Cargo Carrier Help Requested

[connor77]

I need a solution for a recently purchased Truma C73 cooler that is too tall to fit in the bed of my truck with my Diamondback tonneau cover in place.  I'd prefer to not put the cooler in the back seat of my truck if possible.

My thoughts....I'm probably going to remove the small receiver and mount a 2" steel receiver as others have done on the back of the Oliver.  I have researched a cargo carrier made by Pakmule and I'd like to know if anyone has any first hand experience with this company or their products?  I'd like a carrier that is an appropriate width so as to not obscure my lights.  I also want something that is aluminum.  I do not need a carrier that goes across the entire width of my trailer.  The benefit of the Pakmule product is that I can add bikes to it pretty easily if we don't plan to bring our cooler.  I'm aware I'll need to lock the cooler down to the cargo carrier / Oliver to reduce the chance of theft.

Does anyone travel with a cooler on the back of their Oliver?  Any other cargo carrier ideas aside from Pakmule? 

[John E Davies]

I think it is a bad idea for several reasons.

A cargo tray and your cooler will be over 100 pounds empty.  Adding a bunch of food will bring it way higher, that is a huge cooler. The factory bike rack is rated at 150 pounds cargo weight, I think. 

The rear of an Ollie is dusty, wet and mucky, not a place for your expensive compressor to be operating while towing in inclement weather or on dirt roads.

The up and down motion will be severe, your food will be damaged and rearranged, eggs broken.

The theft risk is incredibly high!

Sun will beat on it and make it work extra hard. You can put an insulating blanket over it, that helps with heat gain but they are pricy. An ARB one is $400.

1Up makes a very nice tray, but it is about 50 pounds. Their “add on” tray for their bike racks is too small for your cooler.

https://www.1up-usa.com/product/48in-hitch-mounted-cargo-carrier/

Inside your truck cab is the very best place, is there a reason you can’t strap it down there? It would be secure, cool, dry and clean. Plug it into your round power socket. 

Here are pics of a birch dog platform I built for my 2006 Ram 3500. Two 40 pound doodles up top, lockable gear storage under the right side, cooler area on the left. A soft “pantry” cooler on top of that with soft stuff. In direct sun I would put a sun shield over that window . 

John Davies

Spokane WA

[John E Davies]

You have a Ford, there are solutions out there that don’t require carpentry skills. BTW Baltic Birch 15 mm plywood is now $6 per sq ft!

https://www.truckoffice.com/products/cargocrew/

John Davies

Spokane WA

[Hokieman]

18 hours ago, connor77 said:

I need a solution for a recently purchased Truma C73 cooler that is too tall to fit in the bed of my truck with my Diamondback tonneau cover in place.

Agree with JD on not carrying that on back of trailer, for all the reasons he lays out.  If you don’t want it inside the truck cab,  annother option  is to sell the Truma C73 and buy a smaller one that will fit.   I have a 2020 F250 with a Diamondback cover.  I carry a Dometic CFX 50 cooler in the bed, it fits easily under the cover.   I have a Dometic PB40 lithium battery plugged into a DC power outlet that is wired  to the truck battery. It gives me about a day of fridge power when truck is parked, but does not draw on the TV battery when engine isn’t running.  I also have an DC input so I can connect it to a portable solar panel, or to the Zamp side port of the trailer if desired.   I usually don’t need it, as we find ourself running errands or exploring, so the fridge battery re-charges as we drive  The way we use our portable fridge is as a-freezer only, as our Norcold freezer is small.  Usually that small freezer has ice trays and maybe some ice cream in it.   We find the other Norcold food compartment large enough for the 2 of us, re-supplying on the road as needed. 

[John E Davies]

29 minutes ago, Hokieman said:

 so the fridge battery re-charges as we drive  

This is important. You really don’t want your fridge to be constantly drawing down your Ollie batteries when parked. 40 to  60 amp hours daily, on average for my ARB 50 quart Classic.

John Davies

Spokane  WA

[AlbertNTerri]

1 hour ago, John E Davies said:

I think it is a bad idea for several reasons.

A cargo tray and your cooler will be over 100 pounds empty.  Adding a bunch of food will bring it way higher, that is a huge cooler. The factory bike rack is rated at 150 pounds cargo weight, I think. 

The rear of an Ollie is dusty, wet and mucky, not a place for your expensive compressor to be operating while towing in inclement weather or on dirt roads.

The up and down motion will be severe, your food will be damaged and rearranged, eggs broken.

The theft risk is incredibly high!

Sun will beat on it and make it work extra hard. You can put an insulating blanket over it, that helps with heat gain but they are pricy. An ARB one is $400.

1Up makes a very nice tray, but it is about 50 pounds. Their “add on” tray for their bike racks is too small for your cooler.

https://www.1up-usa.com/product/48in-hitch-mounted-cargo-carrier/

Inside your truck cab is the very best place, is there a reason you can’t strap it down there? It would be secure, cool, dry and clean. Plug it into your round power socket. 

Here are pics of a birch dog platform I built for my 2006 Ram 3500. Two 40 pound doodles up top, lockable gear storage under the right side, cooler area on the left. A soft “pantry” cooler on top of that with soft stuff. In direct sun I would put a sun shield over that window . 

John Davies

Spokane WA

Great storage solution for the back seat of truck for gear and dogs!! I've been planning on a flip-up deck for the back seat of our F 250 and after seeing your setup it's going to be my next project. 

(Way cute dogs too)

thanks John!!

[connor77]

Thanks for the advice.

I can put it in the back seat of my truck - I would just prefer not to because of other "stuff" we usually keep there.  Truma makes a nice cover for it and that would protect it from most of the elements and also keep it cooler.  I believe it's an insulated cover.  Not cheap - around $180.  I also thought that it might need to sit on a better platform than what could be supported by a 2" receiver.  For clarity, I don't plan to leave it on the back of the trailer all the time.  Would go in the garage when we're done camping.  The appeal to having it on the back of the trailer is accessibility but I'm obviously not interested in destroying it.  I would line the Pakmule with something to soften the roads bumps.

In hindsight, I should have measured the height from my truck bed to the bottom of the tonneau cover.  I honestly didn't think I'd have a problem fitting it in there...but it doesn't.  It is a large cooler. 

If anyone's interested in a brand new C73 from Truma PM me 🙂

 

[John E Davies]

7 hours ago, AlbertNTerri said:

Great storage solution for the back seat of truck for gear and dogs!! I've been planning on a flip-up deck for the back seat of our F 250 and after seeing your setup it's going to be my next project. 

Thanks. The net is from Raingler. I love them, there are two in my LC200. I am a firm believer in restraining flying cargo or animals in the event of a collision. I had a net and a welded steel Milford Cargo Barrier from Oz in my old LX450. Here is the Raingler Super Duty net:

https://raingler.com/collections/ford-f250-f350-vwr-heavy-duty-cargo-nets

Your do most definitely need door and front seat drool guards from Amazon. Older or injured dogs need assistance getting in, steps or a ramp work OK.

John Davies

Spokane WA