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Built a rear gargo rack for my XJ today

john_yarbrough

john_yarbrough

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Redlands
I have seen a few rear cargo racks I liked but didnt want to spend $200.00 dollars on one and then I saw Julio's board across the back of his XJ this past Sunday and saw how much more stuff you can carry with a rack. So I stated thinking and came up with this. The basket is an aluminum 500 pound capacity cargo carrier that goes on your hitch to tow behind your vehicle. I measured my cargo area and went hunting online and the size was perfect. I got it at Harbor Freight for $30.00. Then I went to our local steel yard and picked up some 1 1/4"angle and 1" square stock. Picked up some hardware and here it is. Tomorrow its coming back our for a coat of paint and Im going to call it good. Im in it at about 50.00 buck total. Not bad for an afternoons worth of work. Its very sturdy and I can still see out of the back. Four bots and it will come right out if I need to drop the rear seats and gain more space.
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Skwerly said:
WOW, man, that thing is smokin' cool! I have been meaning to make a rack for mine forever now, and I have no excuses. I even bought the steel for it, and have a welder. :D

I love your idea. :)
Click to expand...

The nice thing is that its super light since its all aluminum except for the lower frame portion. I think it would weigh at least 50-60 pounds if it were all steel.
 
is there a reason you put it up that high? That would drive me nuts being able to see it from the rear view mirror, especially with as shiny as it is. Looks good though, I'm not knockin it.
 
Looks like I have another item to add to the list for my next harbor frieght run! How sturdy did it turn out? Thinking about adding a diagonal piece to triangulate the steel frame section when I do mine. As said before, not knocking, just asking. Good job.
 
diesel guy said:
I checked out there website and they are $79.Do you have a model number?Was it on sale?
Click to expand...

I googled cargo carrier and started looking at images. A few pages in I saw this one. I did a screen capture of the Harbor Freight page with it on sale and took it into my local Harbor Freight in San Bernardino. They honor coupons and sale prices everytime I go in even if its not currently listed.
 
GrimmJeeper said:
is there a reason you put it up that high? That would drive me nuts being able to see it from the rear view mirror, especially with as shiny as it is. Looks good though, I'm not knockin it.
Click to expand...

Ant lower and my ice chest would not ift. Its high enough yo put seats down and get almost anything under it and yet I can still get any type of gear on the top portion. I originally had it 2 inches higher and it was much too high so I shortened it and I like where it is now. In the future I am going to make the legs adjustable like on an EZ-UP so I can adjust as needed.

Its also not as shiny as pictures depict. I took pics at night with my flood lights on it and my flash still went off, so its a bit over exaggerated in the photos.
 
Last edited:
soopergoober said:
Looks like I have another item to add to the list for my next harbor frieght run! How sturdy did it turn out? Thinking about adding a diagonal piece to triangulate the steel frame section when I do mine. As said before, not knocking, just asking. Good job.
Click to expand...

Its very sturdy. I ran two gussets on the backside about 10 inches long from the basket to the frame on each side. This made it rigid and I didnt loose any room on the back side. Now I can still put things all of the way through when the seats are down.
 
cool, just wondering if there was a reason it was up that high. my cooler fits right between my shocks, and it ends up being the only thing I can fit back there because of the shock hoop :D gotta take the important stuff tho, can't camp without a full cooler :cheer:
 
That looks great!
 
I have had a few requests for the Harbor Freight add for the cargo carrier that I found online so here you go.
cargo.png
 
Finished painting it this morning and added my mag light holder as well. Here are a few pics.

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