24x60 etrailer Reese Cargo Carrier with Enclosed Cage for 2" Hitches - Steel - 440 lbs

Video Transcript for A Closer Look at the etrailer Reese 24x60 Cargo Carrier with Enclosed Cage for 2" Hitches

Hi everyone. Aiden here with etrailer. If you're looking for a way to carry a lot of stuff with you, whether it be a road trip with your family or a camping trip, but you wanna keep that stuff enclosed and secure, then this kit with the Reese cargo carrier and the etrailer enclosed cage could be a good option for you. Let's check it out. So that's gonna be a pretty full and complete kit, all built on the Reese cargo carrier you see here, it's gonna require a two inch hitch receiver on your vehicle, and it's going to be kitted with our etrailer cage here that attaches and clamps around that cargo carrier to give you this enclosed space. Now, if you already own a cargo carrier, that's 24 by 60 inches wide, those are the inner dimensions.

Then you could just get the cage on its own, and attach it to whatever carrier you have already, whether it be from CURT, or maybe you have our etrailer hitch mounted carrier. Regardless of which one you have, it should be able to work if those dimensions line up, or you can just get it out the gate with some of those different brands if you prefer CURT's products to Reese and you've worked with them before, then you can get the CURT carrier kit. I'd personally recommend our etrailer kit, because we design these two products to work very well with one another, and that etrailer carrier will give you a tilting function so you can retain hatch access on most vehicles. Just know that since the cage and the carrier is pretty heavy, you'll probably need an extra set of hands to help you tilt it away. The thing I like about this Reese kit, however, is the fact that it comes with these taillights.

These are designed to pop into some slots that are existing on the Reese cargo carrier. We've just chosen to hit them together with the cage because it's so large, it's likely going to be blocking your taillights on your vehicle. And if you want them to be more visible, so other drivers know when you're switching lanes or hitting your brakes, this is a must have in my opinion. Of course, for the other kits, there are other separate taillight kits, but this Reese one actually comes with it out of the box. So that's a big win in my book.

I'd still recommend maybe picking up a license plate bracket. We do offer that if you wanted to relocate the license plate to an outer edge of the carrier, especially depending on the states you're traveling through. If you're going on a big road trip, chances are you'll run into an area where local laws and regulations state that you have to have your license plate visible. And again, with this being so big, it's probably gonna be blocked. Now the cage does have its own weight and that will take away from the carrier's overall capacity.

What that really breaks down to though, is that you can load 442 pounds of cargo in the cage safely. Now keep in mind that that's just what the carrier can handle, not necessarily your vehicle and your hitch. So be sure to check those two components and just go by the lowest rated one because the last thing you want to do is fully load the carrier to within spec, but be overloading your hitch or your vehicle because then you're gonna run the risk of damaging something while driving down the road and potentially losing your cargo. But why would you want an enclosed carrier of any type Because there's a lot of options out there. And it really comes down to security, in my opinion, because you don't have to worry so much about strapping your cargo down super particularly, especially if you have it packed pretty full like we do here. You know, things really aren't gonna be going anywhere. So if I don't strap it down perfectly or I maybe skip the straps, then it's probably gonna be fine. I'd still watch out for maybe some sensitive items like a generator if we don't want it to tip over. Or smaller items like these lawn chairs that could potentially escape out gaps in the carrier, because those things, yes, you still definitely want to tie them down and make sure that they're not moving. But for coolers, suitcases, and stuff like that, you're probably gonna be just fine, but it's also gonna be more secure in the sense that this one comes with a lock. So the doors we use to access our cargo, they remain under lock and key, so no one can really mess with them when we're not around. If we leave it unattended, you know, say you bring your generator to the campsite, you leave your cooler in here, people aren't gonna be able to access it. The lock core will just unthread from the pin here, and then at the bottom it's just gonna be a simple pin and retaining clip. But once those are out, the doors will open and reveal a really wide opening here to access your stuff, which is helpful, because if we have larger items like this big cooler here, we want to be able to still access that pretty easily, and we wanna be able to do that without having to undo all of the stuff we've piled in before it. But like I said earlier, keep in mind that the smaller items you have could maybe escape through some of the gaps. I'll just pull this lawn chair up real quick and show you how some of these larger gaps in the cage, they could easily fit through. So if someone did want to take it, then they probably could. So just be mindful of the smaller things. As for how large the opening is though, you're gonna be looking at 23 inches tall, and 49 inches wide. So like I said, plenty of room for even those larger items. Now your usable dimensions, like I mentioned earlier, is 60 inches wide and 24 inches deep. But how much height do you have Because you will be capped out on height depending on what you put in here. And from the floor of the cage to the top here, we're looking at about 30 and a half inches. We packed a pretty big cooler in here, and I'd say that there's plenty of room on top for a suitcase in addition to that. So I don't think you'll run into the case where you're too limited on height. This thing is pretty big and it's got a really good capacity. Now for the gaps between the bars, I know I mentioned you could maybe fit some smaller items through there. You're looking at about six inches wide on most of those. And on the bottom where the actual cargo carrier lies, there will be a gap that goes around the side rail, and that's gonna be about four inches tall. So just keep that in mind. This bottom opening is quite a bit smaller, so maybe some lawn chairs or some camp chairs should be okay, but still I'd watch out for it and just err on the side of caution when tying things down. Now, the wiring for your taillights, I've not chosen to route that very gracefully. They do give you a ton of zip ties with these, so you can route it below the carrier and tie it up pretty neat. But this isn't staying attached for us, so this is very just temporary. And you could choose to route it a bit more temporary like that too if you planned on taking it apart pretty frequently, but it's good to know that it's included. It'll give you those turn signals, brake lights and running lights. Just make sure that you've got four pole wiring on your vehicle. Now the floor of the carrier though is going to be this metal mesh. Those holes aren't very large, so you shouldn't have to worry about things escaping through them. But if you've got something messy like a leaky cooler or a generator, you don't have to worry about anything nasty pooling up here. It'll be able to drain out and stay pretty clean and be easy to clean when you're done using it. Now, taking a look at the hitch, you'll see it's fitting inside our two inch by two inch receiver tube, and it doesn't come included with a pinning clip. So you will need to provide that yourself. And because it doesn't come with a hitch pin and clip of its own, I'd strongly recommend picking up one that doubles as an anti-rattle device. While a cage sits very securely on the carrier, the whole kit doesn't necessarily sit very still in the hitch because without the aid of an anti-rattle device, you're just gonna have some sort of movement somewhere. Keeping all that still, especially when it's loaded up with a lot of weight, is going to just do better over the long run. Keeping your hitch in good condition, and making sure that things don't shake themselves loose. But when it comes down to it, I think one of the biggest strengths and weaknesses of this kit is the size. It's great because you can carry a lot of stuff with you, keep it locked up and safe, and it's gonna make your road trips a little bit easier. But when you're not road tripping, you're not camping, you're not using this, you gotta store it somewhere. And me personally, I don't have a ton of room in my garage for something like this, so I'd have to be breaking this down between each use, hanging the cargo carrier up on the wall and taking all of these different panels for the cage and taking them apart each time. There are ways to just take one panel off and leave the cage mostly assembled, or just get a friend and take the entire kit out of the hitch. It's gonna be heavy and it's gonna be big, but if you can find the room for it, that's gonna be the easiest path to not have to reassemble it every single time. But if you are only using it once a year and you don't mind doing a little bit of prep work to get it assembled each time you need to use it, I think it could be a really helpful addition to your vehicle for a road trip or camping trip or however you find yourself using this. But again, my name's Aiden here with etrailer. Taking a look at the Reese cargo carrier with the etrailer enclosed cage on top. Thanks for watching.