posted over on swedespeed, however, not much action. figured i would ask here also.
is anybody doing this with a class III hitch? i figure the combined weight of the bike and carrier is ~275 lbs. the weight will be carried about 2' behind the receiver. it makes for quite a moment on the hitch. i figure i could use straps from the carrier to the load bars to carry some of the load.
Look in you user manual and see what the suggested tongue weight is. Personally, I would not want that much weight hanging off the rear of my Volvo. Also I would be uncertain about using the load bars as you describe.
Not a chance in a million years. Even with a good pickup truck that's a lot of weight carried too high and far back.
Your max tongue weight is 165 lbs (5% of the towing limit of 3300).