Cargo Carrier

[mdoc]

Does anyone have a swingaway cargo carrier that has worked well for them, particularly in cold climates? We have a Rola, and while the hitch mechanism works quite well, the box itself does not. The box has warped, the rivets (another issue) that held the lid on have popped and the little clip locks are worthless. We think the warping (which seem to have caused the other problems) is weather related, as it mostly occurs when the temperatures drop well below freezing. Might this be a design flaw of this particular product, or have people had problems with other plastic hitch boxes in cold weather? We're trying to decide whether to build our own box to use with the hitch mechanism or to try a different manufacturer, so I want to determine if this is a universal cold weather problem or unique to this company.

[Davydd]

Check the want ads here. I have a cargo carrier for sale. It is a Let'sGoAero 20 cubic footer and it doesn't swing away. It slides back so you can open the back doors. It is also bigger than you can get from Rola.

[rjf7g]

I had a friend custom make a front receiver and I just use a hitch hauler there.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by mdoc

... We're trying to decide whether to build our own box to use with the hitch mechanism or to try a different manufacturer....

My husband and I conducted research on this issue on and off over the span of two years. There is literally no other Class B issue into which we poured as much effort of evaluation. We concluded that there are no products on the market that could even remotely meet our needs. We ended up biting the bullet - we decided to design and weld our own solution and I'm 110% glad we did. It was a boat-load of work, but totally worth it. Exceeded my expectations.

This series of blog posts explains the outcome of our investigative and fabrication processes, although some of our reasons for rejecting existing market options are not explained in detail there, because to do so would have been exhausting. If you have questions about specific other products on the market, you could raise them here in this thread, and I could tell you what I learned about them during our research phase.

[mlts22]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

My husband and I conducted research on this issue on and off over the span of two years. There is literally no other Class B issue into which we poured as much effort of evaluation. We concluded that there are no products on the market that could even remotely meet our needs. We ended up biting the bullet - we decided to design and weld our own solution and I'm 110% glad we did. It was a boat-load of work, but totally worth it. Exceeded my expectations.

This series of blog posts explains the outcome of our investigative and fabrication processes, although some of our reasons for rejecting existing market options are not explained in detail there, because to do so would have been exhausting. If you have questions about specific other products on the market, you could raise them here in this thread, and I could tell you what I learned about them during our research phase.

Have you thought of making those for sale? People with Travatos would buy those in droves.

Another idea I've been tossing around is to get a front cargo hitch receiver. That way, assuming radiator airflow isn't affected, that would provide some more space to store things.

[InterBlog]

I think a lot of Class B owners would buy them, considering the junk that's on the market. And I can think of ways to make them more adjustable so that they could be made to accommodate a variety of cargoes, not just one particular Yeti cooler that we happen to have. All That without sacrificing security.

The issue, though, is how one divides one's time. I have been running my own small business for a decade now (it's unrelated to Class Bs). When I look at what I make with this existing business vs. what I would make from designing and fabricating hitch carriers and doing other custom Class B mods, the math is not compelling. Not right now, anyway - maybe as a semi-retirement gig.