Does anyone know the capacity of the tongue wait of the hitch on 2017 F-150? Is the hitch Class II or III? I am asking because I want to mount a Hitch motorcycle carrier to the truck to haul my 2012 Suzki 650 which weighs 400 lbs. Will the hitch hold the weight? From what I see on the specs is showing 500 lbs tongue weight? This would max it out.

 

Keep in mind a Moto carrier at 500 lbs is gong to load the hitch more than a trailer with 500lbs tongue weight

 

Lay down and look up and you will see the label.

500 pounds including carrier.

 

Class II = 2001-3500 gross trailer weight (up to 350 pounds tongue weight)


Class III = 3501-5,000 gross trailer weight (up to 500 pounds tongue weight)


Class IV = Over 5,000 pounds gross trailer weight (over 500 pounds tongue weight)


So the OEM receiver on a 2017 F-150 is a Class III receiver when towing with a weight-carrying hitch (shank and ball mount), and it is a Class IV receiver when towing with a weight-distributing hitch.


But the "weight class" of a receiver doesn't matter. Go by the weight limits of the receiver. So that means the max weight of any carrier or bike rack plugged into the receiver of your F-150 must not gross more than 500 pounds when loaded for the road. If the shank and carrier of your bike rack weighs more than 100 pounds, then a 400-pound bike will overload the receiver. But a quick check on eTrailer.com shows there are receiver-mounted bike carriers that weigh less than 100 pounds.

 

There are some solutions that would allow you to carry a 400 lb small motorcycle/ dirt bike on a carrier behind your truck. The carrier would weigh around 50 lbs, which would leave you about 50 lbs of capacity remaining.

Even though the weight of the carrier plus the bike might come in under the tongue weight capacity of the hitch, I'd recommend proceeding with caution, as you'd be pretty close to the capacity of the hitch. I'd advise against taking the vehicle off-road and avoid bad pavement while the bike is in place.

For more information, use the link provided below:

https://www.etrailer.com/expert-163.html

 

Also keep in mind that even if you're 50 lbs under the hitch limit, you'll far exceed that with every bump in the road you hit. If I were you I would consider looking for a ramp and hauling it in the bed.

 

Shouldn't the 500 pounds be a working load limit, not a max force-applied limit? Or, in other words, wouldn't a 500-pound tongue load from a trailer potentially be greater over bumps, as well?

With that said, a hitch carrier is also a long protrusion behind the truck, which becomes problematic for parking and makes your departure angle totally suck. I fully understand the benefits (I own a hitch carrier and know how much room a moto takes up in the bed, let alone allowing for a topper, etc), but a 400-pound 650 is pushing what I'd be willing to haul on one.

 

It should be fine. The twisting torque of a WDH is significantly higher than even a cantilevered motorcycle carrier at or about the weight carrying limit of the hitch.

A set of WDH bars can put 1000+ lbs of force into the hitch at 30-36" behind the hitch ball (already outboard of the actual hitch receiver tube), which would indicate that 1000lbs, 36" outboard of the hitch is still within the limits of the hitch, rear suspension sag and front axle lightening notwithstanding.

the 500lb limit of a class 5 hitch, in the case of this truck, is not because of the forces on the hitch itself, but because of the rear axle sag and weight reduction on the front steering axle.

The V-5 test protocol indicates that a class-3 hitch can withstand 7000lbs of downward or upward (vertical tension/vertical compression) force before breaking as well as being able to withstand 4250 foot-lbs (51000 inch-lbs) of rotational torque at the rated weight carrying capacity of 500lbs (page 23 of the linked document):

 

The 500 lb weight limit has nothing to do with strength of the receiver, the limit is the force imposed on the suspension and handling of the truck.