I had to take my cruiser on the road this past weekend for the 1st time. 300 miles round trip. Some of the smoothest highway miles I have ever driven... and I have done a lot of highway driving. The biggest problem with this thing is ... it is so smooth that if you are tired it can almost lull you to sleep. It will seriously make you consider pulling over and taking a nap.
So... while hunting around to find a store to find kitty litter for our cat that we snuck into a hotel... I see Harbor Freight. Normally I wouldnt go near the place... but I was bored.
I browse and I find the hitches and hitch receiver accessories. My cruiser came with the receiver, that was one of my requirements and I am seriously considering adding a front mounted receiver as well.
I have wanted a hitch mounted cargo carrier from the begining, I work out of my truck and wanted a way to carry stuff that was to dirty to stick in the truck.
HF is having a pretty decent sale so 1st I got a 3 ball hitch thingy and a tongue that will take a 2'' hitch ball but also has a welded ring so that you can tie a rope to it.
I left the store... went back to the hotel. Got bothered and went back and bought a hitch mounted step. Figured I could use the step and that if any one hit me in the back it would help save the back bumper.
Left and went back to hotel.
Looked up reviews on haul master on line and saw that sometimes they manufacturing tolerances can be off and the fit can be kinda sloppy.
The hitch step has a little play in it...maybe 1/4 inch so I took it back... they one had one more so I exchanged them. New one has same play.
So then I go back in the store and get cargo carrier... finally and a 2 tier hitch receiver. In other words it extends the trucks receiver 8'' outwards and adds a 2nd receiver about 8'' above the 1st.
If any of this stuff fails... except the pieces that actually have the balls... it was cheap. The 2 peices that actually have balls or accept a ball are darn tight. You almost need to grease them to get them in.
I will probably get the 1800 lb trailer next month.
As an aside. I also got a 9x12 painters drop cloth. I folded it in half length wise and placed it in the back of the truck with the back seats up. I got 4 bungee cords and hooked them to the tie down points over the drop cloth. I put the cloth in so that it extends out over the lower door when it is down and then goes up and over the seats in the front. When I am loading or un loading with the lower door closed I pull the drop cloth up and over the door to prevent stuff from dinging the door. At night I pull the excess drop cloth from the front back to cover all the goodies in the back. So if you look in the back truck all you see is the relatively flat surface of the drop cloth and not all the goodies underneath. The truck is still going to get a viper alarm soon
So... while hunting around to find a store to find kitty litter for our cat that we snuck into a hotel... I see Harbor Freight. Normally I wouldnt go near the place... but I was bored.
I browse and I find the hitches and hitch receiver accessories. My cruiser came with the receiver, that was one of my requirements and I am seriously considering adding a front mounted receiver as well.
I have wanted a hitch mounted cargo carrier from the begining, I work out of my truck and wanted a way to carry stuff that was to dirty to stick in the truck.
HF is having a pretty decent sale so 1st I got a 3 ball hitch thingy and a tongue that will take a 2'' hitch ball but also has a welded ring so that you can tie a rope to it.
I left the store... went back to the hotel. Got bothered and went back and bought a hitch mounted step. Figured I could use the step and that if any one hit me in the back it would help save the back bumper.
Left and went back to hotel.
Looked up reviews on haul master on line and saw that sometimes they manufacturing tolerances can be off and the fit can be kinda sloppy.
The hitch step has a little play in it...maybe 1/4 inch so I took it back... they one had one more so I exchanged them. New one has same play.
So then I go back in the store and get cargo carrier... finally and a 2 tier hitch receiver. In other words it extends the trucks receiver 8'' outwards and adds a 2nd receiver about 8'' above the 1st.
If any of this stuff fails... except the pieces that actually have the balls... it was cheap. The 2 peices that actually have balls or accept a ball are darn tight. You almost need to grease them to get them in.
I will probably get the 1800 lb trailer next month.
As an aside. I also got a 9x12 painters drop cloth. I folded it in half length wise and placed it in the back of the truck with the back seats up. I got 4 bungee cords and hooked them to the tie down points over the drop cloth. I put the cloth in so that it extends out over the lower door when it is down and then goes up and over the seats in the front. When I am loading or un loading with the lower door closed I pull the drop cloth up and over the door to prevent stuff from dinging the door. At night I pull the excess drop cloth from the front back to cover all the goodies in the back. So if you look in the back truck all you see is the relatively flat surface of the drop cloth and not all the goodies underneath. The truck is still going to get a viper alarm soon