[lurker]

I'm attaching a wind-load relief strap for a hitch-mounted trike carrier, and was wondering where the best hard point is for attaching the strap. The hitch has a 200-lb tongue-weight limit (per the towing limits in the Smart manual), the hitch weighs 24 lb, and the trike weighs about 40 lb; the carrier manufacturer recommends staying below 50% of the official tongue weight, so I think I need to use the wind-load relief strap to avoid exceeding that limit while driving.

 

[DreamCarOwner]

The Curt hitch for a Fortwo is listed as a class 1 hitch. Class one has a maximum rating for 2,000 total trailer weight and 200 lbs weight on the hitch. I went to Harbor Freight last summer and bought their 500 lbs capacity cargo hauling basket. Since the basket has the 2"x 2" square receiver and the Curt hitch only comes as a 1.25" by 1.25" I had to buy the adaptor to make it fit. That moves the carrier even farther out from the centerline of the hitch which probably drops the carrying capacity down to around 100 lbs. The carrier is a little wobbly with a push mower on it and I find that installing the tow hook into one of the tow hook receptacles in the back bumper gives me a solid thing to run a strap from to stabilize the load. When I haul something a little taller I have on occasion left the rear window up and ran a strap from the load to a "D" hook that is under the carpet between the rear of the passenger seat and the engine cover. I regularly tow a cargo trailer with a total weight of around 1600 lbs and close to 200 lbs tongue weight with no problems, so the weight of your trike on the hitch should be more than fine even including wind resistance load. On paper the Fortwo isn't rated to tow or carry anything (even though Curt makes a fine hitch for it). I use a bicycle carrier, the cargo basket, and have 3 different trailers I use pretty regularly and so far all has been well. DCO

 

[lurker]

Thanks!

...tow hook receptacles in the back bumper ... a "D" hook that is under the carpet between the rear of the passenger seat and the engine cover. ... I use a bicycle carrier, the cargo basket, and have 3 different trailers I use pretty regularly and so far all has been well. DCO

Thank you for the information and reassurance. For additional reassurance, my 2008-vintage instruction manual does say towing is permitted . I have the Curt hitch and an Alpaca carrier (alpacacarriers.com). Alpaca sells a heavy-duty u-bolt assembly to stabilize the carrier in the hitch, and I've seen some references on the forum to the thread size for the tow hook receptacles.