This topic seems pretty benign but I thought I'd mention a safety issue that we experienced couple of weeks back.
We were heading up to Silverton, CO and packed up the vehicle, on top and on the rear! Seems to be a trend when you have a kid and dogs and need precious room inside the vehicle. The hitch cargo carrier had three plastic totes containing camping gear and a pack N Play. A tarp was used as rain protection and everything was ratchet strapped.
As you know, the OEM tailpipe on a 80 points rearward.
Well, the hot exhaust wasn't an issue when we were heading North when the prevailing cross wind was blowing the exhaust away from the plastic totes. Unfortunately, during the return trip, the super heated exhaust ended up cooking the plastic totes and the contents.
There were two propane bottles inside this particular tote and the super heated bottles got over pressurized and thankfully, released pressure through the relief valve.
I'd hate to think what could've happened if the relief valves didn't do their job, kudos to Coleman 
The bottles were hot and hissing so we tossed them on the ground away from the vehicle until they cooled down.
We resituated the load on the hitch carrier but there wasn't much that can be done in a small space and we had all plastic totes. We wrapped the load with the tarp and made it the sacrificial fire wall. We stopped few more times to let things cool down and I vowed to acquire a trailer for any more out of town trips with the family.
Picture of the plastic tote melted to the carrier:
Anyway, just a warning to others to keep an eye on your cargo and on the cross wind! An easy fix could be to simply purchase a short, flexible exhaust tubing and re-route the hot exhaust under the cargo carrier. You wouldn't need a super air tight connection but simply an easier way to route the exhaust completely under the carrier.
Cheers.
We were heading up to Silverton, CO and packed up the vehicle, on top and on the rear! Seems to be a trend when you have a kid and dogs and need precious room inside the vehicle. The hitch cargo carrier had three plastic totes containing camping gear and a pack N Play. A tarp was used as rain protection and everything was ratchet strapped.
As you know, the OEM tailpipe on a 80 points rearward.
Well, the hot exhaust wasn't an issue when we were heading North when the prevailing cross wind was blowing the exhaust away from the plastic totes. Unfortunately, during the return trip, the super heated exhaust ended up cooking the plastic totes and the contents.
There were two propane bottles inside this particular tote and the super heated bottles got over pressurized and thankfully, released pressure through the relief valve.
I'd hate to think what could've happened if the relief valves didn't do their job, kudos to Coleman
The bottles were hot and hissing so we tossed them on the ground away from the vehicle until they cooled down.
We resituated the load on the hitch carrier but there wasn't much that can be done in a small space and we had all plastic totes. We wrapped the load with the tarp and made it the sacrificial fire wall. We stopped few more times to let things cool down and I vowed to acquire a trailer for any more out of town trips with the family.
Picture of the plastic tote melted to the carrier:
Anyway, just a warning to others to keep an eye on your cargo and on the cross wind! An easy fix could be to simply purchase a short, flexible exhaust tubing and re-route the hot exhaust under the cargo carrier. You wouldn't need a super air tight connection but simply an easier way to route the exhaust completely under the carrier.
Cheers.
But the idea does have merit, I must admit....as long as as the cross wind is blowing the exhaust into your Hitch-B-Que 
Oh, for an extra well done recipe, maintain 82mph avg with the A/C on for three hours....
