Towing heavy load lifts the front (how can I compensate?)

bamegg

bamegg

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Aug 20, 2020
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Location
Cleveland
Hello everyone,

i am totally new at this forum and also not much experienced with Jeeps and I am not even native English (sorry). I couldn't find relevant thread, sorry if i missed.

My wife and I have a 2012, 2 doors JK. I bought a motorcycle hitch towing mechanism that lifts the front wheel of the motorbike and let it run on it's own rear wheel. We drove down from Cleveland to Atlanta with one break and apparently it worked out fine.

I am still a little concerned because the front of the Jeep was pretty elevated.

The motorbike (Honda CB350) only weight about 350 lb, and only about half of it is held by the Jeep, right? I removed the rear seat (minus 70-80 lb?), packed the car with stuff for two person, let's say max about 200 lb, added a hitch receiver with a length extension because of the spare tire (maybe 15 lb together) and the towing mechanism maybe about 30 lb. All this because the length is far back behind and the motorcycle is pushing down the car also far back, behind all, not really balanced, right? In addition we have two bicycles on a spare tyre rack that ads maybe about 80 lb all together.

I don't know that is the maximum load on what point behind the car. All we added is maybe about 600-700 lb, but behind the car, not inside. This could easily do more than 1000 lb like that, right? Any exact specification for maximum vertical load on a hitch? Is there anything i should modify? Lift the rear suspension? How? What do I need to adjust? Any suggestion in Atlanta? I have no tools to modify. Recommended mechanic around Atlanta?

Thanks for reading and thanks for any suggestion, recommendation, help.
Cheers.

IMG_20200801_154248.jpg
 
That's pretty common for a short wheel base with alot of weight on the rear. I'd suggest maybe air lift bags for the rear.
 
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Great pic of Marilyn Monroe! Ha.
Too late, but I’d go with a small trailer in the future, I would‘my want those miles turned on my bike.

In your current situation, heavy duty springs, but that may not be an option. You can call around and see if you can get Air Bag assists. They go in the coil, you air them up, they can take up to 1,000 LBS additional, would help your current springs.

Many you can install without tools, fold squeeze in and a Air up with a compressor
 
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I have air bags on my heavy haulers and you just air them up when needed and then deflate down to 5 psi when not needed. I just use a cheap 12v air compressor connected to the bags with a gauge in the line and a check valve to prevent the air from going back out into the compressor. There are cheaper options if your crafty.
 
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bamegg said:
My wife and I have a 2012, 2 doors JK. I bought a motorcycle hitch towing mechanism that lifts the front wheel of the motorbike and let it run on it's own rear wheel. We drove down from Cleveland to Atlanta with one break and apparently it worked out fine.
Click to expand...

Any luck on this?
 
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