I'm thinking about getting one of these:


Does anyone have one?

It says it's rated to 500lbs.

Any comments on it?

Does anyone know what the law is about your license plate being obscured by gear on this?

Would I need to mount my license plate somewhere else?

Very good questions, I too would like to know.


ByteTheBullet  (-:

No, but I want want of these.....

That is some funny shit right there!


ByteTheBullet  (-:

That would work just as well without the bucket.

Quoted: That would work just as well without the bucket.

Yeah, screw the bucket! Who the fuck is 'gonna clean that up?

HS1

Quoted: No, but I want want of these..... www.bumperdumper.com/art/Bdiia.jpg

Needs grab rails. No WAY am I bustin' a loaf on that bad boy on I-70 without some grab rails!

Never seen that one. Got one for about 60 bucks at sams online. I really don't think it will hold 500 pounds. The one we had problably got loaded with around 300. Bent to a 45 degree angle down after we passed over a rail road track. Gave it a good bounce, at maybe 15 mph and it died. It didn't look as solid as that one. May just be getting what you paid for. The wife doesn't like to haul sand and dirt in her suv, so that was what it was for.

I built one for my Dad a few years ago basically copying that design.

It's stout as hell but I, uh, tend to "over-engineer" things

Mine is a Hitch-Haul, and it comes in handy at times.  The only drawback is if you gotta go over rough country, it can tend to bottom out on you.

thats the exact one i bought three weeks ago ,took it to obx worked great it held aprox 200lbs of coolers and luggage. nice hitch rack though

I have a similar one, but the hitch angles up several inches for better clearance.

Works great.

I built one myself and put a large gang box on it. Total weight with it full was probably 500 or so lbs. I used it on my 2000 Expedition and it drove like the front wheels were  bearly touching!  I wouldn't recommend hauling that much weight in that manner.  I have yet to see a store bought one that  would hold that much anyway.
CJ

I've considered building one for my parent's van.....It'd mostly get used for hauling firewood on camping trips and such, so I don't think I'd need to worry about it holding 500lbs -- 200lbs would be more than they'd want to deal with anyway.

I have one I use periodically. They are really handy. They hold a cooler easily. I normally use it for paintball gear when me and the twins go paintballing. Never had an LEO say anything about the caddy obscuring the plate.

Quoted: I built one for my Dad a few years ago basically copying that design. It's stout as hell but I, uh, tend to "over-engineer" things

I built one too. Uses 2" sq. tubing on bottom and has a trailer hitch at back.
I've hauled it 1000s of miles and it works great.

It's great for gas cans going to the lake, and holds a large rubbermaid box for dry storage on the way to the deer lease.

If you get one get it strong, but you will love it.

I built one for my truck, but I also made the front and rear rails removeable, I can make it tilt so that it becomes a ramp for quads, bikes or whatnot.


It works well enough, but i have not ever put more than 400 pounds in mine, it has however survived crossing railway tracks at over 70MPH and getting drug when driving through a field (low spot )


Make sure your hitch receiver is secured properly

Quoted: Quoted: No, but I want want of these..... www.bumperdumper.com/art/Bdiia.jpg Needs grab rails. No WAY am I bustin' a loaf on that bad boy on I-70 without some grab rails!

Whadda 'bout a magazine rack, and, and, and a tray for my laptop computer, you know, epinching...

Any problems legal-wise with the box/gear covering the plate?

One of my ex's had one on the family Expedition for trips (4 18-25 girls, yeah, they're gonna bring a lot of crap).  They only got pulled over once with it, cop let them off immediately once she realized why she couldnt see the plate, but one time they forgot to give the thing a yank after inserting the pin, turns out they hadnt inserted it far enough so it fell off in the middle of I95, they ended up having to replace all the bolts and repaint it.

Kharn

I have one of the Hitch-Haul's that Cabela's sells. I use mine every week to haul stinky trashbags on the back of my Jeep Cherokee to the compactor. I can honestly say that I hauled a two large whitetail bucks and doe on mine, all at the same time.

I got the $30 sale version at Harbor Freight, replaced the bolts and nuts wih Home Despot nut's, bolts, LOCKWASHERS, and loctite'd them  I use it for hauling Target stands and the like big. bulky and relatively light things that I don't want to tear down to fit in the back of the truck.  I also tie the top of the load down to points on the truck bed to prevent twisting and bouncing.

Will it or similar ones carry 500 lbs? probably.  (Although if I was to put 500 in ona regular basis I would weld some additiona gussets on and reinforce the connections at the tube.  That looks like you could easily torque it and twist it off)  Could most trucks handle a 500 lb tongue load? No problems.  Could it really mess up your handling?  OOOHHH YEAAAH

The rear end on my truck is prone to break loose on some turns anyway when empty, I'm sure a 500 pound load back there would really tend to pull it out on turns.

If  you have really loaded up your truck to the point you need  more carrying capacity, you better check on your gross vehicle weight.  BTW I broke a leaf on one of my 3/4 ton truck springs when I got close to the gvwr, the GM/Chevy design in 88-90 had spacers in the wrong places.  I went over a rr crossing and the bouncing did it.  

Quoted: I built one myself and put a large gang box on it. Total weight with it full was probably 500 or so lbs. I used it on my 2000 Expedition and it drove like the front wheels were  bearly touching!  I wouldn't recommend hauling that much weight in that manner.  I have yet to see a store bought one that  would hold that much anyway. CJ

I routinely haul (12) 40 lb bags of dirt.    No issues.