The rear rack on the rancher is rated for 166lbs. I've read that honda underrates the racks. Does anyone know how much weight it can actually take or whats the heaviest thing anyone has carried on their rear rack? And if you did carry too much weight what is likely to fail? The rack itself, the suspension, etc.?

The reason I ask is yesterday my buddy and I were riding and he got his 2x4 rancher stuck in some pretty deep stuff and needed me to pull him out with my 4 by. He needed to ride up to his shop and get a rope (I haven't bought a winch yet) so without thinking about it he hopped on the rear rack and I rode him up to the end of his driveway (before I get flamed I realize that wasn't the safest thing to do, but it was a gravel drive and I never got beyond 2nd gear). He weighs about 215lbs. I was wondering if I could have broken something and just got lucky or if it could handle this weight no problem. This question may seem a bit silly but heck I haven't even made the first payment on it yet :)

Thanks in advance,

My theory is this: Honda is a very conservative company. Even though the racks can probably handle a good deal more weight than what is rated (and remember Honda has used these ratings since the first 4 wheel ATVs were introduced in the mid-80's) Honda is probably concerned about what more weight out over one or both ends might do to affect vehicle handling. Liability affects many manufacturer decisions and the U.S. is ambulance chaser central in that regard. Many automobiles are speed limited in the U.S. , but not as low or at all in other countries, even though the vehicles are identical. Such is the price we pay to live in this country. Not a bad trade in the scheme of things.

good question i to have heard they undre rate ther racks but mine was put to the test,i was working 1 day burning brush and we worked all day and on the way home we had the saw on the front,me my brother and dad on the atv, i was on 1 side of the fender my brother on the other side of the fender and dad driveing im 120,bro is 160 dad is a bit over 200,so thats 480,when i got off the shock looked like it was sagging about 2 inches so i went over and picked the rear end up and the shock was indeed sagging picked it up and then it worked fine when i tested it to see,so u can proably haul 250 easy on the rear proably 100 on the front,by the way u think all that wait would weakin it but we kept on truckin with plenty of spare ponies under the seat.

2001 honda rancher 4x4 ES
lots o mods

I hauled 6 50 lb sacks of deer corn plus a ladder with my rancher about 1/2 mile to my feeder, but it was pretty hairy. The rear shock was totally compressed, but it bounced back fine after unloading.

up elk hunting all of us ( 8 persons ) filled our tags. in a weeks time. we had a 99' Kodiak and a 00' Rancher 4x4 es up there and they did great. we loaded 2 guted elk on each machine at a time as we usally dropped 3 elk at once when we come across a herd. the rancher had a 1,100 pound 6 point (12 both sides) bull on the rear rack and a 600lb cow on the front rack at the same time and my 200lb friend rode them both out the 2 miles with no trouble in first gear on the steep stuff and 3rd on the logging road. The kodiak also held elk of the same weight with even less trouble as its more of a ult machine.. no rack bent or broke either. My friend also uses his rancher to back his 6,500LB tripple level 30' boat in his shop too, so you wont hurt one:)