Hitch & bike rack

nate said:

I installed a Torklift Central Ecohitch to be used with a Kuat Transfer 3 hitch-mount bike rack. Seems to work great!

The Ecohitch instructions were quite good. It seems to be a very solid hitch. It folds up for storage, and folds down at an angle to allow the hatch to open.

Let me know if you have any questions!

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I was looking at the Transfer 3 website and Küat says clearly, "the Transfer 3 cannot be used on Class 1 hitches". eTrailer also says the Transfer 3 is compatible with Class 2-3, but not Class 1.

I assume this is because of the weight of the rack (20lbs more than Transfer 2), the extra bike, and the leverage of having a third bike farther from the car/hitch.

How has it been working for you, since you've had it longer? Worried about bending or breaking anything?

psyflyjohn said:

I also had a Curt hitch installed. There were warnings about not having more than two bikes in a carrier for the hitch. Even with two hybrid bikes, I wouldn't dare carry more. When I hit the bumps, there is tremendous pressure on the hitch from the up/down motion.
With more than three bikes, you may end up with bikes on the road, causing a lot of grief. I don't think there is a lot of strength where the hitch carrier is attached to the body. Good luck!

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This is exactly my worry. The OP had a different hitch (Torklift) and a picture holding three bikes on rack.

The Curt seems to have the least support of the three hitches I know about (Curt, Torklift, and Draw-Tite). I believe I read that some of the first Curt only were rated for 100lbs, instead of the more standard 200lbs rating for Class 1.

Does the OP have more time/experience hauling three bikes?

Can anyone comment on the quality/strength of the different hitches?

TIA