

[meandmyprs]

Has anyone added or had any experience with the a Hydraulic lift on the back of their bus to carry a Harley (or whatever) and then tow a car as well. Blue Ox makes one and there are a couple of other brands out there. I want to take my Harley and Car without connecting a house (stacker) to the back.

Brent

[Joe Cannarozzi]

By any chance are you planning on pulling a full size P-U.

The reason I ask is it has been the general consensus that the bike lifts are bad because of the tremendous amount of tongue weight created and is even worse for a 45 than a 40ftr.

If a P-U is an option their are bike lifts for the bed on it.

[garyde]

Hi Brent. There are several previous threads on this exact issue. The consensus has been , to have a 20 ton tow rating and not to exceed rated tongue weight rating.

[Joe Cannarozzi]

Gary you are correct I too remember so I went looking for some good threads and guess what. Couldn't find nothing in either the Biker or Toad categories accept for 1 thread that was so loaded with thread creep it does not deserve a mention

[Jon Wehrenberg]

The issue with adding a hydraulic bike lift when previously discussed was that the ones available cantilever off the engine cradle or the existing hitch. The standard hitch has a 1000 pound tongue rating and 10,000 pound towing limit. You are unlikely to exceed the towing weight limit, but it is probable the 1000 pound tongue weight limit will be greatly exceeded because instead of being 6" or so from the rear bumper, the CG of the bike and lift is probably going to be much further out giving substantial leverage. Hanging a heavy bike and its lift depending on total added weight and distance from the rear bumper is likley to be far in excess of what the rear structure was designed to handle.

There are some coaches that show evidence that at one time the weight limits on the rear tongue have been exceeded. The rear cap on the coach typically has stress cracks at the attach points and horizontally across the rear of the cap.

Peter has fashioned a carrier for his Smart car, but his design transfers the loads in such a way that he puts the vertical loads in an area capable of handling those loads and it is likely most of the loads on the engine cradle are horizontal.

[truk4u]

While at Prevost Nashville last month, there was a guy having an overbuilt lift installed on his 45'. In talking to the Tech, I told him I thought it was a bad idea and he agreed, but said they do whatever the customer wants. The lift weighed 225 lbs. and the owner was going to put an Electra Glide Classic on it and they weigh about 750 lbs. I guess his thinking was it didn't exceed the 1,000 lb hitch tongue weight, but no consideration as Jon pointed out to the CG.