Hitch and Motorcycle Carrier Use on 2006 Honda Odyssey  

Question:

Expert Reply:

Draw-Tite hitch # 75270 is a confirmed fit on your 2006 Honda Odyssey and its 675-lb tongue weight (TW) rating is plenty for the combined weight of your motorcycle and carrier application but as you noted the car itself has a lower rating. There is no way to bolt-on more capacity to this or any other vehicle.

If your combined carrier and bike weight is 320-lbs then you will be just within the vehicle's rating of 350-lbs total tongue weight. Since you will be so close to the maximum, and since the load will extend well to the rear of the vehicle, there are two things I will suggest.

First, I recommend using some kind of support straps to disperse a bit of the total weight and to reduce random motion of the carrier in the hitch. Motion of the carrier in the hitch is what tends to cause issues, not so much the static weight. If the Odyssey has a roof rack or even just front-to-back rails on the roof then either of these can serve as connection points for the other ends of the straps. You can use a pair of straps like # 317-412080, one on each end of the motorcycle carrier.

Second, the other concern is ground clearance. The Odyssey, and the Toyota Sienna, are vans that have a low-slung rear end. Once you apply the near-350-lb load on the hitch, this will further compress the rear suspension and reduce your ground clearance even more. The load extending well to the rear will make steep driveways tough to negotiate. Your van being a few years old also could mean the suspension has softened up. In your application you will benefit from adding some rear axle suspension support. SumoSprings kit # CSS-1168R installs easily inside the van's rear coil springs. The kit will stiffen your rear coils with progressive resistance to help reduce bottoming out and restore ground clearance when under load.

expert reply by: Adam R

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