Recommended Trailer Hitch And Motorcycle Carrier For 2008 Ford Escape With V6 Engine

Question:

My girlfriend is in the navy and we recently moved to northeast new york. I still live in KY and have to take both her vehicle and my DRZ which weighs about 275. The gfs ford escape is the XLT with the V6 and 4wd and has a 1-1/4inch hitch, which is factory mounted on the rear, but we both have liggtweight dual sport bikes and she wants a carrier for the back anyway. So i need a 2 inch hitch that either adapts to or replaces the standard, and a carrier that will hold one bike without exceeding the tongue weight. Appreciate the help. Thank you for your time.

asked by: Tony

Expert Reply:

Per the owner's manual for your 2008 Escape, the tongue weight capacity is 350-lbs for a V6 3.0L engine. Any of the other engines in a Ford Escape are limited to 150-lbs.

The motorcycle carriers we offer are all designed for 2-inch trailer hitch receivers. We do not have a 1-1/4 motorcycle carrier available. Using any adapter on the 1-1/4 trailer hitch you have would reduce the capacity of the hitch by 50-percent.

My recommendation is to have the older hitch removed and replaced with a Class lll hitch like part # 75751. This is a Class llll hitch and it has a 2-inch receiver.

The motorcycle carrier I recommend is the etrailer Motorcycle Carrier, part # e98873. This carrier weighs about 58-lbs so that added to the weight of the bike at 275-lbs will be under the 350-lb capacity

expert reply by: Jeffrey L